Republican candidates have about six months to differentiate themselves in the polls until the Iowa caucuses, and a little over one month to prepare for the next GOP debate in California. And Carly Fiorina stood out, albeit in a less watched forum.
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Trump, who afterwards accused Fox moderators of asking “unfair” questions of him during the debate, was clearly a main factor – and in a brutal tweet on Friday he let the broadcaster know it.
Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes defended his moderators, calling it “the best political debate team ever put on television”.
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky did take on Mr Trump, confronting him after Mr Trump kicked off the debate by refusing to pledge his support for the Republican nominee in the November 2016 election.
The top-polling Republican presidential candidates spent a lot of time on immigration in Cleveland.
Fox News host Megyn Kelly had asked Trump about disparaging names he’s called women in the past, to which Trump said, “I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct“.
Trump interjected to say, “Only Rosie O’Donnell”.
Kelly mentioned a time when Trump allegedly told a contestant on his reality TV show that she’d look good on her knees. “But I wouldn’t do that”. Trump also expressed confidence about the future of his campaign, citing his poll numbers and saying he believes he handily won the debate.
Donald Trump set the tone, repeating some of what he’d said before about Mexicans as criminals flooding across the border.
Some voters expressed frustration that the candidates spent so much time attacking each other, they failed to focus on the issues. On Morning Joe, he said, “Not that I’m an angel, by the way”.
“She’s not very tough and not very sharp”, Trump said during a phone interview on CNN.
“Wow, @megynkelly really bombed tonight”.
“The question on the women, I didn’t say many of those things”, he said. “I wonder what the ratings would have been if I wasn’t in the mix”, he said. “Their performance was outstanding”.
There were however, a number of lines from the debate that stood out, maybe even enough to be remembered 458 days later on Election Day: Tuesday, November 8, 2016.
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Thursday evening’s debate among the top Republican presidential frontrunners was the most-watched non-sporting event in cable television history, Nielsen research revealed Friday.
