epaselect epa05132500 Businessman and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to supporters on the Drake University campus at a special event to benefit veterans after skipping the Fox News GOP debate in Des Moines, Iowa, 28 January 2016. The Iowa Caucus will be held 01 February 2016 and is the first official test of candidates seeing their parties nominations. EPA/LARRY W. SMITH Photograph: Larry W. Smith/EPA
PS If you were wondering which candidates were picking up the most search interest on Google during the debate, Google has the answer ...
The seventh Republican presidential debate - and the first without the presence of Donald Trump, who decided to hold an event of his own elsewhere in Des Moines, Iowa – is in the can. Here’s what we learned:
- The knives were out for Texas senator Ted Cruz, who is polling second behind Trump in Iowa. Florida senator Marco Rubio said Cruz’s campaign was built on a “lie” of shifting positions for votes.
- It was a substantive debate. Body cameras for police, Libya, Iran, Kim Davis, mental illness, Bridgegate, immigration, Isis, Obamacare, veterans’ affairs, Bill Clinton’s affairs – it was all in there.
- Speaking of shifting positions, the moderators strived to pin Cruz and Rubio down on immigration, using video medleys of their most blatant calls for a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants to prove that they had in the past supported a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants. The pair waffled.
- The absent Trump came under early attack. “I’m a maniac, and everyone on this stage is stupid, fat and ugly,” said Cruz. “And Ben, you’re a terrible surgeon. And now that we’ve got the Donald Trump portion out of the way ... ”
- For multiple candidates it was their peppiest outing yet. Former Florida governor Jeb Bush was notably animated, accusing Rubio of having “cut and run” on immigration. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson produced the memorable line: “Putin is a one-horse country: oil and energy.”
- The crowd seemed against Cruz, booing him when he tried to wrest more time from the moderators.
- The candidates, especially New Jersey governor Chris Christie, attacked Clinton. Rubio said that “Hillary does not want to run against me, but I cannot wait to run against her.”
- Kentucky senator Rand Paul took a stand against government surveillance. “The bulk collection of your phone data ... did not stop one terrorist attack,” he said.
- A dutiful John Kasich explained how his experience as Ohio governor would help him deal with everything from the Flint, Michigan, water crisis to health care reform to the challenge of cyber warfare.
That’s all from us tonight. Thanks for reading.
Updated
Trump event: coda
Perhaps the most shocking element of the “Donald J Trump Special Event to Benefit Veterans Organizations” was its utter failure to shock.
In a vacuum, the idea of the party’s frontrunner ditching the final primary debate four days ahead of the Iowa caucuses is completely insane - a massive departure from the rules of political gravity. Had you told any political reporter six months ago that said frontrunner would then host a concurrent event three miles away, with the vague goal of raising money for unnamed veterans’ organizations, featuring appearances by the two lowest-ranked members of the field of candidates, you would’ve been laughed out of the room.
But - and someday we’ll get tired of saying this, we swear - Donald Trump is different. Just when you think he’s reached new heights (or new lows), Trump goes farther, harder, rougher, lower than you ever thought he would.
Which is why, counterintuitively, his “special event” didn’t seem all that special. Trump’s months-long feud with Fox News and Megyn Kelly built up expectations that no political rally could live up to. Even the appearance of viral YouTube stars, multiple presidential candidates, his famous daughter, a billionaire and his trophy wife, and an honest-to-goodness war hero failed to raise our pulse. Even Trump’s infamous crowds seemed subdued - as protesters interrupted the proceedings with chants of “we love veterans, Trump loves war”, it took Trump’s acolytes nearly a minute to muster the energy for chants of “Trump! Trump! Trump! Trump!”
The billionaire frontrunner may be a victim of his own outlandishness. After calling for a 2,000-mile wall, a ban on Muslim immigrants and for the deportation of 11 million undocumented immigrants, what new policy could surprise us? After taunting a disabled reporter, chalking Kelly’s aggressive questioning up to menstruation and labeling John McCain a fake war hero, who else could he possibly insult? Short of calling for a preemptive nuclear strike on Iran or a sequel to the Mexican-American War, it’s hard to imagine what else Trump might be able to shock us with.
If his “special event” was any indication, the world’s greatest showman may finally be running out of tricks.
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Ted Cruz dodges his ethanol subsidies challenge by asserting again that ethanol will take over the world just as soon as he can stop subsidies for oil. He says all subsidies should go - for ethanol and oil. It’s a curious argument. Corn would not be grown in Iowa without government subsidies. If you remove those subsidies, there won’t be any ethanol to compete with oil.
Cruz likes to say that Representative Steve King stands with him so he can’t be all bad on ethanol. The first half of that sentence is true: King is with Cruz. But whenever Cruz starts talking about ethanol subsidies, King looks like he’d rather be somewhere else. The smile disappears and he looks shiftily across the Iowa crowds.
Video – Donald Trump: Fox begged me to rejoin Republican debate
I’m fact-checking Ben Carson’s claim that “Putin is a one-horse country”. I don’t know about horse men but I can tell you that as a country, Russia has an abundance of horses.
In fact, Russia has one of the highest horse populations in the world according to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. In 2012, Russia produced and/or slaughtered 279,882 horses (just behind the US’s 280,863). China tops the list by a long way though: 1,608,404 horses.
