Three Republican presidential candidates sought to drum up support in Arkansas on Saturday, speaking to large crowds in Little Rock and Northwest Arkansas ahead of Tuesday's primary election.

Businessman Donald Trump attracted at least 5,000 to a noon rally Saturday at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport at Highfill, and officials said he would have drawn more if there had been more room.

On Saturday night, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas spoke to more than 1,000 at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Little Rock, while Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida held a late-night rally in Rogers, drawing about 1,500 people to Immanuel Baptist Church.

The candidates spoke about a number of issues, with one common thread being their attacks on one another.

In Highfill, people abandoned their cars as traffic backed up and started walking from as far as 2 miles away to try to see Trump, the GOP presidential front-runner, airport authorities confirmed.

Trump's campaign estimated that 2,000 people were turned away from the rally because of a lack of space. Airport authorities said they had no firm estimate on the number who were barred from entering. The crowd estimate of 5,000 was provided by airport administrator Scott Van Laningham, who said he reached that figure after consulting with airport security and fire prevention staff members.

Trump began speaking about 12:30 p.m., 30 minutes later than scheduled. He gave an hour-long speech in which he assailed institutions, rivals and individuals -- foreign and domestic.

"I don't need your money. I want you to vote," Trump told the cheering people who filled the Regional Jet Center hangar. Throughout his remarks, Trump touted his financial independence from the political donors that most other campaigns depend on to survive.

"Look at the guys giving Rubio and Cruz money," Trump said. "They are buying 100 percent control. Me, I'm self-funding."

On foreign trade, he said the United States has the worst trade agreements of any country, "because our trade agreements are negotiated by political hacks."

He repeated his claim that a wall can be built along the Mexican border and that Mexico would pay for it. In an interview after the speech, Trump said Mexico would pay for the wall rather than lose a trading relationship with the United States that benefits Mexico by $58 billion a year.

He criticized former Mexican President Vicente Fox for denying, with curse words, that Mexico would build such a wall. Trump called Fox "foul-mouthed."

Much of what he wants to do, Trump acknowledged after the rally, cannot be done without approval from Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court.

"I'll get it," he said. "I'm good at getting assent from people."

Trump said during the rally that his candidacy appeals to all voters -- rich, poor, well-educated, undereducated and those of any ethnicity.

He asked Hispanics in the audience for a show of hands, then said: "There are three Hispanics in Arkansas, and they're all right here."

That comment shows his ignorance, said Mireya Reith of Fayetteville, an organizer of a counter-rally Saturday who is active in registering Hispanics to vote in the state.

"Obviously, I want to correct Donald Trump by pointing out there are 200,000 Hispanics in Arkansas and that we have friends," Reith said.

"It is irresponsible for a political and social leader to take advantage of the privileges he has, when he has the ear of so many folks, to mislead them," Reith said. She expects "the highest participation [in the election] by the Hispanic community we've ever had this year, much higher than before."

Meanwhile, Trump rally attendees gave various reasons for supporting him, with several saying they appreciate his candor.

"Because he stands up and tells it the way it is," said Wayne Cook of Baxter Springs, Kan., when asked why he drove an hour and a half and stood in line four hours to attend Saturday's rally.

Judi Shannon of Bella Vista gave a different reason.

"I'm scared to death Hillary Clinton is going to win," she said, referring to the Democratic former U.S. secretary of state.

Cruz in Little Rock

Later Saturday in downtown Little Rock, people packed into a ballroom at the Doubletree Hotel, many of them waiting more than two hours to get a glimpse of the presidential candidate from Texas.

As Cruz flew from Montgomery, Ala., to central Arkansas, the crowd swelled beyond 1,000 people. Many of them clutched "Choose Cruz" signs.

The event, scheduled for 8 p.m., started about an hour late. During a speech that lasted nearly 30 minutes, Cruz said he'd be a better president than Trump and the rest of the candidates.

"For far too many years, we've seen deal-makers in Washington. Career politicians in both parties that go and make a deal, and the deal always benefits the rich and powerful. The deal always benefits big business and the special interests and Wall Street, and the people that get left behind are the working men and women of this country," he said.

Cruz singled out Trump for hiring large numbers of foreign workers at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla., instead of giving the jobs to his fellow countrymen.

Roughly 300 Americans had applied for those jobs; only 17 had been hired, Cruz said.

"Now, I understand, you bring in foreigners, you can pay them less. They don't cause any trouble. They're captive. They can't go work anywhere else. They don't have any power to leave you. I understand. Frankly, what he's doing is not that different from what a lot of other giant big-business folks do. Disney, a whole lot of others. But you know what, you don't get to do that, hire illegal immigrants, refuse to hire Americans and at the same time pretend you're fighting for hard-working Americans," Cruz said, as the crowd cheered.

Cruz portrayed himself as the only candidate who would bring fundamental change.

"Every candidate running for president on the Republican side, they all say they're going to stand up to Washington. Well you know, the natural follow-up question is, great, when have you ever stood up to Washington? When have you taken on not just Democrats, but leaders in your own party? You want to know who will stand up to Washington? Ask yourself one question. Who is Washington attacking?"

Cruz, who also is expected to attend 9:15 a.m. services today at Cross Church in Springdale, urged people to vote and to persuade others to go to the polls.

"Super Tuesday is three days away. It is the single most important day of this entire primary. The state of Arkansas is going to have a platform to speak to the country. To speak loudly," he said. "Do we want another Washington deal-maker that will sell us down the river? Or do we want a principled constitutionalist who will stand with the working people?"

