Donald
J. Trump finally told Republicans what they have long wanted to hear —
that he would not run for president as an independent if he did not get
the Republican nomination.
Apparently because he
has said that before, and then appeared to back off the pledge, and the
language appeared somewhat short of unequivocal. No matter: Republicans
in the audience, and the person who asked him the question — Hugh
Hewitt, the conservative radio host — burst into applause as Mr. Trump,
looking uncommonly humble, gave his answer.
Mr. Hewitt asked the
question noting that Republicans were worried that they would lose to
Hillary Clinton if she got the Democratic nomination and Mr. Trump ran
as an independent candidate. “I am totally committed to the Republican
Party,” Mr. Trump said. “I am very honored to be the front-runner. I
think I’ll do very well if I’m chosen.”
And that is a wrap.
Trump
goes to his stump speech and says that everything is a disaster in
America. "Nothing works in our country," he says. "If I am president, we
will win again. We will win a lot."
"We have to change our whole way," Trump says.
Carson
starts off noting that he has traveled to 58 countries and loves
America. Making a case for American exeptionalism, he says that we
should not give up American values for the sake of political
correctness.
Cruz:
"Judgment. Strength. Clarity and Trust." The Texas senator says he will
unleash small business and defeat radical Islamist terrorism.
Really? Barack Obama said he doesn't believe in American leadership, as Cruz says?
Rubio
makes a generational argument and claims that he is the one to expand
prosperity and secure the nation. "Together we will usher in a new
American century."
Bush says his record and plan show that he can make America safer than anyone else on the stage.
Photo
Ted Cruz said earlier tonight that George W. Bush deported 10 million illegal aliens. Is that so? We did the math,
Fiorina
says she recalls 9/11 too and that the first step to keeping America
safe is beating Hillary Clinton. "We will take our country back."
Christie goes back to his roots as a prosecutor and a 9/11 story. "Radical jihadism is not theoretical to me, it's real."
Paul
is opening and closing this debate by doubling down on his core views,
libertarian inflected. He began with an attack on unnecessary foreign
entanglements and ends with saying our greatest threat is debt.
Kasich, of Ohio, comes next, saying that he knows how to win Ohio.
Paul begins, blaming both parties for America's debt problem.
We return with closing statements.
Donald Trump on Ted Cruz
I’ve gotten to know him over the last three or four days. He has a wonderful temperament. He’s just fine. Don’t worry about it.
— Donald J. Trump, on a question about his opinion of Senator Ted Cruz.
Ted Cruz
"Do you know how many illegal aliens George W. Bush deported? 10 million."
And then Carson with an answer I couldn't follow
"I
am very committed to the Republican party. I feel very honored to be
the frontrunner," Trump says. "I will do everything in my power to beat
Hillary Clinton."
The
independent run question. Trump again says he will not make a
third-party run. "I have gained great respect for the Republican
leadership."
Dana
Bash is doing a great job here, and Ted Cruz is just refusing to answer
the question, which is: Do you think Donald Trump has the judgment to
be president.
"That
is a judgment for every voter to make," Cruz says when pressed if Trump
has the judgment to be president. He says that any of them would be
better than Obama or Clinton.
Cruz, however, asked about our story from last week about what he said to donors at a fundraiser, is crushing this question
Earlier
tonight, Christie said that he would rebuild America's relationship
with King Hussein of Jordan. Is that possible? It would take some
imagination.
Cruz also plays nice, saying it is up to the voters to decide who is best suited to be president.
Wow. So Trump had a chance to attack Cruz and he decided not to
Chris Christie
"When
I stand across from King Hussein of Jordan, I say to him, 'You have a
friend again, sir, who will stand with you to fight this fight,' he'll
change his mind."
"Nuclear,
the power and the devastation is very important to me," Trump says,
when pressed on the most important parts of the nuclear triad.
Trump
gets a specific question about upgrading America's nuclear arsenal. He
says that he is proud of his call not to go into Iraq in 2004.
Bush agrees with Christie on the need for tougher action against China.
Christie
says that the Chinese "need to be fought back on" and that the US
should release information showing how corrupt China's government is so
that their people know what is being kept form them.
Carson,
the neurosurgeon, also thinks that Kim Jong Un, is unstable. He says
that the US should use its economic power to strangle North Korea, which
is already allowing its people to starve.
Photo
We
are back and North Korea, which recently announced it has a hydrogen
bomb, is the topic. What would Fiorina do? "We must continue to isolate
him," she said, arguing that the US must push China to help with this.
Carly Fiorina
Mrs. Fiorina said she met President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
It
is not as if the Republican debate stage is not already crowded. Donald
J. Trump, after looking bored for much of this debate, riled himself up
to get into a fight with CNN, the host of this debate, and, in
particular, one of the questioners, the conservative talk show host Hugh
Hewitt.
Mr. Trump objected
that, again and again, the CNN moderators at this debate, and at an
earlier one involving second-tier candidates, were prefacing questions
with, as he put it, “Mr. Trump said this,” or “Mr. Trump said that.” All
of this led to the striking moment of Mr. Trump seeming to complain
that he was getting too much publicity.
“I thought it was very
unfair virtually the entire portion of the debate was Trump this, Trump
that — in order to get ratings,” he said. “I think it’s very
unprofessional.”
TV timeout.
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