But Trump lost in Florida, and he lost again last night in California.
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His unexpected rise and surprising durability is seen as a reflection of voters’ frustration with Washington and career politicians.
He returned fire on Kentucky Senator Rand Paul with an oblique personal insult about his appearance, mocked the fiscal record of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and introduced himself with the words: “I say, not in a braggadocious way, I’ve made billions and billions of dollars”.
Also, two of the three top debate moments on Twitter were about Fiorina. Trump has become increasingly critical of Ms Fiorina as her standing has risen. It has been percolating for weeks, as Trump tweaked Bush for having “low-energy“, a slight that has gotten under Bush’s skin.
Of course, both of them have obstacles to overcome: Trump declared corporate bankruptcy four times, mostly on his Atlantic City hotel and gambling operations; Fiorina saw HP’s value to shareholders plummet during her time as CEO and many of her decisions had analysts conclude she was a failure.
Trump retorted: “She’s got a lovely face, and she’s a lovely woman”.
Donald Trump, meanwhile, had a middling night, at least by his standards.
With the Republican race so centered on Trump’s antics, Fiorina’s detailed answers on questions of foreign and domestic policy may help steer the tenor of the campaign away from personality and celebrity and back towards substance.
Fiorina said that should she ultimately win the Republican nomination, and run directly against another woman, Hillary Clinton, the leading Democratic candidate, gender will have little to do with their qualifications.
But Trump also battled with Bush on multiple occasions, including a brief dust up over whether Trump tried to open a casino in Florida.
“I will know more about the problems of this world by the time I sit (in the White House, )” Trump said, noting that he didn’t know as much about global affairs because he doesn’t have the experience that Rubio does as a member of the Senate.
“Can we ask this guy his views?” Trump has suggested Bush is too soft on America’s immigration crisis because of his wife.
Trump moved on to railing against another opponent: Jeb Bush, whose wife the real estate mogul recently offended.
“We have a country, where, to assimilate, you have to speak English”, he replied.
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“What’s wrong with speaking Spanish?”
