In the hours before Donald Trump’s arrival in Beijing to begin his state visit, an unexpected detail caught the internet’s attention: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s choice of travel attire.
Instead of the tailored formalwear typically expected of a top diplomat, Rubio appeared in a grey Nike tracksuit on the Beijing-bound Air Force One – an ensemble social media users quickly recognised as the “Maduro arrest look”.
White House communications director Steven Cheung posted a photo of the top diplomat in the outfit on Wednesday with the caption: “Secretary Rubio rocking the Nike Tech ‘Venezuela’ on Air Force One!”
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The Nike Tech tracksuit first went viral online in January after images circulated of former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro wearing it while in US custody aboard a naval warship after he and his wife were abducted in a US military raid in Caracas.
The unlikely political meme drove a surge in sales of the tracksuit earlier this year.
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China has strongly condemned the US capture of Maduro, saying it violated international law and threatened peace and security in Latin America.