--- title: Republican Debate: Watch Marco Rubio Crack a Yoga Joke description: Rubio was nodding to Trump's "flexibility" on the issues. canonical: https://time.com/4247446/republican-debate-marco-rubio-yoga-detroit/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-04T04:41:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T16:57:33.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Watch Rubio Make a Yoga Joke at the Republican Debate og:description: Rubio was nodding to Trump's "flexibility" on the issues. og:url: https://time.com/4247446/republican-debate-marco-rubio-yoga-detroit/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltff62aa26f139ee3e/698880375f570f15ddb1fe62/timpeol-gop-republican-debate-donald-trump-marco-rubio-ted-cruz-john-kasich-08.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3500 og:image:height: 1969 og:image:alt: TIMEPOL Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Marco Rubio og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Rubio Make a Yoga Joke at the Republican Debate twitter:description: Rubio was nodding to Trump's "flexibility" on the issues. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltff62aa26f139ee3e/698880375f570f15ddb1fe62/timpeol-gop-republican-debate-donald-trump-marco-rubio-ted-cruz-john-kasich-08.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 00:23 video:published: 2016-03-04 section: politics topics: Republican debate, interruptions, breathing, Lying Ted, yoga jokes, flexibility, debate banter, audience laughter genre: debate clip, political commentary tones: humorous, combative, sarcastic, lighthearted emotions: amusement (high), annoyance (medium), mockery (medium) sentiment: neutral audience: political news followers, debate viewers, general news audience people: Ted Cruz, Donald Trump content_suitability: politics [00:00-00:23] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Watch Rubio Make a Yoga Joke At the Republican Debate > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=4a1c4432-ee7c-463a-a006-4abac742c315&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: FOX Republican Debate: Ted Cruz Tells Donald Trump To "Breathe, breathe, breathe" [Watch (HLS stream): FOX Republican Debate: Ted Cruz Tells Donald Trump To "Breathe, breathe, breathe"](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/e8itW3Db.m3u8) (0:23)  _Published 2016-03-04_ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary This short clip features an exchange between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump on a debate stage. Cruz urges Trump not to interrupt and repeatedly tells him to breathe, while Trump responds with the name "Lying Ted." The exchange turns to jokes about yoga, with Trump asking whether he can answer a question once the yoga is done. The audience laughs at several points, and the segment ends with a remark that someone is very flexible. ## Key points - Cruz asks Donald to try not to interrupt, acknowledging that it is hard for him not to. (00:00) - A speaker says "That's not what you said at the op- ed." (00:02) - Cruz repeatedly tells Trump to "breathe" and says "You can do it." (00:03) - A speaker calls Cruz "Lying Ted" in the middle of the exchange. (00:03) - A speaker asks if he can answer a question once the yoga is done, and is told he cannot. (00:11) - A speaker says he hopes yoga is not seen on the stage. (00:16) - Another speaker replies that someone is very flexible, so you never know. (00:16) - The audience laughs at multiple points during the exchange. (00:03) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:11] Breathe, breathe: Cruz and Trump trade barbs. Cruz urges Trump not to interrupt and tells him to breathe, while Trump calls him "Lying Ted." - [00:11 to 00:23] Yoga jokes and a question. The exchange turns to yoga jokes, with a request to answer a question and remarks about flexibility. ## Key quotes - [00:00] Ted Cruz: "Donald, please. I know it's hard not to interrupt, but" - [00:03] Donald Trump: "Lying Ted." - [00:03] Ted Cruz: "You can do it." - [00:11] Donald Trump: "When they're" - [00:16] Debate moderator: "I really hope that we don't see yoga on this stage." ## Questions this video answers - What does Cruz ask Trump to do during the exchange? [00:00] - What name is used for Cruz in the exchange? [00:03] - How does the exchange turn to yoga? [00:11] - Is the speaker allowed to answer a question after the yoga comment? [00:11] - What is said about flexibility at the end of the clip? [00:16] ## Content suitability - politics [00:00-00:23]: Political debate exchange between candidates featuring personal jabs, including the label "Lying Ted." by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:57 PM UTCPublished: Mar 4, 2016 4:41 AM UTC by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:57 PM UTCPublished: Mar 4, 2016 4:41 AM UTC Sen. Marco Rubio thought that maybe Republican presidential candidates needed some time off at Thursday’s Republican debate—to practice yoga. While front-runner Donald Trump argued with Sen. Ted Cruz, Rubio butted in to refocus the conversation. Apparently Rubio struck big with the health crowd, as this was the second most popular moment on Twitter during the Fox debate. “When they’re done with the yoga, can I answer a question?” Rubio asked the Fox moderators. Cruz didn’t seem to like the idea of practicing the popular exercise on-stage, when there was serious debating to be done, telling Rubio “You cannot. I really hope that we don’t see yoga on this stage.” Rubio clapped back with a joke about the billionaire’s propensity to change positions on the issues. “Well he’s very flexible, so you never know,” he said, pointing at Trump. Watch the clip above. ## Transcript [00:00] Donald, please. I know it's hard not to interrupt, but [00:02] try. That's not what you said at the op- ed. Breathe, [00:03] breathe. Lying Ted. Breathe. [ LAUGH ] You can do it. [00:07] Breathe. I know it's hard. I know it's hard. When they're [00:11] done with the yoga, can I answer a question? You [00:13] cannot. [ LAUGH ] [00:16] I really hope that we don't see yoga on this stage. Well, [00:19] he's very flexible, so you never know. 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