Photo

CARSON CITY, Nev. — The slogan is now synonymous with Donald J. Trump’s campaign: “Make America Great Again.” It is embroidered on the hats he sells for $25 and often seen printed on homemade T-shirts and signs at his rallies across the country.

But Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, one of the many Republicans challenging Mr. Trump for the party’s presidential nomination, says Mr. Trump misses the point. And lately, Mr. Rubio has taken to criticizing the billionaire developer for giving America short shrift.

In a campaign stop here in Northern Nevada on Tuesday, Mr. Rubio insisted that Mr. Trump’s claim implied that America wasn’t great, when he said nothing could be further from the truth.

“There’s one other candidate running, he says he’s going to make America great again,” Mr. Rubio told a crowd of about 200 people at a community center here. “I understand what he means by that. I don’t mean that as a slight.”

“I would remind everyone America is great,” Mr. Rubio continued. “There’s no nation on earth I would trade places with. There’s no other country I would rather be. The issue is not that we’re not great. The issue is whether we will remain great. The issue is, we can be even greater than we are now. We can be even more prosperous, more powerful.”

Notably, Mr. Rubio refrained from mentioning Mr. Trump by name, no doubt aware of his opponent’s propensity for taking delight in filleting people who criticize him too harshly.