“Mr. Trump is an outsider and does not fit his agenda”.
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The debate generated more interest than any Republican or Democratic debate ever, and it’s now one of the highest rated cable television programs of all time, the Nielsen ratings service reported Friday.
Right off the bat, when moderator Megyn Kelly went after Trump for his past comments about women, the tension on the debate stage was palpable and the tone for the first part of the event was prickly, at best.
“Ultimately, we have a deep bench of candidates”, Pilgrim added.
Referring to Kelly’s questions, Trump told CNN in an interview late Friday, “There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever”. “It just was wrong”, he said.
But I also think that while Mr. Trump resonates with a lot of people with his bluntness, including me to a degree, there are just real lines of decency a person running for President should not trust.
Trump was unbowed by the dumping. “Blame Erick Erickson, your weak and pathetic leader”, according to a campaign statement. Trump told CNN on Saturday that “you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes”. He later cited his impatience for “political correctness” as justification for his many remarks.
In a statement today, Trump’s campaign called Erickson a “total loser” who “has a history of supporting establishment losers in failed campaigns”. They said they stood with the journalist.
“Mr. Trump is touching a nerve”, said Ohio Governor John Kasich, “because people want the wall to be built”.
Former Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, who now runs the conservative Heritage Foundation, said the ideological and personality struggle within the party as it searches for a nominee is a good thing, partly because he believes conservative activists are winning.
While there were not yet official poll results ranking the debate’s top performer, social media offered an early indication of who grabbed potential voters’ attention.
Although Trump is fighting for the Republican’s nomination he has not ruled out standing as an independent candidate.
Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson was a distant second on Twitter and came in second to Trump on Facebook.
“Trump also slammed “‘politically correct’ fools in our country”, tweeting that “we have to all get back to work and stop wasting time and energy on nonsense!” But they no doubt saw enough Thursday night to begin to worry about what a general election pitting a vulnerable Clinton against one of the non-Trumps could portend. The sometimes combative nature of the debate made it hard for more measured candidates like former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who is No. 2 in the polls, to make an impact. I think I handled it well. She didn’t have a choice because I gave.
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“What I say is what I say”, Trump said.
