“I don’t frankly have time for total political correctness”, Trump said during the debate. “We’re not going to win by doing what Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton do every day – dividing the country”.
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Paul and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie got into a shouting match at one point over a disagreement on the Patriot Act and the country’s surveillance program – a beef that had been building for weeks. Asked the obvious follow-up – what did he get? – and perhaps aware that some potential answers could cause him a lot of trouble, he said that he had purchased her attendance at one of his weddings. The two have famously feuded for years, with Trump tweeting last year, “Rosie is crude, rude, obnoxious and dumb – other than that I like her very much!” “But when you’re number one in the polls, I guess that’s what happens”.
The 10 candidates, selected by Fox News on the basis of recent national polls, provided a frank and bruising exchange of views during their first debate on the road in Cleveland, Ohio. He won applause when he said “If I’m our nominee, how is Hillary Clinton gonna lecture me about living paycheck to paycheck?”
(Christie) “No… I’ll tell you how…” Deflecting earlier criticism of his support for immigration reform, Rubio said you can build a wall, but can we stop El Chapo from tunneling under it? A few moments later, he ripped a moderator who asked Trump about his disparaging comments about women. “He’s already hedging his bet on the Clintons, okay?”
Friday, he told Willie Geist of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe“, “I just don’t think it’s very professional”.
Ten leading candidates for the nomination faced off in Cleveland, and some fared better than others. “The Democrats can’t even find one”.
Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, tried hard to recite his record as governor but often seemed forgotten. Sen.
As he walked away from Republican headquarters, Ed Rogel said he was pleased at the field, but nowhere near ready to make up his mind. “The bar is even higher for me”.
“Really wonderful that so many people are running at this time”.
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Trump’s performance cooled down as the debate went on, but it still left little room for his Republican rivals to stand out on a night where each appeared to arrive with a clear strategy to do just that. Having devoted several days to debate preparation, he came off as scripted in what was his first formal debate in more than a decade. Wallace asked Trump to provide proof for his earlier statement that the Mexican government is sending criminals to the United States, and later questioned him on how he could be trusted to run the nation’s economy when his companies have declared bankruptcy four times.
