Despite their best but futile efforts, billionaire business baron Donald Trump dominated the Republican presidential debates Thursday evening – if you are tallying up the points from a social media standpoint. His startling declaration left his onstage rivals scrambling to compete for attention the rest of the night.
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Donald Trump may have grabbed the most headlines from the night, but the prime-time debate didn’t yield a clear victor.
Trump added that “no one has spoken up as strongly against Hillary as I have”.
The closest anyone came later in the debate may have been former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who offered up a gentle critique.
“Mr. Trump’s language is divisive”, he said. “And I don’t mind having a big handsome door in that wall so that people can come into this country legally”, he said.
Trump in particular has pushed the issue of immigration throughout the summer.
When Paul criticized Christie for hugging President Barack Obama several years ago, Christie went for the jugular: “Senator Paul, you know, the hugs I remember are the hugs that I gave to the families who lost their people on September 11th”.
Trump’s Republican rivals have spent the summer grappling with how to manage his unexpected popularity.
The first GOP 2016 presidential debate was substantive, fast-paced, informative and fun, of all things.
While 17 Republicans are seeking the party’s nomination, only 10 were invited by debate host Fox News to participate in the main event. In all likelihood, Trump wasn’t likely to win the Republican nomination anyway.
While the candidates peppered their remarks with barbs about Clinton, they avoided lengthy attacks on her record as secretary of state and the deadly attack in Benghazi, Libya. Walker pointed out, “It’s sad to think that Russian Federation and China know more about Hillary Clinton’s e-mail server than the United States Congress”.
Rand Paul fulfilled the pundits’ predictions that it would be a low-polling candidate to vigorously go after Trump. He said he wanted to collect more information from terrorists, not law-abiding Americans. He said it was important for the U.S.to ensure it did not sell arms to outside forces.
But Trump’s greatest strength has always been that he can’t be cowed under any circumstances-even at times when he should be-and that his natural talent as a showman consistently wins the crowd over to his side. Trump refused to back down from his provocative assertions that Mexico’s government is deliberately sending illegal immigrants over the border.
Former senator Rick Santorum called the Supreme Court’s decision on same-sex marriage a “rogue” decision, comparing it to another ruling, Dred Scott, which said African Americans were not citizens, and was later overturned.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, the youngest candidate in the field at age 44, has tried to carve out a niche as a foreign policy authority, but has struggled to break through this summer – particularly since Trump’s surge. Baier noted that experts say a third-party run from a prominent candidate would kill the GOP’s chances of winning the election.
“This is the best debate ever”, Dave Kostenbader said. Ted Cruz, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, real estate mogul Donald Trump and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee all added between 4,000 and 6,000 followers.
The crowded field meant limited talking time for candidates, many of whom were introducing themselves to Americans for the first time. When Carson got only his second question, almost 45 minutes into the debate, he joked, “Thank you Megyn, I wasn’t sure I was going to get to talk again”.
Former Texas governor Rick Perry and former Hewlett-Packard chief Carly Fiorina launched the first assaults against Trump in the opening event in Cleveland, which featured the bottom seven candidates – according to polls – in a 17-strong field.
Perry – whose failed 2012 White House campaign was damaged by an embarrassing debate stumble – accused Trump of using “his celebrity rather than his conservatism” to fuel his run for president. “What are the principles by which he would govern?” she asked.
While the candidates pitched their visions for the Republican Party’s future, they also were making the case that they would present the strongest general election challenge Clinton.
Thursday’s debate is the first of six party-sanctioned forums scheduled before primary voting begins in February.
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The 10 candidates in Cleveland, selected by Fox News on the basis of recent national polls, provided a frank and bruising exchange of views.
