oon after his foe-turned-friend and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie introduced him on Saturday as “the only candidate who can restore the lost glory of America”, Republican front runner Donald Trump touched the topic of the evening. “Let me tell you about that little Marco Rubio”, he said.
He does not want to be nasty to his opponents, Mr. Trump said. It appears that there are only two challengers to him left in the field ahead of the March 1 Super Tuesday when 11 states will have Republican primaries or caucuses – Florida Senator Mr Rubio and Texas Senator Ted Cruz. Ohio Governor John Kasich and surgeon Ben Carson are too low in the race. Many early aspirants, including Mr. Christie, have dropped out of the race.
Mr. Trump’s is focused on Mr. Rubio – in the next 40 minutes, Mr. Trump would call Mr. Rubio a “clown”, “a frightened puppy”, “a choke artist”, “a lightweight”, “a liar”, and always refers to him as “little”, including in tweets. Caricaturing Mr. Rubio as an inept, nervous, ineffective leader is the centrepiece of Mr. Trump’s strategy these days. He does not spare Mr. Cruz completely, though. “These two are morons. Crooks. Liars…I will tell you in a couple of months who is a bigger liar.” At 5-inch 10’, Mr. Rubio himself is conscious of his height, and his heeled shoes had become a point of media attention earlier in the campaign. So the 6”2’ Mr. Trump is rubbing it in. “This little Marco….when he goes to meet President Putin… He would be soaking in sweat as if he has come out of the swimming pool in his suit.. Putin would think, ‘this is easy pick.’ And it is going to be so,” said Mr. Trump.
On another occasion, Mr. Trump said Mr. Rubio was standing in a “puddle of sweat on the debating stage”, when Mr. Christie went after him. Repeatedly calling his opponent ‘little Marco’, follows a pattern — Jeb Bush could not recover from the “low energy” label that Mr. Trump had stuck on him.
Mr. Trump has his own logic and his supporters – that are only swelling by the day – understand that easily. Mr. Trump has refused to release his tax returns because the tax authorities are auditing him. The senators – who are coordinating their campaigns to target Mr. Trump – have wondered why Mr. Trump gets audited. Mr. Trump has turned the question on its head and is playing victim now.
“Why do I get audited? People who make much more money than me are never audited…,” he says and the crowd agrees. The senators have questioned his business skills and honesty by pointing out how Mr. Trump had bankrupted four of his companies. But his supporters see it differently. “Here is a man who knows business. Even after he lost everything, he has bounced back and built this business empire. That is what America needs today,” said one.
‘Trump the liberal’
Mr. Rubio and Mr. Cruz remind people that Mr. Trump had liberal views on abortion and gay marriage. His supporters see that too differently. Pastor Mark Burns, a television evangelist, certified Mr. Trump’s conservative credentials, thanked god for showing him the right path, and prayed for his election as the President. “Thank god for a man who says it aloud that marriage is between a man and a woman,” the pastor said. “Amen,” the crowd replied in unison. And with more endorsements, the notion of a Trump versus GOP establishment contest is increasingly invalid – Mr Christie was chairman of the Republican Governors Association.
Though Mr. Rubio’s insult vocabulary is not as rich, he has been trying to respond in kind, mostly calling Mr. Trump a “con artist”. The latest in the armoury of the senators is Mr. Trump’s refusal to distance himself from an endorsement from white supremacist David Duke. Both senators have condemned Mr. Trump on the issue, and later Mr. Trump tweeted that he “disavowed” Mr. Duke.
Of the 11 Super Tuesday states, Texas is the only state where Mr. Trump is trailing, but he assures supporters that he will upset Mr. Cruz there, too. Fearing a defeat in his home state, Mr. Cruz has spent most of the last four days in Texas, venturing out only rarely. Mr. Rubio is trailing in his home state of Florida. “Moreover, these senators cannot continue their bonhomie forever. They are going to attack each other sooner rather than later and that will open up space for us,” says a volunteer at a Kasich town hall.
No plans of quitting: Kasich
Speaking briefly to The Hindu , Mr. Kasich said he had no plans to quit the race. “Far from it. There are people who call me all the time and ask me to stay put. Things are going to change once I beat Donald in Ohio,” he said. He said candidates who cannot win their home states would lose steam.
Mr. Kasich admits that he is not in the race in Super Tuesday states but hopes that after Ohio and Florida primaries on March 15, he will be the only candidate standing against Mr. Trump. He has a point, but then Mr. Trump has beaten all conventional logic so far. As Mr. Trump said at a rally, Mr. Bush had everything going for him. “But he had not accounted for three words – Donald John Trump.”
This little Marco, when he goes to meet President Putin, he would be soaking in sweat as if he has come out of the swimming pool in his suit
This little Marco….when he goes to meet President Putin… He would be soaking in sweat as if he has come out of the swimming pool in his suit
This little Marco….when he goes to meet President Putin… He would be soaking in sweat as if he has come out of the swimming pool in his suit
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