washington republican presidential candidate marco rubio receive boost monday drive become mainstream republican alternative front-runner donald trump string high-profile endorsements missteps rival ted cruz campaign rubio eked second-place finish south carolina primary few 1,000 vote cruz saturday rack endorsements prominent republicans include u.s. senator orrin hatch utah arkansas governor asa hutchinson former presidential candidate bob dole rubio cruz come south carolina sharp criticism trump sweep southern state comfortable margin victory time two senators rivalry intensify sour cruz fire main spokesman rick tyler monday afternoon video falsely show rubio dismiss bible tyler apologize late sunday post inaccurate story involve video purport show rubio refer bible say many answer it tyler retweeted link mislead video post facebook cruz fire tyler next day say campaign question faith candidates ask rick tyler resignation cruz say first-term senators texas florida lock battle become party alternative political outsider trump nevada caucus tuesday last republican presidential contest busy vote month march tyler dismissal come amid intense criticism cruz campaign dishonest rubio trump rubio spokesman alex conant call cruz candidate will say anything get elect urge apologize culture cruz campaign top bottom lie big trick dirty say trump seize opportunity pile cruz repeatedly characterize liar wow ted cruz falsely suggest marco rubio mock bible force fire communications director dirty trick billionaire businessman new york say twitter ted cruz apologize marco rubio ben carson fraud dirty trick wonder lose evangelical support continue trump deride cruz fail live expectations would get solid support evangelical christians south carolina trump big winner state saturday finish ahead rubio 10 percentage point opinion poll show rubio cruz run close nevada candidates hope get boost go contest dozen state march 1. super tuesday crown jewel state-by-state nominate contest pick republican democratic candidates nov. presidential election rubio monday also secure back three republican leaders nevada u.s. senator dean heller u.s. representatives cresent hardy mark amodei senator hatch say unlike many republican establishment dislike trump feel rubio serious candidate feel background able really help turn mess around hatch tell reuters additional report emily stephenson megan cassella susan cornwell eric beech write doina chiacu edit frances kerry jonathan oatis article fund part sap independently create reuters editorial staff sap editorial involvement creation production rubio get boost republican endorsements cruz missteps