Presidential candidate and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio dismissed GOP front-runner Donald Trump’s campaign as a ‘freak show’ on Monday.
While saying he was trying to avoid feuding, Rubio fired off a few stingers in an interview with NPR’s “Morning Edition” Monday morning. “I’m not interested in the back-and-forth, [or] to be a member or part of his freak show,” Rubio said.
The pair attacked each other last week repeatedly, in campaign speeches and interviews with reporters. Trump called Rubio “sweaty,” a “kid,” and a “clown,” while Rubio called Trump “insecure” and “touchy.”
Related: Trump slams Rubio as ‘very weak’ on immigration
“He is a very sensitive person, he doesn’t like to be criticized,” Rubio continued on Monday, painting Trump as a struggling candidate. He noted that Trump was booed this weekend – for calling Rubio a “clown” – and spoke to a half-empty room in South Carolina last week.
“This election is not going to be about Donald Trump – he thinks it is – but it’s not about him,” Rubio said. “It has to be about the issues confronting our country and my sense of it is that every time issues become prominent, he’ll say something outrageous or do something outrageous so he doesn’t have to talk about issues.”
While Rubio may see the beginning of the end for Trump, the polls don’t spell failure just yet: though others are gaining on him, a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that Trump is still on top.
Jane Timm