At a First In The Nation forum for candidates in Nashua, New Hampshire, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush was notably withering in his criticism of Trump, calling him a fake conservative with a liberal past and a tendency to insult people.
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“I would just encourage you to ask a question: Where were they then?”
Trump mocked Beck’s rally for Cruz, saying, “Glenn’s a loser, just so you understand, this guy is a serious loser”.
The latest Reuters-Ipsos tracking poll had Trump pulling in 40.6 percent support of Republican voters nationally.
Cruz picked up the endorsement of conservative firebrand Glenn Beck, a counterweight of sorts to Trump’s endorsement by 2008 vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.
No federal elected official has yet to endorse Trump although others, like Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, have appeared at Trump rallies.
With a huge opinion poll lead, Donald Trump has boasted he could shoot somebody in the middle of NY and still not lose votes. “I like people that weren’t captured, OK?”
“I’d like you to hold onto that”, he said, passing Cruz the compass, “to make sure your compass is square and you stay true” to your values.
Kicking off his close-out tour before the Iowa caucuses in nine days, the Texas senator argued that Trump’s proposal was merely a “touchback” program that immediately allows the undocumented back over the border after Trump would deport them. “He doesn’t get to pretend it’s not amnesty when he’s making 12 million people here illegally into 12 million US citizens”.
“I hope he runs”, Trump told reporters in Pella.
“Beck compared Cruz to the 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, and gave him a compass that belonged to the first one, George Washington”. Audiences did not respond to the Trump broadsides like they do to Cruz’s usual dose of red meat, only awarding tepid applause when Cruz pointed out Trump’s immigration record.
“I’m happy to be here with such an enthusiastic group and this candidate”.
The Republican primary race had prospective voters reaching for their scorecards again today as the mounting rivalry between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz brought forth another high-profile endorsement. Grassley sat in the front row of the theater at Central College.
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He said Cruz is the only candidate in the field who can defeat GOP front-runner Donald Trump in the Iowa caucuses.
