Relentless in their attacks, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz leveled withering criticism at Donald Trump’s “flexible” policy positions and personal ethics in a Republican presidential debate Thursday that also featured a crude sexual reference from Trump.
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With the Florida and OH primary votes looming on March 15 as make-or-break for the anti-Trump forces, Trump provided some ammunition to his critics. In the last two Republican debates, Trump broke even in terms of positive and negative mentions, according to the firm’s analysis, while he enjoyed a 62.5 percent positive sentiment rating during the Republican debate before that.
Trump then noted that Rubio had mocked his hands as small, widely viewed as an insult about Trump’s sexual prowess, and, holding his hands up to the audience, he declared, “I guarantee you, there’s no problem” in that area. “He has spent a career convincing Americans that he’s something he’s not, in exchange for their money”, Rubio said. Kondik said there is some debate over whether state laws that force delegates to vote for their candidate on the first ballot are constitutional – a legal twist that may become more important down the road.
Trump supporters filled the front rows of the press conference and reacted to some questions from the press, including boos when one reporter asked about this week’s back-and-forth with Marco Rubio regarding the size of his hands. At its worst, Trump went on CNN to say of Kelly that “you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes”.
With the GOP race in chaos, establishment figures frantically are looking for any way to derail Trump, perhaps at a contested convention if no candidate can get enough delegates to lock up the nomination in advance. Cruz poked fun at Trump for interrupting, telling the businessman, “Breathe, breathe, breathe”. If he cannot win his home state, Rubio will find no path to the nomination. Trump has dubbed Rubio a “lightweight” and a “choker” and, at least once, “a lightweight choker”. He skipped the second Fox debate, in January in Des Moines, to protest Kelly’s presence. Marco Rubio, 106. It takes 1,237 delegates to win the party nomination.
“I’ll breathe, I’ll breathe”, Trump said. Mitt Romney, the 2012 nominee, argued forcefully against Trump on Thursday. Asked about using the military to target terrorists’ families, another practice he endorses, the Republican front-runner said he would give such orders and would be obeyed, “because I’m a leader”.
The idea of trying to snag the nomination from Trump at the convention already has proven controversial on the right.
But it is also possible the uproar could split Republicans, producing a third-party candidacy for the general election. “We can sit back and let them light their own dumpster fire and wait until they’re finished”, said Eddie Vale, spokesman for American Bridge, a Clinton-allied group which collects negative research on Republican candidates. Any Republicans ready to hold their nose and fall in line behind Trump might want to listen to his advice.
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Mainstream Republicans have blanched at Trump’s calls to build a wall on the border with Mexico, round up and deport 11 million undocumented immigrants and temporarily bar all Muslims from entering the United States. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. He has won 46 per cent of the delegates awarded so far, and he would have to increase that to 51 per cent in the remaining primaries.
