Rubio calls Trump ‘touchy and insecure’

“He had a really bad debate“.

The first-term USA senator from Florida appeared before hundreds of people, crowded into a room at Modern Woodmen Park, criticizing federal government for overregulation, its role in education and the Affordable Care Act that he says raises costs and costs jobs.

If Rubio can keep his campaign together, avoid the many verbal screwballs of his opponents, and come up with strong, positive reasons to vote for him (instead of simply deflecting attacks or questions), Rubio stands to be a strong contender for the Republican presidential nomination. He’s well liked, even if he’s the first choice of only a small number of Republicans (so far).

MONTAGNE: And we – well, what end – I’m going to ask you, what was that?

“Trump did not do as poorly as some of the pundits thought he did”, Dennehy said. “He’s not well informed on the issues. He really never talks about issues and can’t have more than a ten-second soundbite on any key issue”, he said. And you can now add Marco Rubio to the large group of politicians and media personalities that have been targeted by Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump’s numbers have stayed fairly steady at the top of the polls since the debate, while Rubio has seen gains. Hes kind of been a little bit exposed over the last seven days.

In response to Rubio’s criticism, the real estate mogul fired back, calling the 44-year-old senator a “kid” during an interview Thursday with CNN. Rubio caused the crowd to erupt in thunderous cheers and applause when he accounted that House Speaker John Boehner was resigning from Congress.

Kevin Wagner, FAU associate professor of political science, told Politico he found Rubio’s lead surprising. “I think that just demonstrates his supporters are very firm”. I think it’s time, he’s been there a long time. His biggest test, however, will be to convince voters he’s ready to take on the Democrats and worldwide foes such as Vladimir Putin. “Marco Rubio doesn’t mean anything to him“. Trump stopped and turned to the cameras. Rubio responded in an afternoon radio appearance in which he called Trump “touchy and insecure,” among other things.

The bad news for Clinton is that were the general election held today, Rubio, Bush, and former neurosurgeon Ben Carson all beat her in the southern swing state.