Summary
The tenth Republican debate of the 2016 race for the White House is in the can. Here’s what happened:
- Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz threw as many punches as they could at frontrunner Donald Trump, who was standing between them. He dismissed them, argued with them, insulted them and generally gave as good as he got.
- Rubio got under Trump’s skin, by demanding that he describe his plan for health insurance reform beyond creating a national market. Trump said “You’ll have competition. It’ll be beautiful” but could not say more.
- Pressed by a moderator to describe his health plan in any depth, Trump fumed, “No! There’s nothing to add. What is to add? What is to add?”
- “Now he’s repeating himself!” said Rubio, lampooning Trump’s rhetorical default mode: “Everyone’s dumb. He’s gonna make America great again, we’re gonna win win win, and the lines around the states” will go away.
- Cruz joined in the attack on Trump, saying that while he, Cruz, was fighting immigration reform in Congress, “Where was Donald? He was firing Dennis Rodman on Celebrity Apprentice.”
- Trump called Cruz a “basketcase” and a “liar” and he called Rubio a “choke artist.”
— Trumpbart News (@Trumpbart) February 26, 2016
- Rubio dumped his opposition research file on Trump, saying he hired foreign workers ahead of Americans, defrauded students at a university bearing his name, made his ties and suits in Mexico and China and drove companies to bankruptcy.
- Trump said he couldn’t release his tax returns because he was being audited and his lawyers wouldn’t let him release them.
- Trump dismissed polls that showed him performing miserably among Hispanic voters. “I currently employ thousands of Hispanics, and over the years I have employed tens of thousands of Hispanics. They’re incredible people.”
- Ohio governor John Kasich made repeated calls for greater seriousness of purpose as Dr Ben Carson called for greater time for himself to speak.
- Trump entered the debate with very strong polling numbers in upcoming Super Tuesday states, and if anything happened onstage tonight capable of eroding the kinds of purported leads you see below – we didn’t recognize it.
In new Bloomberg poll of March 1 states, Trump's rolling through the South like Gen. Sherman https://t.co/ufLEh7JP7s pic.twitter.com/SemXvwYn9f
— Joshua Green (@JoshuaGreen) February 25, 2016
Updated
Google has tracked search interest in the candidates through the debate. Trump riding high. Click the arrow to see how search interest in particular issues varied.
Updated
America, 2016. pic.twitter.com/fgsJUns1nH
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) February 26, 2016
Ted Cruz is on TV claiming to be the only one who has been taking on Donald Trump. Save Jeb Bush:
The only one else in the field who was willing to take on Donald was Jeb Bush. I was glad to welcome Marco to the debate for the first time.
Cruz also says “Marco and I are friends” but his voice kind of rises uncomfortably as he says it.
Updated
Usually we attempt a rather extensive roundup of reactions on social media to what happened on the debate stage. But tonight this is the first one we came across and we’re left wondering what there is to add.
"My party has gone batshit crazy." -- Lindsey Graham at @washpressclub dinner
— Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) February 26, 2016
Trump on rivals: 'they're desperate'
Cuomo continues to ask Trump what it was like to be ganged up on by the senators.
“I knew it was going to happen. I just enjoyed it. ...I really anticipated it.”
Trump on senators Cruz and Rubio:
“They’re desperate, I mean what are they going to do, they’re losing by massive amounts.”
Then Trump hilariously cuts Cuomo off:
It was a good test, it was really a good test, I really liked it and I enjoyed it. And now I go down and speak to people other than you.”
Top Tweeted moments
Via the friendly metrics folks at Twitter, here are the debate’s top-Tweeted moments, with links to videos:
1. Rubio and Trump debate healthcare plans; Rubio says Trump repeats himself https://t.co/QshBLZecD0
2. Trump to Cruz: “You’re the basket case...Don’t get nervous” https://t.co/GbzM4oAInY
3. Cruz criticizes Trump for past statements regarding Obamacare. https://t.co/3ljJvzqdig
Trump: "I think it's going to be over fairly quickly'
CNN’s Chris Cuomo is interviewing Donald Trump. Cuomo asks Trump about being attacked from both sides, by Cruz and Rubio.
Trump says “I thought it was exciting and I thought it was great. I’ve dealt with the toughest people in the world in my lifetime. I’ve dealt with much tougher... I think it’s really a good test.
“The problem with Marco, he’s a choke artist, he chokes... he kept repeating himself. ... One thing I learned from sports, I was a very good athlete, when you’re a choker you’re always a choker.
“You know Marco, I’m 20 points up on him...
“I think it’s going to be over fairly quickly, and I don’t think there’s going to be a [contested] convention.”
Closing statements
Carson: What kind of person do you want your kids to emulate. Several years ago a movie was made about these hands... [holds out hands] I’m asking you tonight, America, to join hands with me to heal inspire and revive America.
Kasich: I poll strongly against Clinton. Executive experience matters. Notice that I have the foreign policy experience, a lot of years, not just a few years. I will hit the ground running and we will get America moving again.
Rubio: This campaign has come a long way. The votes are starting to count. The time for games are over. It’s time to narrow it down and I’m asking you to get behind me. Let’s end the silliness and looniness.
Cruz: Washington deals are bankrupting this country. There are several dealmakers on this stage but I’m the only one who has stood up to Washington deals. Planned Parenthood bad, Iranian deal bad, religious liberty good, Obamacare bad, IRS bad, border good, jobs good.
