MANCHESTER, N.H. — A malfunctioning Marco Rubio crashed as he was overloaded by attacks last night from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who tried to portray the Florida U.S. senator as a Washington robot pre-programmed by political consultants during a high-stakes Republican debate.

“See, Marco — Marco — the thing is this,” Christie said, “when you’re president of the United States … the memorized 30-second speech where you talk about how great America is at the end of it doesn’t solve one problem for one person.”

Rubio’s glitchy debate performance could be a game-changer just as independents make up their minds two days before the crucial first-in-the-nation primary. The first-term senator’s rivals have raised concerns he’s too inexperienced — just like, they say, President Obama was — and isn’t ready for prime time.

Four different times — often word-for-word and at awkward non-sequiturs — Rubio claimed Obama intentionally wants to make America like the rest of the world.

“Here’s the bottom line. This notion that Barack Obama doesn’t know what he’s doing is just not true. He knows exactly what he’s doing,” said Rubio, repeating the line for a third time in a matter of minutes.

“There it is. There it is,” pounced Christie. “The memorized 25-second speech. There it is, everybody.”

Expectations were rising for Rubio, who had been hitting the ground hard to ever-growing Granite-State crowds. But critics have argued “Marco-mentum” is nothing more than media-created hype, polishing up an otherwise lackluster third-place Iowa finish.

“It’s 100 percent based off the media’s perception of exceeding expectations,” said unaligned GOP strategist Dave Carney, a former political director for President George H.W. Bush. “There’s nothing he’s done to generate that.”

Rubio fired back at Christie, accusing him of neglecting New Jersey to campaign during last month’s blizzard, saying the state had to “shame him into going back.”

“It gets very unruly when he gets off his talking points,” responded Christie.

Earlier, Christie tried to discount one of Rubio’s self-proclaimed accomplishments by pointing out his poor Senate attendance record.

“The fact when you talk about the Hezbollah Sanctions Act … as one of your accomplishments … you weren’t even there to vote for it,” said Christie. “That’s not leadership, that’s truancy.”

The debate — held at Saint Anselm College and moderated by ABC News’ David Muir and Martha Raddatz — marked perhaps the last stand for moderates like Christie, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, as New Hampshire is a must-win for them.

Meanwhile, front-runner Donald Trump and Bush battled back and forth over eminent domain with Bush accusing Trump of using the legal maneuver to take property for a “limousine parking lot for his casinos.”

“He wants to be a tough guy,” said Trump. “And it doesn’t work very well.”

“How tough is it to take property from an elderly woman?” replied Bush.

Trump responded by shushing Bush: “Quiet.”