Donald Trump, front-runner for the Republican nomination, has cleared the field of nearly all his rivals ahead of Super Tuesday, but is now engaged in an increasingly bitter contest with Marco Rubio, who is scrambling to stop the billionaire from running away with the GOP nomination.
Rubio kicked up the crude rhetoric over the weekend, taking several shots at the brash billionaire during campaign stops in Virginia and Georgia.
During a rally for students at Roanoke College on Sunday, Rubio responded to repeatedly being referred to as “Little Marco” by Trump, a nickname poking fun at his height.
The Florida State Senator punched back, saying Trump has small hands.
“You know what they say about men with small hands?” Rubio jested, as the crowd of young voters reacted to the schoolyard taunt.
“You can’t trust him. You can’t trust him,” said Rubio.
Rubio’s targeting of Trump didn’t stop with the below the belt jab, as he attacked the real estate tycoon’s appearance.
“He says I sweat all the time,” said Rubio. “He doesn’t sweat because his pores are clogged from the spray tan that he uses.”
“Donald is not going to make America great again, he’s going to make America orange,” Rubio said, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Rubio also attacked Trump’s physical appearance a day earlier at a campaign stop in Georgia, claiming Trump sends out malicious tweets about his rivals while flying around in “Hair-force One.”
“He put out a picture of me having makeup put on me at the debate,” said Rubio. “The guy with the worst spray tan in America is attacking me for putting on makeup.”
“Donald Trump likes to sue people. He should sue whoever did that to his face,” Rubio said to a cheering crowd of supporters.
On Sunday, Rubio also questioned how tough Trump was.
“The other day he told a protester, ‘I want to punch you in the face,’” Rubio told a crowd in Midlothian, Va.
“Donald Trump has never punched anyone in the face,” stressed Rubio. “Ever.”
Donald Trump did not hesitate to respond to his competitor on Monday during a rally in Virgina.
WATCH: Trump fires back, says Rubio couldn’t be elected ‘dogcatcher’
“I guess he had to come up with something, because he’s getting creamed in the polls,” said Trump. “This guy couldn’t be elected dogcatcher right now if he ran.”
Later Trump attempted to coin a new nickname for Rubio, taking aim at the way he speaks.
WATCH: Donald Trump coins news nickname for Marco Rubio
“We call him the lightweight robot,” Trump joked. “You wind him up and he talks.”
Trump also said on Monday, Rubio would not be able to address leader like Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
“Putin is a confident guy, smart guy,” Trump told the crowd at Radford University. “Marco walks in and he’s soaking wet…Putin’s gonna look at him and say, ‘What the hell’s wrong with that guy?'”
WATCH: Donald Trump calls Marco Rubio a “choke artist”
Trump finished off his attacks by reminding supporters of the Florida Senator’s memorable response to President Barack Obama’s 2013 State of the Union address, which saw a thirsty Rubio reach off camera for a bottle of water.
“He goes totally off camera during live television,” said Trump. “We can not have choke artists running our country.”
With files from the Associated Press
Comments