Rubio: Trump ‘underperformed’ in Nevada caucuses

Marco Rubio argued Wednesday that his Republican presidential rival Donald Trump had “underperformed” in the Nevada caucuses the previous night, which Trump took handily for his third consecutive win.

“Last time, Mitt Romney got over 50 percent, so Donald Trump actually underperformed [what] Mitt Romney did, not once but twice in this state,” Rubio said on “Fox and Friends,” referring to voting in 2008 and 2012.

Mitt Romney won the state in 2012 in a four-person race with Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum, compared to the five-person race currently playing out in the GOP. Romney also took more than 50 percent over six candidates in 2008.

Trump took 45.9 percent of the vote in the caucuses late Tuesday, followed by Rubio in second place, at 23.9 percent; Ted Cruz, at 21.4 percent; Ben Carson, at 4.8 percent; and John Kasich, at 3.6 percent.

“I’ve been saying this for a long time now: This is an unusual election. Throw out everything you know about presidential politics,” Rubio continued.

“Right now we have a situation where the majority of the Republican electorate, the majority of Republican voters in this country, do not want Donald Trump to be the nominee,” Rubio said.

“Until there’s some consolidation here, you’re not going to have an alternative to Donald Trump,” Rubio said, reiterating the point on NBC’s “Today” show during a later interview. But Rubio on Fox ruled out uniting with Cruz, with whom he is battling behind Trump, to take out the front-runner.

“Both Ted and I are running vibrant, national campaigns, so the voters are gonna have to provide consolidation. It’s not gonna be a deal between candidates. That just never happens, and it isn’t gonna happen now,” Rubio said.

Several states will hold voting next week in Super Tuesday, though Rubio shied away Wednesday from naming which states he would win.

“We feel great in every one of those states,” Rubio said.