Trump: Nobody knows politicians better than I do. They’re all talk and no action. Look at this country. I will get it done. Politicians will never ever get it done and we will make America great again.
Trump sounded a little tired, or hoarse, there.
They’re done. Five days till Super Tuesday.
The answers about Apple are quite disappointing, finds James Pethokoukis. Isn’t this the party of small government?
In the Apple encryption question, all the Republicans are ignoring what a tremendous bit of government over-reach this is.
The GOP is supposed to be the small government party, and at least the candidates should raise an eyebrow when government is ignoring a company’s claims that a federal order would trash its products and marketplace position.
Tech advances will almost inevitably lead to an age of ubiquitous encryption. The common-sense answer here is the one that Apple boss Tim Cook and some in Congress are proposing: scrap the government’s court order and instead form a government commission of experts to provide recommendations that balance corporate interests, privacy, and national security.
Also not a great moment for the GOP trying to make inroads into Silicon Valley.
From the comments / who's winning?
We asked and you answered:
Game over man, Game over! Wrap it up guys Trump wins, going any further is just sheer cruelty to the rest of them... on second thoughts lets keep watching actually
So the republicans are having a civil war using a robot and a deeply unlikable lunatic to take down a populist crazy billionaire... weird election man. Weird.
Rubio; but it's not a real estate deal, Donald, Israel is not a real estate deal!
Not sure the Palestinians would agree 100% with that, Marco, not that you give a shit what they think.
Who’s winning? Tell us in the comments?
The NRA. People with mental health problems who want to own guns. People that murder doctors.
Commercial break number two. Tell us in the comments: Who’s winning?
Trump is asked, in effect, why not build a wall on the Canadian border too – couldn’t Isis fighters enter the United States from Canada?
“You’re talking about a border that’s many many many times longer,” Trump says. And we have less problem with that border, not counting “the tremendous amount of drugs that are coming in.”
Now question on Apple’s decision to defy an FBI request to disable a self-destruct mode on an iPhone to comply with an investigation of the San Bernardino terror attack.
“Apple doesn’t want to do it because they think it hurts their brand. Well let me tell you their brand isn’t superior to the national security of America,” Rubio says.
Cruz agrees, saying Apple should be required to comply with the search order, because it applies to only one phone, not to all phones. “On the question of unlocking this cell phone... we should enforce the court order.. Apple doesn’t have a right.”
Carson agrees. “If they don’t comply with that, you’re encouraging chaos in our system.”
Kasich says, “you know what the problem is, where’s the president been?” He says the president should have “locked the door” on a meeting between intelligence community folks and Apple until they compromise. And kept the whole thing out of the newspapers.
Updated
Cruz to Trump: “For 40 years you’ve been funding liberal politicians.”
Trump: “I funded you.”
Cruz admits Trump gave him five grand.
Then there is a big messy Cruz-Rubio-Trump mess.
Blitzer gets control back with effort.
Interesting Beck boost for Rubio:
From a Cruz backer https://t.co/SfAFS6WonH
— Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) February 26, 2016
Rubio is killing it.#gopdebate
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) February 26, 2016
Updated
Cruz now says he’s going to upload an interview to his web site in which Trump advocates for toppling Gaddafi, despite Trump’s just having said he never wanted to remove Gaddafi.
“If you care about Israel, you don’t write checks to politicians that are undermining Israel,” Cruz says.
Kasich tries to talk but Blitzer says Trump gets to because he was attacked.
“There is nobody on this stage that has done more for Israel than I have... you are all talk and no action,” Trump says.
Then Trump gestures respectively to Rubio and Cruz: “First of all, this guy’s a choke artist and this guy’s a liar.”
Carson gets a big cheer with the line: “Can someone attack me please?”
Trump is asked about a prospective ceasefire in Syria.
He says “it’s a meaningless cease fire” so he doesn’t support this particular deal.
Cruz says he’s hopeful but skeptical. Then he says Russia has strengthened its position because the Obama administration had given Russia the region. Then Cruz says Trump and Rubio supported the Obama Libya policy and Rubio supported John Kerry for secretary of state.
Trump says he never supported deposing Gaddafi. Rubio says he supported Kerry to get Clinton out of the state department.
Updated
Dr Carson, how would you deal with North Korea?
“People say I whine a lot because I don’t get enough time. I’m going to whine,” says Carson. “Because I didn’t get asked about taxes. I didn’t get asked about Israel.”
Wolf tells Carson to go for it. “This is your time.”
Carson says the IRS “is not honest and we need to get rid of them.” Carson says he went to Israel a couple months ago and talked to a lot of people and none of them did not think that the United States had not turned its back on Israel. Carson says Kim Jong-Un is unstable but understands strength and that the United States should strengthen regional alliances and develop a strategic defense initiative.
Kasich is back to North Korea. He’s asked whether he would assassinate Kim Jong-Un. He says Chinese intervention is needed in North Korea.
“You look for any measure you can to be able to solve the problem,” Kasich says.
But would he risk war for regime change?
“If there was an opportunity to remove the leader of North Korea, and create stability... but I’m also aware of the fact that there are 10m people in Seoul... perhaps the Chinese can accomplish that working with this man who is now the leader,” Kasich says.
