For one hour on Twitter Thursday night, people stopped fretting about Donald Trump dropping out of the debate and began chatting about Jim Gilmore dropping in. In doing so, he cast a shadow over his rivals, who frequently tossed barbs his way.
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But just days before Iowa’s leadoff caucuses, there were none of the breakout moments that have sometimes characterized the more colorful debates featuring Trump, battling Cruz for first place in the 2016 primary season’s opening contest. Though he had not appeared in a Republican debate since the first one last August.
Trump said Fox News Channel apologized to him for the network’s role in the conflict that led the presidential front-runner to back out of the debate, but it was too late for him to change his plans.
“Don’t like Trump, but it is definitely entertaining to listen to him spin”, Feliciano said. Bush, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have all devoted the bulk of their campaign resources to New Hampshire.
There were exceptions, of course, as Ted Cruz defended his authenticity and Marco Rubio faced pointed questions on immigration.
“I’m a maniac and everyone on this stage is stupid, fat and ugly, and Ben, you’re a bad surgeon”, Cruz told his rivals, including Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, as the debate opened. Biden says between Cruz and Trump, “I don’t know who to root for more”. But Cruz then continued, jovially, “Now that we’ve gotten the Donald Trump portion out of the way…” to some laughter. Kelly followed up: “Within two years of getting elected you were co-sponsoring legislation to create a path to citizenship-in your words, amnesty”.
While answering another question, he implied that he was down in the polls because the media was manipulating the public, and noted that the moderators had spent much more time speaking to his fellow candidate Carly Fiorina (as opposed to him). “The truth is, Ted, throughout this campaign, you’ve been willing to say or do anything to get votes”.
A third-party presidential run by Michael Bloomberg would be a long shot for the former New York City mayor but could help real estate mogul Donald Trump if he lands the Republican nomination, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
As for the debate, Trump predicted it would have far fewer viewers without him on the stage. To his credit, the former Virginia governor still doggedly maintains that he should be the next president of the United States.
Appearing at his own event in Des Moines, Iowa, Trump said that he couldn’t walk back his decision to skip the debate, despite what he said was a last minute plea by Fox to join the debate.
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Trump, with just one day’s notice on a weeknight, was able to fill to capacity a hall at Drake University that holds 700. And Trump’s positions on issues like immigration and fighting terrorism have often set the agenda. “When you’re treated badly, you have to stick up for your rights – whether we like it or not”. Earlier debates had as many as 11 candidates. It’s still unclear where that money’s going: Trump said the list of groups receiving the money would be announced, though by press time it was not available and many veterans groups have said they didn’t want to be drawn into political controversy.
