WASHINGTON -- GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump drew boos from a heavily supportive conservative crowd on Friday after going after opponent and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
"You have this clown Marco Rubio," he said at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C., before being interrupted by the crowd.
Trump pushed forward, adding a backhanded compliment to Rubio for being true to himself on immigration -- an issue in which there is "nobody weaker," according to the business mogul.
"He's in favor of immigration and he has been -- he has been with the gang of eight and you remember the gang of eight. It was terrible," Trump said, referring to the comprehensive immigration reform bill Rubio helped draft but has since backed away from.
"And then he went down in the polls," Trump continued. "And you have to say, you know what, if you believe in something you have to be true to yourself. You have to be."
Rubio received a warm reception at the same conference earlier in the day, including a standing ovation when he told the crowd that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) was stepping down.
Trump has ramped up his criticism of Rubio recently, although his aides deny that the candidate feels threatened.
"He doesn't think about Marco Rubio. Marco Rubio doesn't mean anything to him," Trump executive vice president Michael Cohen said earlier Friday on CNN's "New Day."
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