DETROIT: Chief rivals to U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump assailed him for shifting positions on the issues at a debate, but said in the end they would reluctantly support him if he were their party’s nominee.
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Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren broke news Thursday evening from a Romney source claiming that any plans for the former Republican nominee to challenge Trump at the convention are “not true”.
His opponents said he could help ease those worries if he gave permission to The New York Times to release the tape of an off-the-record session he had with the newspaper, where he reportedly said he would be flexible.
“You can not – I really hope that we don’t see yoga on this stage”, Cruz said.
And within minutes of Romney’s extraordinary denunciation, Senator John McCain who was the party’s nominee in 2008, piled on – bludgeoning Trump with an open letter in which dozens of conservative security experts and one-time advisers condemn Trump’s national-security prowess.
“I’m not running for president”, he said.
The South Florida newspaper said Clinton “would not need training wheels if she were to become the Democratic nominee and the first female president”. “Rubio still has a fighting chance as we move into the winner-takes-all phase of the Republican primary, but he needs to perform very well in the big states, where there are lots of delegates at stake”, said Prof Neiheisel.
SMU Political Science professor Cal Jillson says the two senators must effectively punch Trump and score points, which is why many expect it will be combative. Marco Rubio or Texas Sen. “Trump is electable, particularly if he is backed by a united Republican Party”, said Prof Franklin.
“You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes”, Trump told CNN.
“I know it was a very rough night for Marco Rubio”.
Rubio, 44, and Cruz, 45, questioned Trump’s immigration policy and his use of foreign workers at his exclusive Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Ohio Governor John Kasich, 63, agreed while noting, “Sometimes he makes it a little bit hard”.
Trump kept interrupting Cruz until Cruz attempted to quiet him.
Cruz responded by taking an apparent shot at Trump’s temper. He jabbed at and with Trump over and over again in the debate’s first 60 minutes, turning every question – and answer – into an attack on Trump.
In remarks at a campaign event Thursday afternoon in ME – which holds its presidential caucuses Saturday – Trump laid into his latest critic, saying, “Mitt was a disaster of a candidate”.
“As the Democrats tell me all the time, I can get the crossover votes”, he argued.
Donald Trump dismissed Mitt Romney’s criticism of him as “irrelevant” and called for voters to ignore the former candidate. If Mr Trump fails to collect 50 per cent plus one – or 1237 – then the nomination is not necessarily his.
“Even though I will not be in my hometown of Detroit on Thursday, I remain deeply committed to my home nation, America”, Carson wrote in an official statement, adding, “Along with millions of patriots who have supported my campaign for President, I remain committed to Saving America for Future Generations”.
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Trump is leading the field of Republican hopefuls and this week picked up several key victories in the “Super Tuesday” delegate voting, seeing off his main rivals Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio in crucial states.
