The fifth republican presidential debate featured sharp exchanges between both old rivals and new ones who are moving up in the polls. Trump, who is leading in the polls, was also booed by the audience at one point of the debate. Polls published this week by Loras College and The Des Moines Register showed Cruz passing Donald Trump for the lead in Iowa with Rubio in third or fourth place. During the debate, Cruz alluded to that method while criticizing the “Obama administration’s policy of releasing criminal illegal aliens”, pointing out that former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton deported 10 million and 12 million people, respectively.
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“It’s not a war on faith”, he added.
But Bush didn’t seem fazed and stuck to a consistent strategy of attacking Trump’s proposals on raw efficacy, rather than principle.
“We’re not talking about religion”.
Tashfeen Malik, a Muslim woman from Pakistan and her husband, USA citizen Syed Rizwan Farook, were killed by police after the shooting. Rand Paul slapped back at Christie by saying if America really wants WWIII then Christie is the candidate to choose with rhetoric like shooting down a Russian plane. “I thought it was very unfair that virtually the entire early portion of the [undercard] debate was Trump this, Trump that, in order to get ratings, I guess”.
On the issue of the Muslim ban, the candidates have been walking a careful line with how to handle Trump, embracing the man that has been a force in the GOP primary thus far but dismissing a position which could be toxic in the general election.
In question were comments Senator Cruz said in a heated conversation at the presidential debate with fellow GOP Senator Marco Rubio. “In fact, it will push the Muslim world, the Arab world away from us at a time when we need to reengage with them to be able to create a strategy to destroy ISIS”.
Lindsey Graham, a US senator from SC with hawkish views on national security, was especially withering. He went on to say countries like India are not seeing problems that “we are seeing in nations that are controlled by Al Qaeda or ISIS” and that the focus should be to “defeat radical Islamic terrorism”. But Trump said he doesn’t benefit.
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“I think he stands up there and you realize he doesn’t know as much as every other person on that stage, that he doesn’t have the substance, and so he has to use smoke and mirrors to get through questions”, said Mackowiak.
