Expected at Trump Rally in Fort Worth

Trump on Friday rolled out his first major endorsement from a leader in the GOP establishment – New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who dropped out of the presidential race earlier this month.

“Republicans can’t afford to forfeit this race to Hillary Clinton by nominating the wrong candidate”, King said in a statement. “I don’t know how he got that wrong since the E and O are nowhere near each other on the keyboard”, Rubio joked to supporters in Dallas. In addition to their family ties, Trump is also a good friend of one of Christie’s political patrons, George Norcross, the political boss of southern New Jersey. The blue print is clear: perform well enough in the upcoming primaries to become the consensus alternative to Mr Trump, and then defeat him in a head-to-head sprint for the nomination. The Florida senator went on the attack against Trump in Thursday night’s debate and continued his assault Friday morning, calling Trump a “con artist”, making fun of Trump’s misspellings in his tweets, and insinuating that he wet himself during the debate.

The New York Times notes that Marco Rubio could challenge Trump in delegate numbers, even if he loses every state in Tuesday’s contests but finishes high enough. “This guy is a total mess”, Trump told reporters during a news conference.

“We’re on the verge of having someone take over the conservative movement and the Republican Party who is a con artist”, Rubio said.

“Marco Rubio, your campaign is nearly over, buddy”, Christie said during a rally in Oklahoma City before introducing Trump to the stage, suggesting Rubio was “showing a lot of desperation today”.

‘You know, Vladimir Putin isn’t being nice to me, I’m not going to return his call?

Donald Trump (R) and Chris Christie (L) confer during a break in the Republican Presidential Candidates Debate Feb.6, 2016, at St. Anselm’s College Institute of Politics in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Christie said Trump “will do what needs to be done to protect the American people”.