Trump, with 10 state victories, continues to dominate the conversation and the delegate count.
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“Lying Ted”, Trump shot back.
The 9 p.m. EST (0200 GMT Friday) debate, hosted by Fox News, will be the candidates’ first face-to-face gathering since Super Tuesday nominating contests this week that gave extra momentum to Trump but did not knock out his rivals.
Facebook’s most-discussed moment: Donald Trump defending his … hands.
Holding up both hands to the audience, the Republican said: “He (Rubio) referred to my hands, “if they’re small, something else must be small”. “The reason he doesn’t like me is because I said you shouldn’t run because you’re a choke artist. I guarantee you”, Trump responded, an allusion to his manhood.
But Senator Rubio persisted: “The answer is he’s not going to do it… Americans will be able to fill out their taxes on a postcard when we get rid of all the carve-outs in the tax code”, Cruz said. “There will still be an office in the Treasury Department to receive the postcard”.
Later, Cruz played that card again when Trump angrily defended his stance on an assault weapons ban, which he previously supported but now opposes. “I’m softening my position”.
Romney’s searing address earlier Thursday in Utah denouncing Trump’s campaign – in which he called Trump a “phony” who would sink the country into recession – is likely to fuel arguments by the other three candidates that Trump is not presidential material.
Trump’s response: “He hit my hands”, he said, referring to Rubio’s comments about Trump having small hands and how that could relate to the size of other body parts.
CRUZ: Donald, learn not to interrupt. “Because I don’t know if you noticed, but the convention is in OH”.
Mr. Cruz said he hoped there wouldn’t be any yoga on the stage.
“Well”, Rubio deadpanned, “he’s very flexible”. SUPPORT FOR CLINTON Cruz, a USA senator from Texas, suggested Trump would be the wrong candidate to send into battle against Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton because he has supported her financially in the past. And then there’s Trump Magazine and Trump Vodka and Trump Steaks and Trump Mortgage. “It’s a minor civil case!”
Romney requested that his team examine the possibility of a fight in Cleveland, expressing his willingness to step in as the Republican Party’s nominee in the general election.
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Just hours before the debate, leading Republican politicians had gone on the attack against Trump and urged voters not to vote for him. Trump asked, raising his hands.
