Marco Rubio, R-Fla., listens during a Republican presidential primary debate at Fox Theatre, Thursday, March 3, 2016, in Detroit.
Advertisement
There is a growing push among many Republican groups to find some way to keep Donald Trump from capturing the nomination.
Tempers escalated quickly at the two-hour debate and, as in previous encounters, the battle descended into taunts between Mr Trump, Mr Rubio and Mr Cruz with accusations of lying and even a reference to male genitalia.
“He hit my hands”.
Asked if he would support the Republican nominee if it’s not him, Trump said, “Yes I will”.
Lori Pesta, however, said the personas of Romney and other “establishment” candidates have failed to energize the American people.
“Look at those hands, are these small hands?”.
Holding them up to laughter among the crowd at the debate in Detroit, he continued: “If they are small, something else must be small”.
“I’ve wanted to be involved in the campaign, if you will, as a bit of a referee”.
Trump’s remarks, likely unprecedented in a United States presidential debate, appeared as the nadir of a campaign season already notable for its provocative and assaulting tone.
In advance of Thursday’s debate, Rubio signaled his intent to continue his efforts to unmask Trump as a “con artist” who hasn’t laid out serious policy proposals. Marco Rubio said if anyone deserves personal attacks in the race, it’s Trump because of all the insults he’s hurled.
Instead, Romney said he would support one of the three non-Trump candidates: Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, or John Kasich.
“You have to show a degree of flexibility”, he said, before his rivals slated him.
The party’s 2008 White House nominee, Senator John McCain, said he shared Romney’s concerns and those expressed by top national security experts, calling Trump’s statements “uninformed and indeed risky ” . Ted Cruz, and Ohio Gov.
“I’ll support the Republican nominee”, he said, citing the importance of keeping Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders from occupying the Oval Office.
Trump then noted that Rubio had mocked his hands as small, widely viewed as an insult about Trump’s sexual prowess, and declared, “I guarantee you, there’s no problem” in that area. “Obviously, he wants to be relevant”, Trump said dismissively.
Rubio and Trump clashed again over Trump’s real estate “university” and Rubio humanized it by saying he had spoken with a “victim”.
Advertisement
Pawlenty said there’s still time to defeat Trump.
