US ELECTION 2016: FIVE INSULTS TRADED BY TRUMP AND RUBIO

It's been an extraordinary 24 hours in the poisonous relationship between Republican presidential candidates Marco Rubio and Donald Trump.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio landed some jabs on Mr Trump during Thursday night's debate, and the two of them continued their verbal assaults the next day.

Mr Rubio appeared on morning shows and then at Texas rallies to describe the billionaire businessman as, among other things, a "con-artist" who was hijacking the Republican party.

His rival, who has won three states and is the clear favourite to be the Republican nominee, hit back by calling the senator "low-life".

There were also some unexpected forms of mockery. Here's a selection.

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1. Wearing make-up

Image copyrightReuters

Image captionFrom sweating and wearing makeup to drinking too much water, the insults have been flying

Mr Trump ridiculed Mr Rubio for applying make-up backstage at the debate, saying it looked like he put it on with a trowel. He even suggested he needs make-up to cover up his ears.

Mr Rubio said he saw Mr Trump applying makeup backstage, as well, because he had a "sweat moustache" he needed to cover up.

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Image copyrightAshley Gold

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2. Drinking water

People have been ridiculing Marco Rubio for his love of drinking water ever since he paused for a sip during his State of the Union response speech in 2013 on national television.

During his remarks in Texas on Friday, Mr Trump did an extended impression of Mr Rubio gasping for air.

He tossed a water bottle, sprayed the crowd with it and said "It's Rubio!"

Image copyrightTwitter

Image copyrightTwitter

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3. Sweating

Mr Trump poked fun at Mr Rubio's sweating habits, calling him a "nervous basket case" who perspires more than anyone he had ever seen.

"It's disgusting," he said. "We need somebody that doesn't have whatever it is that he's got."

Image copyrightTwitter

Image copyrightTwitter

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4. Misspelled tweets

Mr Rubio ridiculed Mr Trump for a series of misspelled tweets, which he later deleted. He misspelled "choker", "lightweight" and "honour".

He said the only way to explain the tweets is "that's how they spell at the Wharton School of Business," at the University of Pennsylvania, where Mr Trump attended, or "he must have hired a foreign worker to do his own tweets".

Image copyrightTwitter

Image copyrightTwitter

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5. Wet trousers

Mr Rubio said that backstage at the debate, Mr Trump requested a full-length mirror, presumably, "to make sure his pants weren't wet".

"He called me Mr Meltdown. Let me tell you something, last night in the debate, during one of the breaks - two of the breaks - he went backstage, he was having a meltdown," said Mr Rubio.

CREDIT: BBCNEWS

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