Trump, Rubio in war of words ahead of 'Super Tuesday'

Ahead of a key multi-state vote next week, the ongoing verbal duel between Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump and rival Marco Rubio has escalated with both taking low-level digs and making allegations against each other.
The verbal duel that began with the debate yesterday is expected to continue over the weekend and into early next week before the 'Super Tuesday' when Republican members in 11 states would elect their presidential candidates. As many as 595 delegates are at stake.
Much is at stake for Rubio, who has failed to win even one of the four primaries so far. Having been endorsed by the maximum number of party's leaders, he needs to win in at least some of the Super Tuesday states to stay in contention.

An impressive performance on Tuesday and a few wins, Rubio's supporters believe, would help him consolidate his position among the party's establishment.
Trump on the other hand is hoping to "seal the deal" on Super Tuesday itself by winning all the 11 states at stake. As per latest polls, he is ahead in 10 of these states and latest national polls suggested that his lead over his nearest rivals has increased.
At a campaign rally in Dallas, Rubio launched a scathing attack on Trump, joking that the 69-year-old New York billionaire may have wet his pants during the Houston Texas debate a night earlier.

"He called me Mr Meltdown. Let me tell you something, last night during two of the debates, he went backstage, he was having a meltdown," he said.

"First, he had this little makeup thing applying makeup around his mustache because he had one of those sweat mustaches. Then, he asked for a full length mirror...Maybe to make sure his pants weren't wet," Rubio joked.
"He's a clown," the 44-year-old Republican contender told Fox News in an interview.
"Look, I saw him back stage. He was nervous, he was waving his arms around. I think it is time to take the mask off of this guy," Rubio asserted.

Under attack, Trump fired back. He called Rubio a "nervous Nellie", a "lightweight" and a "choker".
"I watched a part of his little act and he's a desperate guy...He is not presidential material, I can tell you. He doesn't have the demeanour, he's a nervous Nellie. I watched him back stage. This guy is a total mess," Trump told reporters during a news conference.
"For me to go into Florida and have a 20-point lead over
the sitting senator, the sitting senator abandoned Florida. They elected him as a young senator and before he sits down, he starts running for president," Trump said.

Trump was joined in by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in attacking Rubio. "President of the United States is not a no-show job like you treated the United States Senate," Christie said.
Rubio, earlier said, "He (Trump) is a guy that portrays himself as defender of the little guy in this country. He has been exploiting working Americans for 40 years."
"When his businesses went bankrupt, the first people who didn't get paid were those small contractors," the Florida Senator said in one of the nastiest attack that the billionaire has experienced after entering political stage last June.
"He had people that put their confidence in him, signed up for Trump University. Some of them paid USD 35-36,000 and they got nothing for it because they trusted in his name and got stuck."

Meanwhile, latest polls showed that Trump leads Rubio by 18 points at the national level.