Secretary of State Marco Rubio once vowed to not let his now-boss President Donald Trump steer the GOP’s ship, per a decade-old, resurfaced clip on social media.

“I will never stop until we keep a con man from taking over the party of Reagan and the conservative movement,” said then-GOP candidate Rubio during a heated 2016 primary battle with the future president said in a video shared by the X account Republicans Against Trump.

The remarks from Rubio at the campaign stop in Oklahoma City arrived just days after he had joined fellow presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in attacking Trump on the debate stage as the two desperately sought to take his top spot in the race.

Rubio continued, “People are angry and frustrated and scared about the future, OK? People are working harder than they’ve ever worked in their lives and they’re running in place.”

“And [Trump] swoops in and he’s taking advantage of that ... He’s telling people, ‘I’m going to fight for the little guy, I’m fighting for the working class.’ Here’s what he doesn’t tell them: He has spent a career in business, 50 years, sticking it to the little guy.”

The rest of the clip sees Rubio remark on allegations that Trump’s companies have owed subcontractors tens of millions of dollars, Trump’s glaring contradiction when it comes to his America First claims. He also noted that Trump “portrays himself to the strongest guy on illegal immigration,” despite reports that Trump Tower was built, in part, by undocumented Polish immigrants.

Rubio eventually fell to Trump in the primaries before kissing his ring ahead of the president’s victory that November. He went on to support Trump in 2020, then backed him again in 2024 before the president picked him to serve as his secretary of state.

Social media users reacted to the blast from the past from Rubio.