Trump gets the North Korea question and he starts talking about defending Japan “for peanuts.”
Kasich is up. He seems to get dinged almost immediately, after a jag he takes into North Korea policy.
Rubio is up. He accuses Trump of taking an “anti-Israel position.” He says you can’t be an honest broker when “one side acts in bad faith.”
Then Rubio and Trump get in another slapfight, with a pretty good line from Rubio about the Palestinians not being a real estate deal.
“A deal between Israel and the Palestinians, given the current makeup of the Palestinians, is not possible,” Rubio says. “I will be on Israel’s side every day.”
Trump: I’m a negotiator. I have done very well over the years.
Rubio: The Palestinians are not a real estate deal.
Trump: A deal is a deal.
Rubio: Not dealing with terrorists. Have you ever dealt with terrorists?
Trump: You will never bring peace.
They’re back! Question for Trump. You said you wanted to be “neutral” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. How can that be when Israel is America’s closest ally in the Middle East?
“As president there is nothing that I would rather do than to bring peace to Israel and it’s neighbors generally,” Trump says. “It doesn’t help if I start saying – I am very pro-Israel.. but it doesn’t do anything to start demeaning the neighbors.”
“With that being said, I am totally pro-Israel.”
Cruz: “This is another area in which Donald agrees with Hillary Clinton... If I’m president, America will stand unapologetically with the nation of Israel... it is not equivalent.”
Trump continues to imagine brokering a Middle East peace as president: “If I could bring peace, that would be a fantastic thing, it would be one of my greatest achievements as president.”
OK folks, commercial break after only one hour.
Who’s winning? Tell us in the comments?
Trump is comparing his poll numbers with Cruz: “A poll just came out in Bloomberg where I’m beating him so badly, I’m embarrassed.”
“Hillary Clinton, take a look at USA Today... I beat her and I beat her badly... and I haven’t even started with her...”
Trump said he mixed it up with her a few weeks ago when her camp accused him of being sexist, “and believe me, they had a rough weekend that weekend, between Bill and Hillary, they had a rough weekend.”
Cruz then jumps in and accuses Trump of being a past Clinton admirer.
“On substance, how do we nominate a candidate who said Hillary Clinton was the best secretary of state of modern times?” Cruz asks.
Cruz says Trump “can’t take it to [Clinton] and beat her on the debate stage and the polls.”
Trump’s reply is sharp and is cheered loudly:
“If I can’t beat her you’re really going to get killed won’t you,” he says.
Then Trump pats Rubio and Cruz on the head:
I know you’re embarrassed, I know you’re embarrassed. Keep fighting keep swinging. Swing for the fences. Swing for the fences.
Trump: I can't release tax returns because I'm being audited
Trump is asked about Mitt Romney’s assertion that there is a “bombshell” in Trump’s taxes, pertaining perhaps to his wealth or charitable giving being smaller than he makes out.
“I was the first one to file a financial disclosure form... You don’t learn anything about someone’s wealth from a tax return.... people were shocked,” Trump says.
“I will say this. Mitt Romney looked like a fool when he delayed and delayed and delayed, and Harry Reid baited him so beautifully” on releasing his tax returns.
“As far as my return, I want to file them. Except for...I will absolutely give my returns but I’m being audited now for two or three years. So I can’t” turn over the returns until the audit is through.
Trump is pressed by a moderator.
“I want to release my tax returns, but I can’t release them if I’m under an audit,” Trump says. “We’re under a routine audit. As soon as the audit is done” I’ll release them.
Question goes to Rubio. When will you release your returns?
He answers simply: “Tomorrow or Saturday... and luckily I’m not being audited this year, or last year.”
Cruz then hits Trump over his admission that he’s being audited.
“Donald says he’s being audited. Well I would think that would underscore the need to see those returns.”
Updated
Twitter metrics, via Twitter. Looks like the polls in Florida. Wow that image renders tinily. Here’s what it says. The share of the Twitter conversation thus far is split like so:
Trump 51%
Rubio 23%
Cruz 14%
Carson 7%
Kasich 5%
Updated
Cruz insists on answering the Obamacare question and uses it to bludgeon Trump.
He says that Trump likes Planned Parenthood, while he would investigate it and prosecute any infractions.
Cruz then accuses Trump of “advocating socialized medicine:”
Donald wants to end it because he says that it doesn’t nearly go far enough. ... For decades Donald has been advocating socialized medicine... If you’re a small business owners, Donald Trump’s socialized health care will kill more jobs than Obamacare.
Cruz to Trump: “True or false: you said the government should pay for everyone’s health care.”
Trump says “false”.
Then Cruz brings up a line from a couple debates ago, in which Trump said he would not let people “die on the sidewalk.”
Trump stands by his position: “I will not let people die on the streets if I’m president.”
Then Trump manages a moment of humanity, which strangely under the force of Cruz’s cross-examination feels like some kind of moment of grace:
Let me talk. We’re going to have private health care. I am not going to let people die on the streets or the sidewalks of this country, if I am president. You might be fine with it. I’m not fine with it.
Who is doing best so far? Jeb Lund thinks Marco Rubio is putting on a good performance – but should stop laughing at his own jokes
Marco Rubio is doing very well. He hit Trump smartly on apt points, and he even had a good punchline. Cruz isn’t doing as well as Rubio, which should probably be alarming for Cruz supporters, because he’s the one who should be tap-dancing around everyone on stage. Kasich seems pleased to talk when people remember him and just as pleased to watch when no one does. Ben Carson was let out by the roadside to run free through a meadow as mom and dad peeled off in the car.
