But the Republican party is nervous.
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The challengers’ latest weapon involves tax returns.
Trump has said he will not release his tax returns because they are being audited by the Internal Revenue Service. “I’m being singled out”, Trump complained.
“I listen to this light, little nothing say, ‘Trump’s a con man, ‘” he said of Rubio.
An online Bloomberg Politics poll released February 25 showed Trump backed by 37 percent of likely Republican presidential primary voters in the seven states surveyed, while Rubio and Cruz were tied at 20 percent. A Cruz spokesperson told the Associated Press that they are still planning to release the returns.
“On Tuesday, you have a big day”, Trump told supporters at a big rally in Tennessee on Saturday, saying he didn’t care if someone was at death’s door or if their wife was leaving them – they had to vote.
“What is Marco Rubio hiding by not reaching the bar he’s setting for Trump and releasing his full tax returns?”
“Both Donald Trump and Marco Rubio want to keep the IRS”. “Donald Trump will never have that number of delegates”.
Trump also garnered backlash Sunday for recently retweeting a quote from Benito Mussolini, the 20th century fascist dictator of Italy, which reads: “It is better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep”.
Cruz had once hoped to win much of the southern states that vote on March 1, but Trump now leads nearly everywhere. A big Trump night means a big, maybe insurmountable, Trump lead.
Time is running out for his challengers.
“You look at everybody else on that stage, and there haven’t been many more specifics from a lot of other folks on that stage”, he continued.
The contests on Tuesday, across 12 states, herald several weeks of nationwide skirmishes that will be decisive in determining who gets to face off for the White House in the fall. Cruz and Kasich are close behind. In Georgia, he argued he would “continue to work forward irrespective of Tuesday”.
Chris Christie, right, introduces Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, left, at a rally at Millington Regional Airport in Millington, Tenn., Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016. Yes, Rubio has finally consolidated the establishment GOP behind him.
“Listen, if Donald becomes president, who the heck knows what he would do?”
Christie at a Statehouse press conference on his selection of a state Supreme Court nominee was asked about criticism of his endorsement of Trump. Trump has won three out of four. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee back Rubio. They hate him in the state of Florida…. Trouble is, so does Gov. John Kasich of Ohio.
Kasich says he intends to win the OH primary March 15.
Cruz says he’s the only one who can beat Trump, and the Texas senator is making this appeal to voters: “I would encourage you, even if you like another candidate, stand with us if you don’t want Donald to be the nominee”.
Rubio kept up a barrage of insults aimed at Trump.
So far he hasn’t won anything.
Rubio had hoped to wait until the chaotic Republican nominating campaign had shrunk to a two-man race.
“This guy has a fresh mouth”, Trump said of Rubio during his Arkansas appearance. Jane Dunlap, a small business owner in Katy, Texas, found herself “disgusted with the behavior of our candidates” during Thursday’s debate.
Better late than never, said Greg Strimple, a Republican pollster and former adviser to the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Cruz plans to spend Monday barnstorming Texas, strong evidence that he’s struggling to simply stay viable.
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“Now this is a man who prides himself on not getting scared of anything”, said Cruz, who poked at Trump for “inheriting $200 million from his daddy”.
