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Chris Christie attacked the Florida senator. “The problem with Marco is he’s a choke artist,” Trump told CNN’s Chris Cuomo, referring to a previous debate in which New Jersey Gov. Related: Sorry, Donald, But Hispanic Voters Just Aren’t That Into You The exchange, in all its Trumpian mean-girl splendor, is worth rehashing at length. He even suggested that Rubio has some sort of physical disorder that makes him sweat excessively. Why? Because, as Trump typically does when he feels threatened, he lapsed into Middle School mode, attacking Rubio on his appearance, rather than substance. Putting aside the effectiveness of the attacks in terms of voter persuasion, though, it was clear from a post-debate interview that Trump gave to CNN that Rubio’s attacks, in particular, had left a mark. If Trump’s opponents had picked up this free ammunition months ago, he might not be headed into Super Tuesday with a massive lead in 9 of the 11 states that will be awarding delegates five days from now. Rubio, for example, repeatedly referred to a decades-old lawsuit over immigrant workers as though it had just been filed.

And, oddly, virtually all of the attacks on Trump rolled out last night have been available to his opponents since the day he got into the race. The billionaire former reality television star has demonstrated a Rasputin-like ability to survive assaults that ought to destroy him. Related: For Trump, Super Tuesday Is Looking Pretty Superīut whether they will have much impact on Trump ‘s candidacy is, at this point, anybody’s guess. Ted Cruz each landed multiple blows on Trump that, in a real debate, would have been devastating. Rubio frequently interrupted Trump, attempting to talk over him or to interject sarcastic comments while the billionaire spoke. The two men clashed on any number of issues, from immigration to foreign policy to Obamacare. But one thing that seemed pretty clear from the aftermath of the two-and-a-half hour food fight in Houston last night is that Donald Trump knew he’d been hit hard by Marco Rubio. Ten debates into the Republican presidential primary, anybody who thinks they can predict the effect a single night’s back-and-forth will have on the individual candidates’ standing in the polls is either delusional or hasn’t been paying attention.

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