That said, it’s a fool’s game to think that the normal rules of debates apply here. Rubio’s shots on Trump and his one-liner would have been body blows to any candidate who was running as a candidate. But Trump is still Trump, a personality rather than a candidacy, fame rather than a campaign. And ultimately everything Rubio just said probably isn’t going to matter to anyone leaning toward Trump.
Yeah, sure, Trump employed immigrants. But I’m a Trump supporter, and I like Trump, that’s just a canny move. He saved money! He knew the game was rigged, and he played it. He got sued — so what? He’s a famous rich guy, they get sued all the time.
Trump’s playing a different game, which is scored differently among the fanbase. When he owns someone, it rules. When people bite back, it’s annoying. If they bite back too much, they’re desperate. (Also, for as many good lines as Rubio’s getting in on him tonight, Rubio is clearly enjoying them the most of all, which is just bad form. Don’t enjoy your joke more than I can, man. That’s amateur hour. Act like you’re not stunned that this is the first time your brain thought of something clever.)
On top of that, these guys are trying to work Trump, and he’s working the room. There’s something kind of final about the way that he can turn to them and engage, then turn to the moderators and the room and act as if they’ve vanished. At some point, he remembers that the other two don’t actually matter, and it shows.
Under attack from Rubio, Trump struggles to describe health plan
Next up: the Affordable Care Act. Rubio accuses Trump of liking the individual mandate in the law, which requires people to carry health insurance.
Rubio reels into his own castle-in-the-clouds plan for repealing and replacing Obamacare. He says the law is not only bad for health care, it’s a “job-killing law.”
Trump says he would throw out Obamacare... but keep requirements that insurers cover pre-existing conditions.
“I agree with that 100% except pre-existing conditions,” Trump says. “I want to keep pre-existing condition. I think we need it I think it’s the modern age and I think we have to have it.”
Then he says “the insurance companies are making a fortune with every thing they do.” He doesn’t mention medical products manufacturers and drug companies, who are making the bigger fortunes.
“I know the insurance companies, they’re friends of mine. One of them is in the audience, he was just waving to me, he was just laughing – he’s not laughing so much anymore. Hi.”
Trump says he would erase the lines between states, meaning set up national interstate competition in the insurance market.
Then Rubio mounts the most effective attack of the night so far at Trump.
“You may not be aware of this Donald, because you don’t follow this stuff very closely, but here’s what happened,” Rubio says. He says Obamacare included a bailout for insurance companies who couldn’t sustain the initial costs of the new law.
“What is your plan?” Rubio challenges Trump. Erase the lines?
Trump accuses Rubio of not knowing about state markets: “The biggest problem he’s got is he really doesn’t know about the lines. I watched him melt down two weeks ago with Chris Christie.”
Rubio persists: “Your only thing is to get rid of the lines around the states. What else is your plan?”
Trump: “you’ll get rid of the lines...”
Rubio: So that’s the only part of the plan? Just the lines?
Trump: You’ll have many different plans. You’ll have competition. It’ll be beautiful.
Rubio: Now he’s repeating himself!
Trump: I watched him repeat himself five time two weeks ago!
Rubio: I watched him repeat himself five times five second ago!
Rubio: He says five things. Everyon’es dumb. He’s gonna make America great again, wer’e gonna win win win, and the lines around the states.
Moderator Dana Bash: Mr Trump, anything to add?
Trump: No! There’s nothing to add. What is to add? What is to add?
Trump just appeared not to have a health care reform plan any deeper than “we’ll create competition and it’ll be beautiful.”
Updated
Ding. Ding. Ding. Republicans, at least Marco Rubio, finally figured out how to go after Donald Trump. Rather than tagging him as a New York City liberal, you go after his supposed strengths.
You say he is phoney on issues, not much of a businessman and hardly a friend of the common man. And you press the issue machine-gun style, over and over and get under his skin.
Rubio did that when he accused him of hiring undocumented immigrants for his Trump University. Even Cruz jumped, forming a brief alliance with Rubio.
Perhaps for the first time during these debates, Trump looked rattled, even petulant.
We’ll see if Rubio and Cruz can keep it up during the rest of this debate and coming weeks.
Rubio’s claim that the GOP is “the party of diversity” only proves the hollowness of “diversity”.
Yes, there are two candidates of Latino descent in the race, and Ben Carson. But painting the face of a racist system a different color does not stop its racist operations.
This is, after all, the party whose front-runner paints an entire country as rapists and who whipped-up racialized fears during the Central Park 5 case.
For voters who care about diversity, more representation will do nothing to undo the damage wreaked by Donald Trump’s harmful comments.
Kasich answers a question and Carson answers a question. They feel like a sideshow to this:
— Trumpbart News (@Trumpbart) February 26, 2016
Anybody remember the movie? Who wins this fight?
Trump: 'millions of women are helped by Planned Parenthood'
Rubio says he doubts that Trump would appoint a real conservative to the Supreme Court.
