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Paul LePage endorses Donald Trump

McQuaid said in an interview with Politico Friday that he is disappointed that Christie has chosen to throw his weight behind Trump after his paper, the Union Leader, had endorsed the New Jersey governor.

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#NeverTrump because Trump is clearly a con-artist.

This, after a name-calling, insult-trading, finger-pointing debate Thursday night at which Rubio and Cruz engaged in a tag-team attack against the GOP front-runner. “I can give you the answers of the governor, the two senators”, he said. Christie had better be hungry: He¿s got a lot of harsh words to eat about Trump now that he¿s endorsed the billionaire.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a rally at the Fort Worth Convention Center on February 26, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. Christie’s endorsement is a blow to Trump’s Republican competitors – not least Rubio, who had been courting the tough-talking New Jersey governor since he dropped out of the race earlier this month. He said he’d assumed that Christie would not have made an endorsement at this stage of the campaign.

With his endorsement, Christie is now back in the game, and his role now appears to be that of attack dog. During the last GOP debate before the New Hampshire primary, as Rubio appeared on the cusp of a breakthrough, Christie set a verbal trap that left Rubio repeating the same practiced line over and over again. “I just watched you repeat yourself five times five seconds ago”, Rubio said with glee.

“Gov. Christie is an enormously respected Republican governor with great credibility”, said GOP consultant Phil Musser. Christie has grown deeply resentful of Rubio. “I absolutely appreciate him as a person and as a friend”, he said. Ted Cruz hammered Trump relentlessly.

Among likely Republican voters, 81% believe that Trump will win the nomination, with 45% saying his win is now “very likely”.

Rubio’s strategic shift comes as the GOP presidential candidates barreled into the final sprint to Super Tuesday.

“We’ll see who becomes president”, LePage said.

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The poll shows a much tighter race between Democratic hopefuls Hillary Clinton, the former US first lady and secretary of state, and Bernie Sanders, a USA senator from Vermont. Instead, he said, he expects to finish out his second term as governor “and then go into private life and make money like Trump”.

Tom Pennington  Getty Images