Christie, in about-face, endorses former GOP rival Trump

Christie’s endorsement came after Rubio shattered months of relative peace with the Republican front-runner by repeatedly attacking Trump’s character in the debate.

A recent Gallup poll shows he has, by far, the worst image of any major Republican candidate among Democrats and independents. It comes just a day after he took a battering from his two main rivals at a televised Republican debate.

Trump’s unorthodox candidacy has shaken the Republican Party and has drawn increasingly vehement criticism from his rivals.

“My party has gone bat**** insane”, he said, calling Mr Trump a “nut-job” and “a loser as a person and a candidate”.

Cruz acknowledged that Trump can’t control outside groups, but he said, “We should all be united in saying that the Klan is reprehensible”.

Sanders also held two rallies in SC, but black women, a crucial demographic that helped lift Obama over Clinton in 2008, appear to be leaning heavily toward Clinton this time, the New York Times said.

During his 2010 bid for the U.S. Senate, which followed his stint as a Florida state lawmaker from 2005-2006, Rubio had to defend his use of a Republican Party-issued American Express credit card for more than $7,200 personal expenses, which he later paid back. Clinton and Sanders have been in a dead head over the past week, the Reuters/Ipsos data shows.

“It’s time to take the mask off Donald Trump”.

He was combative at a rally on Friday.

“We’re going to build up our military, we’re going to knock out IS”.

The special education teacher from Mount Pleasant says he wanted to send “a strong message” that many people “are hurting”. Rubio, who previously had not laid a hand on Trump, has made fun of Trump’s tan, suggested that he wet his trousers, and mocked him for misspelling words.

From the start of Thursday night’s debate, a fiery Rubio went hard after Trump, attacking his position on immigration, his privileged background, his speaking style and more.

“We’ll do the rest too”, Rubio told reporters. Having been endorsed by the maximum number of party’s leaders, he needs to win in at least some of the Super Tuesday states to stay in contention.

Trump has won three out of the four Republican primaries and finished second in Iowa behind Texas Senator Ted Cruz. No doubt Clinton, although certainly a flawed candidate, feels the same about going against Trump and his many changes of opinion about policy through the years.

But Rubio is quickly getting a feel for what he began during Thursday’s debate, launching a direct challenge to Trump’s appeal to working class voters.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio has opened his Miami headquarters on the eve of early voting in the county. The problem is, he is a choker, and once a choker, always a chocker (sic)!

For Trump, the significance of this endorsement can’t be understated, not because Christie is going to sway many voters – he won’t.

“If you’re the Trump campaign this is obviously very good news and it gives permission for others to endorse”.

Cruz also speculated that Trump may have donated to “left-wing organizations”. So is he angling to be attorney general in a Trump administration?

He continued: “If you think somehow this is just an act, this is like ‘The Apprentice, ‘ I’m telling you, what you see is what you get”.

“It is time to stop the excuses”, Cruz said in a statement.

Hubbard, now dean of the business school at Columbia University, told Reuters he anxious Trump’s comments already hurt the country’s image overseas and would hobble his ability to govern if elected.