The rollicking opening to the party’s first presidential debate was par for the course for Trump, a flamboyant billionaire who has been the centre of campaign attention for weeks for his personal attacks on rivals and his scathing comments about Senator John McCain’s war record and about Mexican immigrants.
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While Trump was characteristically bombastic, most of the contenders standing alongside him clamored for their piece of the spotlight without engaging him directly. Now he is leading all the others in the opinion polls (averaging 23.4 per cent) and has become the man to beat.
Later in the debate, Bush cautioned that Trump’s “divisive” language could be detrimental to the Republican Party.
“I want to win, Bush said”. Carson said if ten percent is good enough for god, it should be more than enough for the government, proposing a flat rate with no loop-holes.
“I’ve been challenged by so many people and I don’t frankly have time for total political correctness”, he said.
“Get rid of ObamaCare and replace it with something that doesn’t suppress wages and kill jobs”, said former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
The former congressman, who attended a same-sex union shortly after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling made gay marriage legal nationwide, said that “issues like that are planted to divide us”. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul adds a libertarian twist to the Republican field.
So far, Trump has refused to promise to back the eventual GOP nominee – unless it’s him – and won’t rule out launching a third party bid.
“I will make no apologies ever for protecting the lives and the safety of the American people”, he said, arguing the government needs more tools, not fewer.
After weeks of hyper-ventilating and anticipation, the first official debate of the candidates is to take place in Cleveland, Ohio. Did you laugh at his comment? “Listen, senator, you know, when you’re sitting in a subcommittee, just blowing hot air about this, you can say things like that”, he said.
“If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be even talking about illegal immigration, Chris”, Trump said to Fox News host Chris Wallace.
“I know the difference between flat broke – apparently she doesn’t”, he said. The remaining seven were relegated to a pre-debate forum, a low-key event in a largely empty arena, where candidates avoided debating each other and mostly stuck to scripted responses on domestic and foreign policy.
But Carly Fiorina, a former business executive and the only woman in the Republican field, acknowledged Trump had tapped into a broad sense of frustration with Washington.
Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee took a strong position on pro-life when asked about person-hood.
It was an extraordinary start to the party’s quest to choose a flagbearer for the 2016 race to succeed President Barack Obama, only six months ahead of the first primary votes.
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An independent run for the White House by Trump likely would split the Republican vote, boosting the chances of victory for Hillary Clinton or another Democrat. Fox News used national polls to determine which 10 candidates would be on the stage, and several candidates were grouped together in the single digits – most separated by a number smaller than the polls’ margin of error.
