I noted last night that Marco Rubio had done to Donald Trump what Trump successfully did to Jeb Bush:
…. Marco Rubio was the first person in any of the debates to successfully take on Trump on a range of issues. Rubio mocked and belittled Trump in the humorous, mocking and highly effective manner that Trump used to make Jeb look small.
Mockery can be a very effective tactic against bullies, because it takes their strength and turns it into their weakness.
Rubio is on the stump today continuing the mockery, suggesting that Trump was panicking and may even have been worried he wet his pants, via Politico:
“He called me Mr. Meltdown. Let me tell you something, last night in the debate during one of the breaks, two of the breaks, he went backstage and he was having a meltdown,” Rubio claimed. ”First he had one of those makeup things applying around his mustache because he had one of those sweat mustaches. Then, then he asked for a full length mirror, I don’t know why because the podium goes up to here (gestures to stomach). I don’t know why maybe to make sure his pants weren’t wet.”
Even more so, Rubio called Trump’s tough guy act a charade:
“It’s time. The charade is up … a tough guy? This guy inherited $200 million. He’s never faced any struggle … Donald Trump has never punched anyone in the face. Donald Trump was the first guy that begged for secret service protection. First guy.”
Will this make a difference?
Probably not to Trump supporters. But it may help anoint Rubio as the leading non-Trump candidate, which is the position each of the four non-Trump remaining candidate’s seeks.
Much of the commentary post-debate was that it was too little, too late for Rubio. I guess time will tell.
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