The people who gathered to see Cruz expressed confidence that he'd provide strong leadership.

Wayne Rose, 76, traveled from Heber Springs to see his choice for president, arriving more than an hour early. It was the first time he'd attended a campaign rally since he was a child, he said.

Rose said he'd vote for Cruz on Tuesday because, "I think he's a Christian, and I believe he'll do what he says he'll do."

Asked whether Cruz would carry Arkansas, Rose said "I have no idea, but I'm going to vote for him -- win, lose or draw."

Rubio in Rogers

Late Saturday, Rubio stumped in Rogers. He appeared to compare Trump with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

"You have a lunatic in North Korea trying to get access to nuclear weapons," Rubio said. "We have a lunatic in America trying to get hold of them, too."

State Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, said he believed Rubio was referring to Trump. Hester is Rubio's campaign manager in Arkansas.

Rubio was introduced Saturday night by Hester and Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

"It was my intention just a week ago to stay out of this race," Hutchinson said. "Then I saw what was happening with the negative turn. I saw what was at stake for our country. ... I voted today, and I voted for Marco Rubio."

The governor spoke out against Trump in a statement before Rubio arrived Saturday.

"It is up to Arkansas to stop the Donald Trump show," the statement said. "The next generation of conservatives cannot allow Donald Trump to take everything we stand for and throw it away. Marco Rubio has shown that he is the only candidate that can take the fight to Trump and win. If conservatives are serious about stopping him, then we need to unify behind Marco to win in November."

Rubio continued his attacks on Trump during his 40-minute speech, saying Trump is a "con man" who conned people with his Trump University and is trying to con American voters now. The university, which was based in New York, is the subject of a civil lawsuit alleging that it defrauded students.

"I want to tell you a story about a fake university called Trump University," Rubio said. "If they had a football team, they'd be 0-10."

Rubio said some people borrowed $35,000 to go through the program at Trump University and got nothing to show for it other than a photograph with a cutout of Trump.

Trump spent much of his speech Saturday defending Trump University. He said he would win the lawsuit and would have settled the case if he weren't certain of winning.

Rubio also criticized Trump for refusing to take sides in Arab-Israeli peace talks.

"I'm going to take sides," said Rubio. "I'm going to be on Israel's side."

Shortly afterward, a man in the crowd yelled, "Who would Jesus bomb?" three times before being escorted from the room.

Rubio also told the crowd in Rogers that he grew up learning the meaning of hard work. His mother was a maid, and his father was a bartender, he said.

"I grew up paycheck to paycheck," said Rubio. "I didn't inherit $100 million."

If elected, Rubio said he would rebuild the military, repeal the federal health care law commonly referred to as Obamacare and reduce government regulations.

Rubio said he wanted to "undo the damage" President Barack Obama has done.

As president, Rubio said he would appoint U.S. Supreme Court judges who believe in the original meaning of the Constitution, not in a living, breathing Constitution.

Harsh words

Trump in recent days has spoken about constitutional issues, saying he would weaken First Amendment protections for reporters if he were president and make it easier for him to sue them.

He repeated those comments Saturday and assailed journalists, whom he called "the most dishonest people on earth."

But Trump saved his harshest criticism for Rubio and Cruz.

"I've met much tougher people, but I've never met people who could lie like them," Trump said of the two senators.

"Little Rubio has a fresh mouth," Trump said. "I thought Ted Cruz was a liar. Rubio is worse."

Cruz recently apologized to rival candidate Ben Carson after Cruz's campaign acknowledged that it had told some Carson supporters in Iowa that Carson had dropped out of the primary race before the Republican caucus there.

"If we had a strong Republican Party, it would have disqualified him," Trump said of Cruz.

The reaction from Cruz's supporters in Arkansas was strong.

"The record shows Trump's the liar, and if he's met tougher people I wonder if he caved to them like we all saw him cave the other night" in Thursday's GOP presidential debate, said Rep. Bob Ballinger, R-Hindsville, Cruz's Arkansas campaign chairman. "He's a big joke, and the American people are waking up to the fact that he's a sideshow barker."

Before Trump arrived at the Northwest Arkansas airport Saturday, an announcement was made that he respects the First Amendment as much as the Second Amendment but that protesters wouldn't be tolerated in the rally. There was a place for them outside, it said.

"Please do not harm or touch the protesters," the announcement said. "This is a peaceful rally."

Former U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins of Little Rock, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and a member of Trump's campaign staff, spoke at the event before Trump's private plane landed there.

Cummins and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who flew to Arkansas with Trump, were sworn in as U.S. attorneys on the same day, have worked together on government task forces and know each other well, Christie said in an interview after the rally.

Christie dropped out of the presidential race earlier this month and then endorsed Trump. He said in his post-rally interview that an attempt to remove Cummins as a U.S. attorney in 2007 by Republican leaders was an example of why Republicans are now "looking for someone who knows what loyalty and standing up for something means. That would not have happened with Donald Trump as president."

After Trump's address, Vicky Noeltner of Rogers said the rally was "the funnest thing I've ever done in my life."

She held a placard in her hands that was signed with the word "Trump."

"I got his signature," she said. "I'm going to have it laminated. I'm going to have it put up and passed down, because he's going to be the greatest president we've ever had."

A Section on 02/28/2016