Republican front-runner Donald Trump has stood firm over his provocative call for banning Muslims from the United States as his party’s presidential candidates pushed their own plans for fighting Islamic State (IS) militants.
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Republican U.S. presidential candidate businessman Donald Trump (L) responds to criticism from former Governor Jeb Bush (R) as Senator Ted Cruz (C) looks on during the Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas, Nevada December 15, 2015.
But a nationwide poll released on Tuesday by the Washington Post and ABC News showed Trump has increased his lead in the Republican primary to its largest margin yet.
Trump’s suggestion prompted Kentucky Senator Rand Paul to “go back to another question. Don’t worry about him”.
Cruz has famously refused to publicly criticize his rival, and on Tuesday directed his ire against President Barack Obama and his military campaign against the Islamic State group.
It also comes after Donald Trump’s much-publicised call to ban Muslims from entering the United States, although this barely merited a mention.
While Graham rebuked Trump’s comments, he, too, said he would support the GOP nominee “whoever he or she may be”, as the GOP’s nominee would be a better choice than Hillary Clinton. “We’re talking about security”, he said. We’re not talking about religion; we’re talking about security.
Later, after Trump complained he was being treated unfairly by CNN, Bush said: “If you think this is tough and you’re not being treated fairly, imagine what it’s going to be like dealing with Putin”. GOP voters got two main takeaways: a closer spotlight on Rubio and Cruz, and a reminder – in the discussion of regime change – of a widening philosophical dispute within the party.
Marco Rubio: The Florida senator has been one of the most consistent debaters throughout the early election season, conveying clear convictions, a common-sense-sounding policy framework and an optimism that America’s seemingly intractable problems can still be solved.
He says, “We should be able to penetrate the Internet and find out exactly where ISIS is”. They are recruiting people, including Americans, to join them, with the promise that they are joining this great apocalyptic movement that is going to defeat the West. “We have to show what life is really like in ISIS territory, and we have to show them why ISIS is not invincible, by going out and conducting these attacks and publicizing them to those who they recruit”, he said. It ordered the NSA to end bulk collection after a six-month transition that expired last week. Mr Rubio, the Florida senator who is running third in the polls, was challenged on national security and immigration by his two Senate colleagues. Ted Cruz is on the rise, challenging Trump’s months-long lead in Iowa, whose February 1 caucuses lead off the state-by-state nominating contests.
The moderators also received the usual complaints from candidates who said they didn’t get enough speaking time: “Sorry, you haven’t gotten to me”, Fiorina said at one point. Both men are Cuban-Americans in their 40s. Under questioning, he said he was still open to a path to citizenship for those here illegally, “down the road”.
Instead, Cruz for the most part stayed on message.
“ISIS is gaining strength because the perception Is that they’re winning, and President Obama fuels that perception”, Cruz said. However, he’s also sent troops to Iraq to help train and assist local forces and recently approved sending special operations forces into Syria.
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Among other Republican candidates, Chris Christie – whose numbers are rising in the key state of New Hampshire – followed up the debate by continuing to stress his experience as governor of New Jersey, as well as a us attorney in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
