Peter King lashed out at fellow Republican Ted Cruz after the Texas senator took a swipe at Donald Trump for having “New York values”.
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U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on December 29, 2015.
The prime-time GOP presidential debate has begun, just over two weeks before the first votes are cast in the 2016 contest.
Cruz also defended his failure to disclose loans of some $1 million from Wall Street banks on federal election forms during his 2012 Senate campaign, saying it was little more than a “paperwork error”. Cruz was born to an American mother, and most legal scholars agree that makes him a “natural born citizen” – a requirement by the Constitution for people to be US president.
Trump responded with indignation, saying New York City is home to “loving people, wonderful people”.
In the survey released Thursday, Sen.
The real estate developer effectively planted the idea in voters’ minds that Cruz’s Canadian birthplace could be a liability should Democrats challenge the Texas senator’s eligibility to run for president.
“On the issue of citizenship, Donald, I’m not going to use your mother’s birth against you”, Cruz said. And like so many other high-profile relationships, this one has ended with name-calling, friends choosing sides, and a bitter fight over who gets to keep all the supporters they earned during their time together.
The candidates seeking the support of more traditional Republican Party voters were eager to mix it up with each other.
The poll’s results offer some good news and some bad news for Trump as the Republican race moves ahead.
Former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida said “the world has been torn asunder” under the watch of Obama and former Secretary of State Clinton. In a likely preview of his debate tactics, Bush sharply criticized Trump on Wednesday for holding positions on taxes, guns and health care that he said were out of step with conservatives.
Jose Feliciano of Aurora liked Bush’s line about Hillary Clinton shuttling between the White House and the court house if she’s elected, but said every time Bush talks, “he reminds me of Will Ferrell doing an impression of his brother”. We need to stop that.
The debate is being sponsored by the Fox Business Network. Marco Rubio, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
The undercard debate between Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum has concluded.
Toward the conclusion, Cavuto was interrupted by a few audience members shouting a chant that sounded like “We want Rand!” – perhaps a reference to Rand Paul, who declined to take part in the evening’s earlier, under-card bout.
For Carson, who enjoyed a brief moment at the top of the national polls, this marks his first debate since a major campaign staff shakeup at the end of the year.
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Tonight’s debate – in North Charleston, SC – is the Republicans’ sixth overall debate, their first one of 2016, and their next-to-last one before the February 1 Iowa caucuses. Associated Press writers Catherine Lucey in Des Moines and Melissa Nelson-Gabriel in Pensacola, Florida, contributed.
