Senator Ted Cruz was able to speak on the issue of his birth to GOP frontrunner Donald Trump. The candidates warned of dire risks to national security if a Democrat is elected to succeed Obama and challenged claims of recent economic gains.
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But despite his strong moments, Rubio was mostly out of view amidst the Trump and Cruz back-and forths. “And you can’t do that to the party….you have to have certainty”.
Cruz and Trump went toe-to-toe several times, including Trump’s questioning of whether Cruz, born in Canada to a US citizen, is eligible to serve as president.
Pressed on whether he regretted his call to bar Muslims from entering the U.S., Trump had a one-word answer: “No”.
“Hey Cruz: you don’t like New York values?”
He added: “And I have to tell you, that was a very insulting statement that Ted made”. “The polling, the support, it is more and more looking like it is Donald Trump and me”, Cruz said in an interview on the Fox Business Network after the debate.
Mr Rubio likened Mr Christie’s policies to Mr Obama’s, particularly on guns and education reform – an attack Mr Christie declared false. Seeking to undermine Rubio’s qualifications for president, Christie suggested that senators “talk and talk and talk” while governors such as himself are “held accountable for everything you do”.
The first question from Maria Bartiromo invited Cruz to take a shot at Obama’s management of the economy – and the Texas senator chose to also take a swipe at the president over Iranian TV pictures of the captured U.S. naval crew on their knees with their hands on their heads.
“That is not consistent conservatism, that is political calculation”, Rubio said.
Cruz was also on the defensive about his failure to disclose on federal election forms some $1 million in loans from Wall Street banks during his 2012 Senate campaign. He argued that the fact he had left it out of his FEC report was simply a “paperwork error”.
Rubio, who has tried to walk a careful line between courting conservatives and the party’s more moderate elements, was the most aggressive, attacking Cruz as well as New Jersey Governor Christie. But in a three-way race, Trump wins, with 40 percent to Cruz’s 31 percent and Rubio’s 26 percent – suggesting that the two can’t co-exist.
Here are some other key takeaways from the Thursday night debate.
After obliquely knocking Trump in her delivery of the GOP response to the State of the Union Tuesday, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley earned the businessman’s praise on the stage Thursday night. “They’re always wrong”, Trump stated in rejecting a piece that said he called for a 45% tariff on China.
John Kasich was also present last night – and that sums up his performance. “And I will gladly accept the mantle of anger”.
In a verbal attack on Trump, Sen.
“Back in September, my friend Donald said that he’d had his lawyers look at this from every which way and there was no issue there”, Cruz said.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who has emerged as a frequent critic of Trump, urged the front-runner to reconsider the policy. Instead he tweeted his opinions during the debate, during which, at one point, a crowd interrupted the moderators booing the candidates onstage and chanting, “We want Rand”.
Ben Carson, who has fallen behind his rivals despite being well-liked among Republican voters, generated laughs after joking about having to wait almost 15 minutes to get his first question. And I’m saying we have to get to the bottom of it. That’s all I’m saying.
“He flew to New Hampshire right after the debate tonight”, Rubio spokesman Alex Conant emailed TheDC at 1:32 a.m Friday morning.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder: Kentucky Sen.
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No, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul didn’t change his mind and show up for Thursday’s 6 p.m. undercard round.
