The remaining six Republican candidates took the stage in South Carolina at the CBS Republican debate. The event was moderated by John Dickerson and held at the Peace Center in Greenville. The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was an important topic as the news had only broke just hours before the debate. As a result, the opening question concerned Supreme Court nominees and a discussion of what an ideal candidate would look like to each candidate.
Saturday, February 13, 2016
CBS News Republican Debate
Moderator: John Dickerson
Candidates: Trump, Cruz, Rubio, Bush, Kasich, Carson
Here is full video of the debate:
Report from the Washington Post:
The ninth Republican presidential debate was in many ways the nastiest of the campaign, complete with raised voices, name calling, and criticism of family members Saturday night in South Carolina.
Donald Trump took sharp aim at former President George W. Bush’s foreign policy and his brother, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, rebuked him sharply. Sen. Ted Cruz called Sen. Marco Rubio soft on immigration and Rubio accused Cruz of not telling the truth. Trump flatly called Cruz the “single biggest liar” on stage while Cruz told him not to interrupt.
The biggest news story heading into the debate was the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. But after consensus support at the top of the debate for a conservative to succeed him, Scalia’s death moved into the background as national security, immigration and the candidates’ records dominated the discussion.
In one word: brutal. This debate was, by far, the most aggressive of any GOP debate up to this point. I imagine that is because we’re down to a “do or die” point for a few of the candidates. Some of the exchanges between Trump and Cruz were rough as both men strongly attacked each other over past positions and campaign tactics.
I think Jeb Bush has a strong night and did fairly well taking on Trump. The one issue that may have some serious fallout for Trump was the exchange with Jeb Bush over whether George W. Bush kept the country safe during his tenure. There was a lot of audience booing during this segment and it seemed like a rough start of the debate for Trump.
