Cruz, a chief antagonist of Republican leaders in Washington. She continued to respond throughout the debate, hitting the Republican candidates on guns control, their refugee policies and planned responses to threats from terror groups like the Islamic State.
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Paul has argued that some policies, like arming certain factions of Syrian rebels to overthrow ISIS, has led to the rise of the Islamic State in the region.
Donald Trump (lef) reaches out to Senator Ted Cruz as they talk during a commercial break during the Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas, Nevada December 15, 2015. He said that very simply because he has failed in this campaign. Cruz – angling for Trump supporters – wouldn’t echo his private criticism of Trump’s judgment and didn’t pile on Trump’s proposed Muslim ban, saying “I understand” what motivated his proposal.
“For God’s sakes, pick somebody who is worthy of the sacrifice of people fighting this war”, he said. Bush saying, “This is not a serious proposal. He’s just fine – don’t worry about it”, Trump said.
The real estate developer and reality TV star said during a debate in Las Vegas that his proposal is not about religion, but about security. “We have a president who is unwilling to utter its name”, said Cruz. “This will not be an evening in paradise for me”. “Do we agree?” he asked. But during the debate, it was Senator Marco Rubio of Florida who took aim at the Texan.
Instead, the two first-term senators – both Cuban-Americans in their 40s – engaged in lengthy exchanges over their differences on national security and immigration, one of the most contentious issues in the Republican primary.
Rubio positioned himself as the hawk on national security, defending US efforts to oust dictators like Syria’s Bashar Assad in the Middle East. He also accused Cruz of weakening the government’s ability to track terrorists because he voted in favor of legislation to eliminate the National Security Agency’s bulk phone-records collection program and replace it with a more restrictive effort to keep the records in phone companies’ hands. Rubio said. “And the answer better not be, ‘Because we didn’t have access to records or information that would have allowed us to identify these killers before they attack'”. “We need toughness.” Then he attacked Bush as being soft on immigration from Mexico, because it’s all the same to him. Cruz, Rubio, and Cruz all clock in above 13 minutes.
Caption + Instant polls showed U.S. Sen.
After his relegation to the undercard debate last time out, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie sought to make the most of his return trip to the main event stage.
Their rivalry could become one of the dominant forces in the race as the first voting contests in February draw near.
Cruz, who’s been surging in the polls in Iowa, had the most speaking time of the debate, with 16 minutes and 27 seconds, according to POLITICO. He’s hanging his White House hopes on a strong finish in New Hampshire, where he’s winning important endorsements and climbing in preference polls. But later on, they love me.
Happy to showcase his foreign-policy expertise, Rubio held his own, at one point even joking that he was grateful for Kentucky Sen. While four candidates slugged it out early, the main debate had nine candidates.
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As with each of the previous GOP debates, there will be a “first debate” at 6:00 p.m. ET during which Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Lindsey Graham and George Pataki will have their say.
