Marco Rubio vs. Donald Trump: the ‘choker’ vs. the ‘con man’

Leaks, in the world of politics, are common.

But dribbled-out information was not what Marco Rubio had in mind Friday in reference to Donald Trump.

What he was talking about, as Rubio put it, was making sure Trump’s “pants weren’t wet.”

Rubio relished telling voters at two rallies Friday in Dallas and Oklahoma City about how Trump acted during a TV commercial break from Thursday night’s acrimonious primary debate in Houston.

He dabbed his “sweat mustache,” Rubio said. He flailed his arms in “full panic mode.”

And then, according to Rubio, Trump “asked for a full-length mirror.”

“I don’t know why, because the podium goes up to here,” he said, signaling his midsection. “I don’t know why – maybe to make sure his pants weren’t wet.”

Behold what the Republican presidential election has become. To try to take down Trump, one of his chief opponents acted just like him.

“He would be the oldest person ever (to be elected) president,” Rubio said of Trump, who will turn 70 in June. He also gave a dramatic reading from the stage of Trump’s tweets mocking him. He purposely misread the ones where Trump tried to describe Rubio as “lightweight” and a “choker” but Trump spelled the words wrong.

“Some of the letters aren’t even close to each other on the keyboard!” Rubio marveled. “He must have hired foreign workers to handle his Twitter handle.”

He labeled Trump a “con man.”

Trump, meantime, branded Rubio “Mr. Meltdown” for flubbing his response to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in a previous debate.

“Once a choker, always a choker,” Trump declared at a news conference Friday in Fort Worth, Texas, where he received Christie’s endorsement.

From the lectern, Trump showed off a water bottle, reminiscent of the one the Florida senator grabbed during his 2013 State of the Union response.

“It’s Rubio!” Trump mimicked, spilling water and pretending to desperately need a sip.

Then he tossed the bottle behind him.