Remember back when Senator Marco Rubio doubted that Donald Trump was competent to be given access to the nation’s nuclear codes?

Rubio: There's a lunatic in NKorea w/nuclear weapons and…lunatic trying to get hold of nuclear weapons in America pic.twitter.com/Sb29st8vWF

— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) February 27, 2016

Remember this epic performance in which the size of Trump’s hands featured prominently… or as prominently as tiny baby hands can ever be

Well, now it seems that neither Trump’s mental capacity or minuscule body parts make any difference:

Florida senator Marco Rubio made one of his most definitive and direct statements in support of Donald Trump yet during a candidate forum this weekend, all but sloganeering the words “elect Trump”.

“We have got to come together as a party. We cannot lose to Hillary Clinton. We cannot lose the White House,” Rubio said on Saturday, reports the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Then came the money line: “We have to make sure that Donald wins this election.”

…

As it has been with many of Trump’s vanquished primary rivals, though, the personal differences were the bigger issue. The man the eventual GOP nominee dubbed “Little Marco” and something called a chocker was provoked to mock Trump on the campaign trail as Rubio’s electoral odds faded. Rubio said during the CNN interview that he privately apologized to Trump for saying he had “tiny hands”.

Trump has since warmed to Rubio, amid word that the one-termer was considering a last-minute bid to run for reelection. “Poll data shows that Marco Rubio does by far the best in holding onto his Senate seat in Florida. Important to keep the MAJORITY. Run Marco!” he tweeted May 26.

Rubio—who Trump now calls a “good guy”—ultimately jumped into the race.

This is the first time that Rubio has promoted Trump by name rather than referring to supporting the nominee.

I appreciate that Rubio is in a tough spot. He’s running for Senate in what will be a battleground state, unless Trump succeeds in making it bright blue, and will need the support and good will of Trump voters in order to win. But the fact remains that either Rubio was correct back in February when you listed Trump’s manifest deficiencies or you weren’t. Because the February critique was not policy based, it was a catalog of character defects that simply can’t be remedied. What exactly has happened to make him feel more comfortable with Donald Trump being able to nuke Andorra after a bad taco salad at Trump Tower? It can’t be the knowledge that Hillary is this Democrat nominee. That has been known since July of last year. When one combines this with Rubio’s embrace of the Gang of Eight immigration plan we now have real questions about Rubio’s judgment and consistency.