Trump invokes Reagan to say that it’s OK to evolve. Trump doesn’t admit that he personally has evolved on issues such as abortion. But then he rather daringly slides into a measured defense of Planned Parenthood:
Millions of millions of women, cervical cancer, breast cancer, are helped by Planned Parenthood... I would defund it because I’m pro-life. But millions of women are helped by Planned Parenthood.
Cruz, Rubio tag-team Trump
Trump is asked whether “religious liberty” would be a litmus test for “all court employees.”
He opts to hit Cruz over a vote in favor of the nomination of John Roberts.
“Justice Roberts was strongly recommended and pushed by Ted. Justice Roberts gave us Obamacare. It might as well be called Robertscare,” says Cruz.
“That is a rough thing, and I know Ted probably feels badly about it... but that judge has been a disaster in terms of everything we stand for... Ted very very strongly pushed Justice Roberts.”
Cruz replies:
“Yes it’s true, I supported the Republican nominee once it was made.”
Then he opts to list all the Democrats that Trump has given money to over the year. He accuses Trump of being willing to “cut a deal” on the Supreme Court instead of taking a stand.
“Let me tell you Donald, I will not apologize for a minute over... defending the Bill of Rights,” Cruz says.
Rubio is taking a break for a moment while Cruz beats up on Trump. They are tag-teaming.
Supreme Court question for Cruz. Pitching to his sweet spot.
Cruz basically says that if a Democrat is elected president Americans will lose all their guns and their god and cats and dogs etc.
“For voters who care about life, or marriage, or religious liberty or the second amendment... I give you my word, every justice I nominate will vigorously defend the Bill of Rights for my children and for yours.”
Applause.
Updated
Trump: Hispanics are incredible people.
Carson – who is indeed sporting a nontraditional elegant striped tie – takes a question about whether he thinks GOP rhetoric alienates Latino voters.
Carson calls for “liberty and justice” for all. He said that before too. He says that ending dependence and creating opportunity will help everybody.
Arrarás goes back to Trump. “A brand new Telemundo poll says that 3 of 4 Hispanics nationwide have a negative opinion of you.”
Trump: “First of all, I don’t believe a thing Telemundo says.” Funny and gets laughs.
Then Trump:
I currently employ thousands of Hispanics, and over the years I have employed tens of thousands of Hispanics. They’re incredible people.
Then he starts talking about his crushing Nevada win, including among Hispanics.
Arrarás persists. A Washington Post poll showed 80% of voters have a negative opinion of you.
Trump tries to interrupt her.
“Let me finish,” she says. She insists that Hispanic voters are leery of Trump.
He denies it.
“I’m just telling you, I’m doing very well with Hispanics. And as you know, I settled my suit with Univision... we’re good friends now... I will do really well Hispanics.”
He fought with Univision over airing a beauty pageant.
Kasich on Hispanic voters: 'I think they like me'
Arrarás asks Kasich about whether the Republican party does not need to widen its aperture on immigration.
“Well, I’m not gonna talk about that,” he says, uncharmingly.
Then he makes the same argument Cruz did. If you create economic growth, everything follows.
Kasich has an addendum: “We have to create the sense that everyone can rise.” Cruz did not mention that part.
Kasich concludes:
“With me and the Hispanic community, I think they like me, and I appreciate that.”
Rubio: 'We are the party of diversity, not the Democratic party'
Arrarás says there’s a perception that Cruz and Rubio are “missing a huge opportunity to expand the Republican base” by taking a hard line on immigration instead of talking to Latino constituencies.
Cruz says it is amazing that two of the five onstage are the children of Cuban immigrants. Then he trashes the media which he says has constructed a myth that if you’re Hispanic you have to be liberal.
Cruz argues that “the Obama economy” has hurt “the Hispanic community” the most and that he would help, in short, by creating economic growth.
Rubio points out that in addition to the immigrant sons onstage there is an African American.
“We are the party of diversity, not the Democratic party,” Rubio says. Applause.
Trump is silent. Rubio is winning applause.
Telemundo’ María Celeste Arrarás goes into the weeds with Rubio on his policy for DREAmers, undocumented migrants who arrived as children to the United States.
Rubio unspools a fluent answer claiming absolute consistency. Trump jumps in rather lamely:
He lied. He lied. 100%
Rubio smiles and returns fire:
You lied to the Polish workers. You lied to the students of Trump University.
Trump mumbles something about that being the past.
“You lied to them eight years ago,” says Rubio. “I guess there’s a statute of limitations on lies?”
The crowd likes that line.
Trump on Fox 'fucking wall' quote: The wall just got 10 feet taller
To Trump: You want to build a wall. But Mexican leaders say that will never happen. In fact Vicente Fox said, Quote: “I’m not going to pay for that quote, effing wall.”
How will Trump get Mexico to pay?
Trump: “I will. And that wall just got 10 feet taller.”
Then Trump objects to Fox’s profanity: “I tell you, if I would have used even half of that word,” it would’ve been a scandal.
“This guy used a filthy disgusting word on TV, and he should be ashamed of himself and he should apologize.”
Trump says the wall would be 1,000 miles long and cost $10bn-$12bn and “it’s a real wall.” “Mexico will pay for it because they are not doing us any favors.”
Then Rubio cuts loose with a highly prepped slam:
If he builds the wall the way he builds Mar-a-Lago he’ll be using illegal workers to do it. Your ties and clothes he made are made in Mexico and China.
Make them in America!
