Marco Rubio wasted little time in continuing his attack on Donald Trump.
On Friday morning, Rubio sent a signed email to supporters declaring "Donald Trump is a con-artist trying to hijack the conservative movement and the Republican Party."
Rubio hit Trump for his debate performance, noting that Trump "kicked and screamed, tried to bully his opponents," but failed to offer any real plan for fixing the nation’s problems.
The Florida senator said Trump had used "one-liners" and "smoke-screens," but had little to show in his own record.
"I'm the only candidate who actually stopped the ObamaCare insurer bailout and has passed tough new sanctions on America's enemies," Rubio wrote.
Rubio, coming off a
strong presidential debate performance Thursday night, also said on several network news programs Friday morning that Trump is damaging the Republican Party and he plans on stopping the real-estate mogul and reality television star.
"No way, the party of Ronald Reagan and the conservative movement, I'll allow it to be taken over by a con artist," the Florida senator told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos on
"Good Morning America."
"He calls me a choker. He's a con artist. He spent 40 years sticking it to the people he claims to be fighting for."
Rubio, who has until now not made many attacks on Trump, told George Stephanopoulos he doesn't think his debate attacks on Trump are coming too late to make a difference in the race.
"I think it's important for people to understand they have a choice to make," Rubio said. "If this pattern continues, the conservative movement in the Republican Party will be taken over by a con artist portraying himself as the fighter of the ordinary person fighting for the working man, but he spent years sticking it to the working people."
He told Stephanopoulos that he didn't make the case against Trump earlier because he didn't want to get into an attack situation, "but the coverage he's getting from the media these days is extraordinary."
"They're like, 'What is Trump going to do to Marco Rubio? Like he's some sort of invincible force and there are people now in the media, I'm not saying you, but others rooting for him to win because they love, first of all, what it means for their ratings in a general election," the Florida senator continued.
The senator repeated his "con artist" argument on NBC's "Today" show, and CBS' "This Morning" programs, indicating to both that he'll continue that attack.
"Again, this guy is a con artist," Rubio told the
"Today" show. "He's always making things up and no one holds him accountable for it. You have a guy who is being sued right now for fraud for Trump University."
Rubio complained that stories have been written about his driving record for receiving "red light camera tickets," and about when he was 18, he got cited for drinking beer in a park.
"He's being sued for fraud, for defrauding people," Rubio told NBC. "He had to pay a judgment for hiring Polish workers illegally to build Trump Towers. He's being treated with kid gloves by many in the media, in the hopes he's the nominee.
"They'd love to see a liberal like Donald Trump take over the Republican Party. Others know he's easy to beat once he gets there. Hillary Clinton would take him apart."
But for "those biased," electing Trump would mean "you will have a Republican nominee who basically agrees with Hillary Clinton on Planned Parenthood and being neutral on Israel, even on issues regarding the economy like the takeover of our healthcare system by the government," he told Stephanopoulos.
This means, said Rubio, that the media is holding back on Trump "and as soon as he's the nominee they'll open up the floodgates and hit him with a bunch of stories. It's important for Republicans and conservatives to be aware of what is happening."
Rubio also acknowledged he's an underdog in the race and that he's been one his entire life, telling Stephanopoulos that unlike Trump, "I didn't inherit hundreds of millions. My dad was a bartender. My mother did the job as a maid that Trump hires foreigners to do and my whole life I've had to fight and will fight now."
Rubio further predicted that he'll win his home state's race despite polls showing Trump is leading by double digits.
"That's one poll," said Rubio. "We've seen multiple polls that show a very different race. I know Florida well. I've won there. I'm from there. We are going to win Florida. Florida is not going to vote for a con artist and it's not going to vote for someone who in Palm Beach right now is not hiring willing Americans that are willing to work.
"Instead, he's importing a workforce from abroad and is out there as some immigration crusader. It's a fraud and we'll expose it."
Rubio told NBC that he plans to release his income taxes soon, and noted that rival candidate Ted Cruz had a good point in the debate:
"We need to see the returns to see if the difference between the audited version and what he filed are evidence of wrongdoing. I think the reason why Donald won't release his taxes is he hasn't made nearly as much money as he claims he does."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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