“The people of SC want a consistent conservative they can trust”, Mr. Cruz told reporters before his rally in Aiken. “I’ve never met people like politicians, they are the most dishonest people I’ve ever met…” “You’re willing to lie about anything, but then you’re holding up a Bible?” Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a former bottom-tier candidate who supports Jeb Bush, even declared this morning that he might have to violate his own pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee, should it be The Donald. “But… the whole room was made up of special interests and donors, which is a disgrace from the RNC”, Trump said at an event in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
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“Ted Cruz is a totally unstable individual”, Trump said in his statement. “But the pledge is not being honored by them….”
And before going off on the RNC for the most recent debate, Trump also criticized the state party for its handling of the Iowa caucuses.
As he praised South Carolina’s Republican Gov. Nikki Haley, the daughter of Indian-born parents, Bush pointedly said: “Thank goodness our country welcomed her parents when they immigrated here in 1969”.
He blasted Cruz for distorting his stance on the Second Amendment during the debate.
Jeb Bush, who enlisted mother Barbara to campaign for him in New Hampshire, also finds himself defending his brother’s legacy in the face to attacks from current GOP front-runner Donald Trump.
“If he doesn’t take down his false ads and retract his lies, I will [file suit] immediately”.
Calling Cruz “a liar”, Trump warned the crowd: “You have to be very smart”. His words seemed to imply, once again, the threat of a third-party run.
Sen. Ted Cruz is expected to do well among Evangelical voters, says Dunn, and has an impressive “ground game” in the Palmetto State. “Christianity is being chopped away at. Bush is a former president, so he might help Jeb emerge as an establishment candidate”, said Knotts.
Donald Trump and Texas Sen.
Rubio went on the offensive in response, saying, “For a number of weeks now Ted Cruz has just been telling lies”.
In a speech that was largely centered around national security and terrorism, Bush reflected on the attacks of September 11, 2001 – and the “tough calls” he had to make in the days that followed — as he presented his brother as the most “measured and thoughtful” candidate in the GOP pack.
A radio ad running in SC by Bush’s SuperPAC, Right to Rise, called attention to Trump’s frequent use of profanity.
“He’ll apologize but I don’t want an apology after the election, I want the apology before”, Trump said.
George Bush won a bruising SC presidential primary on his way to the Oval Office, as his father did before him.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio also will have a strong presence there since SC leads into the Florida primary, which takes place at the end of the month, West said.
After a moment of silence for the passing of Justice Antonin Scalia, the gloves came off at Saturday night’s Republican debate in SC.
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Trump previously said on Friday that he had “standing” to sue if Cruz didn’t “clean up his act, stop cheating, & doing negative ads”.
