… because he will take it anyway.
But joking aside, his tactical abilities were on display today. Marco Rubio was making the rounds on media outlets this morning touting his debate performance as a knockout blow against Trump that would turn the tide in his favor although the verdict on that is decidedly equivocal. Since he has been chosen to be the establishment candidate to defeat Trump, he was sure to get a lot of positive media attention to bolster his claim.
Then suddenly Trump holds a press conference in Texas, and in walks Chris Christie who then enthusiastically endorses him, thus ensuring that this will be the dominant news story today, not Rubio’s attempt at a victory lap. Trump continued to pour scorn on Rubio’s penchant for wilting under pressure, saying that he saw Rubio backstage before the debate putting on makeup “with a trowel” presumably to prevent his perspiration, that people have made fun of, from showing.
As predicted, the Trump-Rubio fight is now going at full throttle. Christie and Trump piled on Rubio as a slacker weakling.
On Friday, Christie blasted Rubio’s escalating personal attacks against the billionaire, calling them an act of desperation. Christie added that Rubio represents the Washington establishment.
“I find it fascinating that somebody who barely shows up for work…is going to talk about somebody being unprepared,” Christie said.
“He’s a desperate guy,” Trump added later. “He is not presidential material. He doesn’t have the demeanor. He is a nervous nellie.”
…Speaking to thousands of Trump supporters later Friday afternoon, Christie again knocked Rubio: “President of the United States is not a no-show job like you treated the United States Senate.”
Given that Christie was at one time seen as a potential establishment candidate himself, this signifies a break in the anti-Trump coalition that the Republican party is seeking to build.
Rubio’s staff have to suck, to have not seen that coming. They must be a bunch of amateurs, did they forget Trump’s a media manipulator par excellence, a reality TV star, and as cunning and manipulative as those two things imply?
I can’t speak about Mr. Trump from where I’m sitting at the moment. However, Mr. Christie is no longer a candidate; and, having been a US Attorney, I would suspect that he would condition his support for any candidate for President, on his being nominated to be Attorney General if he wins. That also would explain his willingness to not only endorse one particular candidate, but then to actively campaign for said candidate, and against the other candidates.