Trump: “You don’t know a think about business. You don’t know anything about it.”
Rubio back with a hit: “I don’t know anything about bankrupting companies either.” Then he hits Trump over lawsuits against a university that used to bear his name.
Rubio is unloading the oppo arsenal onstage.
Trump is wound up. “Here’s a guy that buys a house for $179,000, he sells it for $380,000 to a lobbyist, probably who’s here!”
Rubio is not letting up:
“Here’s a guy that inherited $200m!”
Update: inre Donald and the F word:
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) February 25, 2016
Updated
Now to Kasich. He starts by pointing out the elder Bush’s presence in the audience. He holds up the Bush era as a time when the parties could work together, in tacit contrast with what we’re witnessing onstage. Then Kasich says he would take care of immigration reform first thing as president.
Carson is asked about his beliefs on immigration. He says “I believe in liberty and justice for all.” Then he warns terrorists are trying to cross the border. Then he calls for boosting the Mexican economy. He mentions China too.
Updated
Cruz joins attack on Trump
Cruz says he finds it funny that Trump pretends he invented the immigration issue. He says when he was fighting the Gang of 8 immigration reform proposal, “Where was Donald? He was firing Dennis Rodman on Celebrity Apprentice.”
Laugh line.
Then Trump hits Cruz for being unpopular. “Nobody likes you.” Trump:
“I get along with everybody. You get along with none of them... you don’t have one Republican senator backing you, and you work with these people... you should be ashamed of yourself.”
Cruz flips the attack. “Donald, if you want to be liked in Washington, that’s not a good attribute for president,” he says. He also hits Trump for hiring foreigners.
“Anyone who really cared about illegal immigration wouldn’t be hiring illegal immigrants,” Cruz says.
Trump hits back at Cruz, calling him duplicitous for leaving a 2012 loan from Goldman Sachs after financial disclosure forms.
Rubio hits Trump on immigration
Rubio says that he would secure the border “before we doing anything on immigration.” Then he turns to Trump: “a lot of these positions that he’s now taking are new to him.” He mentions a 2011 Trump position in favor of a path to citizenship and the fact that Trump criticized 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney for talking about “self-deportation.”
Rubio goes straight to the attack.
He then picks up on a New York Times report that Trump hired foreign workers on immigration visas instead of Americans at a Florida resort.
Trump defends himself:
“As far as the people that I’ve hired... during the absolute prime season... you could not get help, it’s the up season... everybody agrees with me on that. They were part-time jobs.. because you couldn’t get help in that hot, hot section of Florida.”
Then Trump defends his criticism of Mitt Romney:
“He should’ve won that election... he ran a terrible campaign, he was a terrible candidate, that’s an election that should’ve been won.”
Applause.
But Rubio will not let him go:
“You did criticize him for using the term “self-deportation.” Then Rubio says, “you’re the only one on this stage for hiring people to work illegally.”
Trump has a great comeback: “I’m the only one on this stage who’s hired people.”
Rubio keeps after Trump, accusing him of hiring workers from Poland. He tells the audience to Google it.
“I’ve hired tens of thousands of people,” Trump says.
“Many from other countries,” Rubio says.
Sizzling!
Cruz gets the Q. He says “the people who get forgotten in this debate” are the millions of “legal” immigrants who are losing their jobs – because, he implies, of undocumented workers.
Cruz says let’s fight for legal immigrants instead of ones “who break the law.” He says he’s led the fight against granting citizenship to undocumented migrants.
Then Trump brags about Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona endorsing him. There’s some applause. Some Trump fans in this crowd.
First Q is about immigration. For Trump. You want to remove 11m undocumented migrants from the USA. But in your words “the good ones” can come back in. Cruz wouldn’t allow that and calls your plan “amnesty.” Is it?
“He was in charge of amnesty, he was the leader, and you can ask Marco,” too, Trump says. Trump says the only reason it’s even an issue is because he brought it up. “We either have a country or we don’t have a country.”
Introductory statements
Ben Carson: America is “heading off the abyss of destruction.” A call for civility: “Marco, Donald, Ted, John: We will not solve any of these problems by trying to destroy each other... It’s not about us.”
John Kasich: My grandfather was a coal miner and my grandmother was an immigrant. For viewers: You can do whatever you want to do in your life. America is an amazing country. Shoot for the stars. America’s great and you can do it.
Marco Rubio: We have to decide the identity of America in the 21st century. Ronald Reagan. Conservatism. Hopes and dreams. Are we still that kind of party or one who “preys on people’s anger and fears?” Applause.
Ted Cruz: Welcome to Texas. [Applause.] I grew up here. I graduated from high school here. I am a senator from here. Democrats tell me I didn’t vote for you, but you’re doing what you said you would do. As president I will do that.
Donald Trump: My whole thing is Make America Great Again. We don’t win anymore. Isis, Obamacare, our Swiss cheese borders. We’re gonna start winning again. It’s gonna be a big difference.
Updated
Our Ben Jacobs is in the room. And we’re going to fact check this after the commercial break:
Ben Carson is wearing a weirdly striped tie, not a solid color
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) February 26, 2016
There they are. One of these men will be the Republican presidential nominee, unless something really unpredictable happens.
Here comes Deana Carter to sing the national anthem. And here comes the high note. O’er the land of the fuh-reee – cleanly hit, no showing off with the extra octave. And the home of the brave. Applause. Nicely done. The crowd chants USA! USA!
Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal sighting.
And a quick commercial break.
Suprise guests at the debate – Wolf Blitzer, the moderator, introduces former president George HW Bush and Barbara Bush.
Notably not in the hall: one Jeb Bush.
The candidates are being introduced.
CNN is running its hype reel ahead of the action onstage in Houston. What’s on your mind in the comments?
Horrendous as it sounds, it appears Trump is poised to win the Republican ticket. There are enough disenfranchised, angry and fed up Americans for whom the "Great American Dream" of hope and opportunity has become a nightmare of despair and joblessness. They have seen the corrupt bankers and establishment prosper while their standards of living have plummeted. They want revenge and believe rightly or wrongly that Trump will give them what they are looking for.
Looks like this "minutes away" thing is going to be another 45 minute delay. They must be having a pre-argument back stage. You know, a warm up.
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The contestants are, alphabetically:
- Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson
- Texas senator Ted Cruz
- Ohio governor John Kasich
- Florida senator Marco Rubio
- Accomplished politician Donald Trump
And then there were five…
Here we go – the 10th Republican debate of the 2016 race for the White House is about to begin. You’ve been told and told what to look for: will Florida senator Marco Rubio or Texas senator Ted Cruz (or Ohio governor John Kasich??) mount an attack on accomplished politician Donald Trump that could somehow alter or interrupt the nominee-in-waiting’s authoritative lead in polling in the 11 states to host Republican voting on Super Tuesday this … Tuesday?
What would such an attack look like? Do debates matter that much? Can anything be said – after nine previous debates, countless individual rallies, town halls or whatever, enough campaign commercials to sink Noah and all Trump’s tweeting – can anything be said onstage in Houston tonight that would change the mind of the average Trump supporter sitting in Georgia or Texas or Virginia?
From where we sit, it will be dramatically interesting to watch them try. Thanks for joining our coverage and pitch in in the comments with who you think’s up, who’s down and who’s next out.
One last bit of news-of-day before the debate begins: On Thursday, a group of New York political and civil rights operatives announced the launch of a new political action committee focused on African American voters, writes the Guardian’s Mahita Gajanan:
Worried that the 2016 election will see a low turnout of black voters, the activists formed the Black Votes Matter PAC to maximize black voter turnout in battleground states like Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Virginia, the committee announced on Thursday.
The Black Votes Matter PAC will be run by Charlie King, who ran the New York state democratic party for Governor Andrew Cuomo and headed the reelection effort of Congressman Charlie Rangel.
“Many of the issues that Governor Cuomo and Assembly Speaker Heastie are fighting for here in New York are the issues that matter in Black communities across the country: a special prosecutor when police kill an unarmed individual; criminal justice reform; $15 minimum wage; real growth opportunities for Black owned businesses; meaningful education initiatives and paid family leave,” King said in a statement. “We will keep these issues on the front burner and make sure the candidates do too.”
Here’s a sampler of our politics coverage so far today:
Former Mexican president: 'I’m not going to pay for that fucking wall'
Former Mexican president Vicente Fox has given an uncompromising response to Republican frontrunner Donald Trump’s plans to make Mexico pay for a wall along the US border with Mexico.
“I’m not going to pay for that fucking wall. He should pay for it. He’s got the money,” Fox told Jorge Ramos on Fusion.
Sanders on TV for debate warmup
Vermont senator Bernie Sanders is being interviewed by Chris Matthews on MSNBC in advance of the Republican debate.
Sanders starts off talking about Woody Guthrie and how he uses This Land Is Your Land at campaign rallies. Sanders visited the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Wednesday. Guthrie grew up in Okemah in central Oklahoma.
“I think what he did was capture the spirit of working Americans in an extraordinary way,” Sanders says.
Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters
You ask, we answer: top trending questions on Donald Trump
Google is tracking the top questions people are asking the Internet about Donald Trump. The top five are:
"What does Donald Trump's win mean for the Republican party?" & more trending Qs on @realDonaldTrump #GOPDebate pic.twitter.com/6hVBdDswqP
— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) February 26, 2016
Let’s give these a crack:
- Trouble?
- Who are you betting on?
- All 50 because the state is winner-take-all by congressional district and he won in every district
- The former Yugoslavian state of Slovenia
- Yes he will, and did, 45.9% to 23.9% for Rubio and 21.4% for Cruz
As he attempts to make his lead in the Republican presidential race unassailable at next week’s Super Tuesday primary contests, Donald Trump is being confronted with resurfaced allegations that he sexually assaulted and tried to rape a woman in the early 1990s, reports the Guardian’s Jon Swaine:
The woman alleged in a federal lawsuit in 1997 that Trump violated her “physical and mental integrity” when he touched her intimately without consent after her boyfriend went into business with him, leaving her “emotionally devastated [and] distraught”.
The woman, whom the Guardian is not naming, dropped the $125m lawsuit in Manhattan the following month. It coincided with a separate legal dispute between Trump and the woman’s then-boyfriend over an alleged breach of contract relating to their beauty pageant business venture. Trump claimed at the time that the lawsuit alleging assault was aimed at pressuring him to settle the other dispute, which reportedly he did for a six-figure sum later that year.
