The race for Republican presidential nomination has turned into the nation's first R-rated political contest.
As Donald Trump continues his reign as GOP frontrunner and Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz struggle to tear him down, the tenacious trio are resorting to cheap innuendo and gutter talk as they rip into each other.
Here's the evidence:
- Trump calls Marco Rubio a "low life," a "nasty guy" and a "choke artist."
- Rubio implies Trump's private parts are substandard, telling supporters, "You know what they say about men with small hands."
- Trump, a graduate of the prestigious Wharton School, quips, "The Rubios of the world could not get into that school. Oy. They don't have the capacity."
- Rubio rips Trump's appearance, saying he has "the worst spray tan in America" and "should sue whoever did that to his face."
- Trump repeatedly criticizes Rubio for being "sweaty," and once quipped, "He sweats more than any young person I've ever seen in my life!"
- Rubio insinuates Trump urinated on himself, saying the developer needed a full length mirror to make sure "his pants weren't wet."
- Trump calls Ted Cruz a crude name for a woman's private parts as he repeated what one his supporters yelled out.
- Cruz tells supporters, "To the parents: Would you be proud of your children if they came home and repeated the words of Donald Trump?" Cruz later uses a mild curse, telling voters to say "this is my country, damn it!"
- Trump gives Cruz a backhanded compliment, remarking "Cruz is smarter than Rubio. I will let you know in a few months who's a better liar."
- Cruz speculates Trump is wary release his tax returns because of his "business dealings with the mob, with the mafia."
- Trump calls Cruz "a little baby: soft, weak, little baby."
On Saturday, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who has avoided the insults and scatological cracks, wagged his finger at his fellow candidates.
"Enough of this trash. Be better than that. We're America," he said during a campaign stop in Nashville.
But with the Super Tuesday and March 15 "winner takes all" primaries coming up, it's highly unlikely the mudslinging will stop.