The Republican presidential race has hit a new low with about half a dozen of its candidates, including frontrunner Donald Trump and Jeb Bush, locking horns and engaging in personal attacks.
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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a town hall campaign event at the Londonderry Lions Club Monday, Feb. 8, 2016, in Londonderry, N.H. “He tore down the Berlin Wall”. “I could care less about the insults that Donald Trump gives to me”.
“You shouldn’t be flexible on core principles”, Cruz said.
“For most of his life his policies have been very very liberal”, Cruz charged of Trump. However, Cruz did get Trump to acknowledge that he believes Planned Parenthood “does do wonderful things, but not as it relates to abortion….There are wonderful things having to do with women’s health”. Trump said, going on to say “I lost hundreds of friends” in the 9/11 terror attack. “Nasty guy. Now I know why he doesn’t have one endorsement from any of his colleagues”. Kasich, who surprised this week with a strong second place finish in New Hampshire, repeatedly spurned the infighting that was enveloping him on stage, exhorting his rivals to calm down and come together. “I think we’re fixing to lose the election to [Democratic front-runner] Hillary Clinton”, he said. We can make mistakes.
The real estate mogul also accused Bush of lying about Trump’s business record and said Bush’s brother – former President George W. Bush – lied to the public about the Iraq war. “If he knew that there weren’t weapons of mass destruction and if he used that as an excuse to go in and try to make up for some sins for previous years then it would be a lie”. “There were none and they knew that there were none”.
Kasich defended himself against attacks on his conservative credentials, particularly his decision to expand Medicaid in OH despite resistance from his GOP-led Legislature. “We have literally a four-four tie”, said Bush backer Tom Ridge, the former Pennsylvania governor and Homeland Security secretary under George W. Bush. “And I’m proud of what he did”.
“The World Trade Center during your brother’s reign, remember that”, Trump said, earning the loudest boos yet.
When he was asked about how he would deal with ISIS, he made a decision to weigh in on the Iraq war tiff between Bush and Trump.
It appears that the Donald, a political hooligan par excellence, can say and do whatever he wants; loyal Trumpians will support him enthusiastically. “And again, he kept us safe, and I am forever grateful to what he did for this country”.
In this January 12, 2009, file photo, President George W. Bush gestures during a news conference at the White House. “That is not safe”.
SC senator Lindsey Graham, who after dropping out of the presidential race in December has not only endorsed Jeb but become his lead spokesman, was adamant that Trump had gone too far. “And I’ll tell you, I love these blue-collar Democrats, because they’re going to vote for us come next fall, promise you that”. Today, Rubio got a chance to reiterate his attack: “Obviously in the last couple of weeks, he has really exhibited this very troubling tendency to say things that just aren’t true. You are the single biggest liar”, he said.
The two Cuban Americans also renewed their fight over immigration. The only people Rubio impressed with this particular exchange were his supporters.
Cruz and Sen. Marco Rubio revived their fight over immigration.
“I don’t know how he knows what I said on Univision because he doesn’t speak Spanish”, Rubio said.
“There are sharp differences on amnesty”, Cruz said.
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As the audience began to boo him and as he did last week at the ABC News debate, Trump took on the crowd, saying, “Just so you understand?” Trump and Jeb Bush have also criticized the first-term senator over his lack of experience, an issue that also surfaced in New Hampshire. Dubya, the 43rd president, remains surprisingly popular in the Palmetto state.
