On arguably the most important night of his political career Sen. Marco Rubio, the first term Florida senator, seems to be gaining ground on both Trump and Cruz, given the suspension of Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign.
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His main rivals, senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, know they must land damaging blows in the final days before next week’s Super Tuesday primaries. His victories in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada have given Trump an overwhelming advantage in the delegate count, with 82 delegates compared to 17 for Cruz; 16 for Rubio; six for Kasich; and four for Carson.
The former reality television star was on his heels for extended stretches as Rubio and Cruz attacked him from either side of his place at center stage. Trump, the NY billionaire, has caught on with some of the same voting demographics Cruz has diligently courted. Cruz asked, referring to a Senate immigration bill co-sponsored by Rubio and seven other senators. “He was firing Dennis Rodman on Celebrity Apprentice”. He said before the debate began that many Republican donors here were waiting to see how the candidates performed in the debate to decide whom to support.
“If he builds the wall the way he built Trump Towers, he’ll be using illegal immigrant labor”, he said.
“We have always welcomed legal immigrants, but I think it is a mistake to forgive those” who have snuck into America, he said. Asked how he would make Mexico pay, Trump replied: “I will, and the wall just got 10 feet taller, believe me”.
Responding to a Trump attack about Rubio’s relationship with lobbyists, Rubio said: “Here’s a guy who inherited $200 million”.
“As far as the people that I’ve hired”, said Trump, “during the absolute prime season … you could not get help, it’s the up season … everybody agrees with me on that. Selling watches in Manhattan”, Rubio said.
Rubio also attacked Trump over a lack of knowledge about healthcare policy. “You should be ashamed of yourself”, Trump to Cruz.
“What is your plan? The biggest thing we’ve got and the reason we have no competition is because we have lines around the state”.
REUTERS/Mike StoneMarco Rubio and Donald Trump. When confronted about how his spending cuts add up to a trifling fraction of the budget deficit, Trump fell back on that hoary magic asterisk: “Waste, fraud and abuse!” Pointing to Rubio, “Here’s the guy who repeats himself”. Rubio was mercilessly mocked by the media and his rivals for the repetition.
After Trump went on to again tout his plan to get rid of the “lines” between states, Rubio accused Trump of his own mindless repetition. “100 percent”, Trump said after Rubio gave a lengthy explanation for what he would do about President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration that protected from deportation scores of young people in the country illegally.
“I don’t repeat myself”.
Cruz to Trump: “Donald, relax”. Rubio’s team had signaled that he had no intentions of attacking Trump directly, and that he’d instead focus on getting Cruz out of the race first, but this new round of panic over his chances might spur him to gamble on taking Trump on tonight. Trump also recently blamed Ryan for the GOP’s losses in the 2012 elections, specifically mentioning Ryan’s proposals to overhaul medicare.
In response to a question, Trump said he would not release his personal income tax records until after what he called a routine audit is finished.
Trump, for his part, insisted that even though officials in Mexico have said they won’t pay for his planned wall, “Mexico will pay for the wall”.
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“I want to release my tax returns”, he said, “but I can’t release them while I’m under an audit”.
