Rubio keeps up barrage against Trump, even belittling his bladder

Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. speaks during a rally, Friday, Feb. 26, 2016, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)

Less than 24-hours after the final GOP debate before Super Tuesday ended. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio appears to have ditched his well-rehearsed stump speech in favor of a full-out attack on rival Donald Trump.

Rubio, who was one of the most vocal critics of Trump during Thursday night’s debate, kept up the barrage of the real estate tycoon by mocking the candidate’s age, his business practices and his bladder control.

"He called me Mr. Meltdown," Rubio said during a rally in Texas. "Let me tell you, during one of the breaks — two of the breaks — he went backstage. He was having a meltdown. First he had this little makeup thing, applying makeup around his mustache, because he had one of those sweat mustaches. Then he asked for a full-length mirror. I don't know why, because the podium goes up to here. Maybe he was making sure his pants weren't wet. I don't know."

Similar to his attacks on Trump during the debate, Rubio unloaded on the real estate mogul’s failed businesses and ventures.

"This guy bankrupted a casino," Rubio said, according to the Washington Post. "How do you bankrupt a casino?"

The overall theme of Rubio’s speech was that Trump should not be leading the Republican Party or the country.

"It's time to pull his mask off so that people can see what we're dealing with here," said Rubio. "He runs on this idea that he's fighting for the little guy, but he's spent his entire career sticking it to the little guy."

Rubio’s speech in Dallas echoed his words on the morning shows on Friday, where he repeatedly called the billionaire businessman a "con artist.”

"A con artist is about to take over the Republican Party and the conservative movement, and we have to put a stop to it," Rubio charged on "CBS This Morning."

The comments come as the GOP presidential candidates barreled into the final stretch to Super Tuesday following after a name-calling, insult-trading, finger-pointing final debate in which Rubio and Ted Cruz engaged in a tag-team attacks intended to slow Trump's momentum.

"I've dealt with tougher," Trump sniffed after taking incoming flak for two-plus hours Thursday night. He said he knew the attacks would be coming because "They're desperate. They're losing by massive amounts."

Eleven states vote in Tuesday's mega-round of voting, with 595 delegates at stake. Trump, with three consecutive victories behind him, has the momentum, and his rivals know they have to change that in order to have any hope of derailing his steamroll toward the nomination.

As Trump's rivals ratcheted up their criticisms, a pro-Rubio super PAC also announced plans to start running new attack ads in key states Friday morning.

One of the ads charges that Trump "knows nothing about foreign policy." Another targets his business background, highlighting the businessman's use of "sleazy bankruptcy laws to avoid paying workers," and highlights his recent comment that he loves "the poorly educated."

The ads are part of a "significant part of a multi-state, multi-million dollar buy," said the pro-Rubio group's spokesman, Jeff Sadosky.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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