On Wednesday, Trump’s counsel Michael Cohen told a reporter for Mail Online that there was “no truth” to the lawsuit’s allegations. “The plaintiff in the matter ... would acknowledge the same,” Cohen was quoted as saying.
Yet when asked by the Guardian whether she stood by the allegations detailed in the lawsuit, the woman said in a text message: “Yes.” The woman, now a successful makeup artist in New York, declined to discuss the allegations in detail.
Read the full piece here:
Updated
The Guardian’s Tom Dart reports from a protest outside the debate venue at the University of Houston:
As smartly-dressed guests headed for the debate venue, several hundred protestors massed then marched along the edge of the security perimeter at the University of Houston campus, agitating for a variety of causes, among them Black Lives Matter, pro-immigration, anti-Trump and anti-Cruz.
Dozens were with Fight for $15, calling for a $15 minimum wage. GOP contenders including Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Marco Rubio rejected the idea of raising the minimum when the issue came up at last November’s debate in Milwaukee, while Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have proposed an increase.
“It’s something that we need, we have families that are struggling,” said a demonstrator, Carlton, who works at a burger restaurant and goes to college while trying to take care of his three-year-old son by himself.
Another fast-food worker, Janice, 47, said that she earns $8 an hour. “There’s no way a human can live off that,” she said. She lives with five children, and a granddaughter she looks after, in a studio apartment. “It’s real hard,” she said.
“Prices go up and still my wage doesn’t go up… Everyone lives in one room. That’s what $8 is doing for me right now.”
She had no strong opinions about the politicians who were soon to take the stage a couple of hundred metres away - while they indulge in rhetoric, her focus is on practical and immediate matters. “I’m trying to get a roof over my head,” she said.
Updated
Google’s at the Houston debate and they’ve produced a 360-degree view of what the room looks like from Trump’s podium:
It seems like it would be hard to think in there? So loudly colorful and lights and purple seats and too many shapes – and this is without Wolf Blitzer.
Updated
Sanders in Flint, Michigan: 'never again'
The debate isn’t scheduled to start for more than an hour, and if it starts on time that’ll be a first. So let’s detour for a moment to Vermont senator Bernie Sander’s visit to Flint, Michigan, today. The Guardian’s Ryan Felton reports:
Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders called the lead contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan, “one of the more serious public health crises in the modern history of this country” as he addressed community members in his first visit to the city.
With the Michigan presidential primary looming on 8 March, Sanders addressed a crowd of some 300 residents in a church, saying he hoped that “out of the tragedy” would come “fundamental changes in public policy.”
“In Flint, the situation may be more extreme, but all over this country, our infrastructure is crumbling,” Sanders told a majority-white crowd. The Vermont senator said he has proposed a $1 trillion infrastructure program that aims to “provide safe drinking water” and create “millions of decent paying jobs.”
“It is my hope that the American people will look at Flint and say never again,” he said.
In answer to one question, he renewed his call for Michigan governor Rick Snyder to resign.
“The dereliction of this community has been so extraordinary, that I think in good conscious he should resign,” he said. Snyder, a Republican, has rebuffed calls to step down.
At the close of the event, Sanders said the US has to help “rebuild Flint” and “get our priorities right.”
Hello and welcome to our live-wire coverage of the 10th Republican presidential debate in the 2016 race for the White House.
Guardian politics reporter Ben Jacobs is with Tom Dart in Houston, Texas, for the proceedings. This blog is anchored out of New York City and let’s see if we can’t find readers from all around the world. Hit the comments and tell us where you’re calling from!
With only five days to go till 12 states vote on so-called Super Tuesday, it’s do-or-die night for would-be rivals who might take out Donald Trump. The question is, what could they possibly do on the debate stage that would change things? Trump has won the last three state contests running away, and it’s hard to find an upcoming state where he looks vulnerable.
A new Quinnipiac poll of Florida Republicans, for example, measured Trump ahead of Senator Marco Rubio by 16 points, 44-28. Marco Rubio is from Florida.
Tonight we’re looking for Rubio and Texas senator Ted Cruz to go all Eight Mile on the frontrunner (and yes we’re aware that’s Dr Ben Carson’s song). If there was any reason for them to pull punches before, it disappeared in Trump’s 46% crusher win in Nevada on Tuesday. Trump won across every demographic. It looks an awful lot like what happened in Vegas is going national.
Ohio governor John Kasich joins Carson, Cruz and Rubio tonight to fill out the non-Trump field.
Boring Details
Where: University of Houston in Houston, Texas: “Space City”
When: 8.30pm ET, CNN says, which probably means more like 9pm
Who: The debate is hosted by CNN, Telemundo and the Salem Media Group
The candidates are, alphabetically:
- Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson
- Texas senator Ted Cruz
- Ohio governor John Kasich
- Florida senator Marco Rubio
- Accomplished politician Donald Trump
The moderators / questioners are, as billed:
- Wolf Blitzer (CNN)
- María Celeste Arrarás (Telemundo)
- Hugh Hewitt (Salem)
- Dana Bash (CNN)
Why: pick a GOP nominee
What to Watch For In Tonight’s Debate: A bald-headed man, seated in the fourth row, noiselessly weeping.
— Matt Berman (@Mr_Berman) February 25, 2016
Kasich is the only one who sounds reasonable, and knows something about policy.
Presumably this disqualifies him from winning the nomination.