As Marco Rubio returns to New Hampshire, he faces New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a rival who has been laying groundwork in the state since August.
Rubio exits Iowa with political momentum, but Christie unloaded on the freshman senator, calling him the “boy in the bubble,” suggesting he was hiding from voters and the media.
In response, Rubio spokesman Joe Pounder dismissed Christie’s attack as a bunch of “hot air” and attacked his political record in New Jersey.
“No amount of hot air or made-up facts can distract from Chris Christie’s liberal record of supporting Common Core, gun control, abortion rights, Planned Parenthood, and Obama’s liberal judicial picks,” Pounder said in a statement to Breitbart News.
The attack is not new. The Pro-Rubio Super PAC began the year hitting Chris Christie for being a “high-tax, Common Core, liberal-energy loving, Obamacare Medicaid-expanding president” like President Obama. Rubio has declared those attacks accurate and has been highlighting Christie’s record on the stump.
In response, Christie has criticized Rubio’s inexperience and his record on immigration reform, pointing out that the freshman senator fled his “Gang of Eight” attempt to give illegal immigrants amnesty.
Christie pointed out during an interview with Laura Ingraham this morning that Rubio did the opposite of what he promised to give to voters in Florida when he was elected.
“It’s not something that’s going to be greatly appealing or uniting for our party,” Christie said.
But that won’t stop the Rubio from repeating that he is the best candidate to run against Hillary Clinton.
”I think people realize on the Republican side that we cannot afford, this country cannot afford, to lose this election and that I give the party the best chance not just to unify the conservative movement but to grow it, to take our message to people that don’t vote Republican now, grow our party, grow our movement and defeat Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders,” Rubio said in an interview with Good Morning America this morning.
That’s the line the Rubio campaign is selling in New Hampshire, as they are focused on message discipline.
“Marco is the only candidate who can unite conservatives and beat Hillary Clinton,” Pounder said in his statement to Breitbart News.
In the last debate in Iowa, Rubio ignored the opportunity to attack Christie on the stage in favor of a positive message. In Saturday’s debate in New Hampshire, however, expect Christie to take Rubio head-on.
“Let’s get the boy in the bubble out of the bubble, and lets see him play for the next week in New Hampshire,” Christie said in New Hampshire this morning. “I’m ready to play, I hope he is, because I’ll be ready to see him on Saturday night.”
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