During Thursday night’s Republican presidential debate on CNN, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) pulled no punches in his attacks on front-runner Donald Trump.
Friday morning, he kept up his attacks, calling the businessman a “con artist” and insisting Trump cannot become the GOP presidential nominee. He repeated those attacks in an email sent to campaign supporters, as well.
“Donald Trump is a con artist trying to hijack the conservative movement and the Republican Party, and he cannot be our nominee,” he said. “Donald Trump talked a big game last night about how to take it to big insurance companies and strike tough deals abroad, but I’m the only candidate who actually stopped the ObamaCare insurer bailout and has passed tough new sanctions on America’s enemies.”
Like U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who faces a make-or-break moment in next week’s “Super Tuesday I” primaries—particularly in his home state, Rubio faces a pivotal moment for his campaign on March 15, during “Super Tuesday II,” which includes his own home state. Unlike Texas, which awards delegates proportionally, Florida is a winner-take-all state.
Rubio also continued to attack Trump on his failure to produce tax returns—which isn’t required of candidates, but is traditionally supplied as part of a candidate’s transparency—saying their contents will expose wrongdoing. The senator himself has had issues with his personal finances.
