The four remaining Republican presidential contenders took the stage in Detroit, Michigan, for a debate sponsored by the Fox News Channel. The debate opened with a fury and didn’t slow down until nearly an hour into the broadcast. Marco Rubio and Donald Trump spent the better part of the first hour at each other’s throats.
Thursday, March 3, 2016
Fox News Republican Debate
Moderators: Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly and Chris Wallace
Candidates: Trump, Cruz, Rubio, Kasich
Location: Detroit, Michigan
Transcript: Washington Post
Here is the full debate video:
Report from the Associated Press:
Picking up right where they left off, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio barked out fresh insults at each other in a Republican presidential debate Thursday night that also featured a crude sexual reference from Trump – and an healthy dose of policy, too.
Cruz and Rubio, who earlier had devoted considerable debate time to throwing sharp elbows at one another, were relentless in training their fire on Trump.
Rubio justified his attacks on Trump by saying the billionaire businessman had “basically mocked everybody” over the past year. Trump countered with a feint, saying he’d called Rubio a “lightweight” in the past but “he’s really not that much of a lightweight.”
Trump then noted that Rubio had mocked his hands as small, widely viewed as an insult about Trump’s sexual prowess. Holding his hands up to the audience, Trump declared, “I guarantee you, there’s no problem” in that area.
It was a jaw-dropping moment in a campaign that’s been full of surprises from the beginning.
For all of the criticism and ill will, Cruz, Rubio and Kasich all said they would support Trump if he is the Republican nominee. He, too, said he would support whoever wins.
There was plenty of policy, too, as Rubio and Cruz pressed Trump aggressively on his conservative credentials, his business practices and shifting policy positions.
The first hour was almost painful to watch with Rubio and Trump talking over each other, under each other, and basically cancelling each other out answering questions. Overall, I think that Ted Cruz and John Kasich each came off having a fairly good night. Donald Trump delivered a standard strong performance, though spent a lot of time on defense. Marco Rubio did launch a lot of attacks on Trump, but I think much of it also came at his own expense of looking fairly petty at times. Please take the comments below as your chance to agree or disagree with me.
