That ended Tuesday in a confrontation with an old sparring partner, U.S. Sen. Rubio, interestingly, attacked what Cruz supporters perceive as a strength, his strident conservatism, in questioning his votes to end National Security Agency collection of Americans’ phone metadata, along with his immigration positions.
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“Those are the two truly first-tier candidates, both in terms of support, political organization, financial resources and just sort of raw financial talent”, Republican political consultant Matt Mackowiak told KVUE Wednesday.
Republican U.S. presidential candidate Governor Chris Christie speaks during the Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas, Nevada December 15, 2015.
“I led the fight against his legalization amnesty bill”, the Texan said. I have great respect for the people I’ve met through this process. I can’t take him seriously.
He said the next president would need to have strong judgment skills. “He was talking to voters, talking straight to camera, going past the media, getting his message across”. I think he’s trustworthy. We’re going to get rid of that.’ What are you going to do, though?
Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio also squared up to each other. ‘I feel a little bit sorry for him, to be honest with you’. “It’s hard to hold all of that together with Scotch tape”.
“Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the risky threat it poses, our country can not be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life”, Mr Trump had said in a statement, which was widely condemned. Mr Trump remains the undisputed national Republican front-runner with a Monmouth University poll placing him at 41 per cent. A Washington Post and ABC News poll after he proposed the Muslim ban found support for him at 38 per cent of Republicans, up six points on mid-November. “That’s what he’s not doing”. “He’s just fine, don’t worry about it”, Trump said, patting Cruz on the back when the subject arose.
Look at how long each of the candidates spoke.
Rubio and Cruz are among the top tier of candidates in most polls on the GOP race in Iowa.
“It’s not CNN. It’s Americans watching you”, said Hugh Hewitt, a radio talkshow host at the Salem Radio Network and one of the moderators of the debate. “I’m honored to be the front-runner”. “He had more time than nearly anyone”, said Mackowiak.
The two candidates later ended up in a tense exchange that wandered far from the foreign policy questions at issue.
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The Republicans’ last debate of the year was a lively affair in a city famed for heavyweight boxing matches. Republican contenders will square off again January 14 in North Charleston, S.C. on Fox Business Network.
