GOP rivals barrel toward Super Tuesday after wild debate
HOUSTON (AP) — The GOP presidential candidates barreled into the final stretch to Super Tuesday after a name-calling, insult-trading, finger-pointing final debate in which Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz engaged in a tag-team attack intended to take down front-runner Donald Trump before it's too late.
Trump, with three straight victories behind him, has the momentum, and his rivals know they have to change that dynamic to have any hope of derailing his streamroll toward the nomination.
Rubio was the principal aggressor, spitting out a steady stream of criticism on everything from Trump's position on immigration to his privileged background, his speaking style and more.
Cruz was happy to pile on, too, questioning the front-runner's conservative credentials, foreign policy savvy and electability.
Not long after that, he took on Trump's declaration that he'd build a wall on the Mexican border, declaring: "If he builds a wall the way he built Trump Tower he'll be using illegal immigrant labor to do it."
Trump, known for his frequent use of coarse and profane language on the campaign trail, scolded former Mexican President Vicente Fox for using a profanity in talking about Trump's plan for the wall.
After Trump mocked Rubio for his meltdown in a previous debate when the Florida senator repeated rote talking points, Rubio swatted back in kind, scolding Trump for spouting the same phrases over and over: Everyone's dumb.
Making light of Cruz's repeated attempts to diminish him, Trump said: "Keep fighting, keep swinging, man, swing for the fences."