Closing statements
Paul: I’m an eye surgeon. I’m a senator. It’s amazing. I’m worried about the debt. I’m the one true fiscal conservative. [Big wild ridiculous college cheering]
Kasich: We look at each other and say why can’t we solve problems. Well I’ve got news. We can. We need to stay positive. Set the tune as conservatives but invite other people in to be part of that orchestra. Work together.
Christie: 9/11. My wife trapped in her building for 6 hours. Terrorism is scary. We need a president who knows what it means to face the possibility of loss. No one will keep this country safer than I will.
Bush: We need a conservative leader. I’ve a proven record. I have a plan. Restore the military. Keep us safe. Defeat Hillary Clinton. I ask for your support. I will make you proud.
Carson: Thanks Iowa. Recites the preamble to the Constitution. Folks it’s not too late. Enough said.
Rubio: America’s light is shining on the world but Obama dimmed it. Caucus for me. America’s light will shine again.
Cruz: 93 hours. The media noise will soon be over. It’s time for Iowa to decide. Who do you know will kill the terrorists, defend the Constitution and repeal Obamacare. Pray on it. Caucus for us.
Curtain.
Vladimir Putin may be a one-horse country, in Ben Carson’s estimation. But is he a one-man guy?
Updated
Final commercial break – prefatory to closing statements. One last chance to weigh in on who’s winning! Let us have it in the comments.
Ben Carson told the audience in Iowa that Putin is a one-horse country. It’s not clear what the former brain surgeon meant by that. But it is clear that Vladimir Putin sure does like horses.
In fact, the “interests” section of his personal website has a whole section devoted to horse riding. He enjoys hand-feeding horses as well as riding them around. Full, sweet, quote:
Vladimir Putin feels confident in the saddle so horseback riding for him is a chance to rest. On August 3, 2009 Putin took a one-day break and spent it in Tuva. At one of the stops he met with a local shepherd, who invited him to his home, and they went there on horseback.
During his working visit to the Republic of Khakassia, Putin travelled to the foothills of Karatash, near Abakan. There, he hand-fed local horses and drank a cup of tea, cooked over a campfire, and then went riding.
Obviously there is this, too:
Updated
Cruz is asked about the six-term governor of Iowa, Terry Branstad, opposing his candidacy, particularly over Cruz’s opposition to ethanol.
“I don’t believe that Washington should be picking winners and losers, and there should be no mandates, or no subsidies whatsoever,” Cruz says.
He says he does not oppose ethanol: He would phase out the ethanol mandate over five years but in the context of no mandates for anyone.
Cruz points out that Iowa Rep. Steve King, local boy made good, supports his candidacy.
Bush goes back to Trump. He says Trump’s call for a Muslim ban creates a toxic environment in the country. “It’s important for us to be careful about the language we use. Disparaging women. Disparaging Hispanics. That’s not a sign of strength. Making fun of disabled people?”
Updated
They’re back. Paul’s asked about Bill Clinton’s history with women. Paul says “I don’t blame Hillary Clinton at all for this, I don’t think she’s responsible.”
But: “If any CEO in our country did what Bill Clinton did with an intern, they would be fired, never hired again, and probably shunned in their community.”
He accuses Clinton of hypocrisy:
“She can’t be a champion on women’s rights with this behavior.”
Updated
Fifth commercial break. It’s time to pick your favorite. We’ve heard from them all in multiple rounds. Cruz is lonely on this stage. Trump’s absence makes him seem like more of an outlier?
Christie is asked about Isis in Libya. Would he deploy troops to Libya to fight Isis.
“This is another one of those places where Hillary Clinton has so much to answer for,” Christie says. “She refuses to be held accountable for anything that goes wrong.”
Christie says he’d bring together European and Sunni Arab allies and develop a strategy to take Isis out. He does not mention US troops in Libya - or not.
Rubio gets an Iran question. He says the country is led by an apocalyptic cultist. He said that under a Rubio presidency, nations would have to choose whether to deal with the United States or with Iran.
Kasich then takes the question. “The president needs to be laying the groundwork to slap those sanctions back on,” Kasich says.
“If they violate [the nuclear deal], we need to move against them, and if we find out they are developing a nuclear weapon and we can get to it, we need to take it out.”
Updated
Rubio seems to imply that America is taking more than its fair share of immigrants when he says “every single year, close to a million people immigrate to the United States legally. There’s no nation on Earth that comes close to that number.”
Well, if you really want to understand immigration statistics, it makes much more sense to look at the foreign-born population as a percentage of the total population. When you view things that way, the US, where 14.3% of the population is foreign-born, really isn’t an exceptional country.
Of the 232 places that the United Nations considers in its data, the US ranks in 68th place in terms of the foreign-born population. Top of the list is the Holy See where 100% of residents were born elsewhere, followed by the United Arab Emirates (83.7%) and American Samoa (75.9%).
In joint bottom place are China, Cuba, Indonesia, Lesotho, Madagascar and Vietnam - all countries where just 0.1% of their population are immigrants.
Carson: 'Putin is a one-horse country'
Now, just in time for Ben Carson to answer, a switch from a series of questions about faith and values to one about Nato’s military posture in eastern Europe.
“Putin is a one-horse country: oil and energy,” Carson says. Then he says he would go into one of the Baltic states if Russia attacked. “Absolutely.”
Updated
Q for Paul: Should abortion be a states’ rights issue?
Paul calls for “both a federal and a state approach,” including a “life at conception act” on the federal level.
“If you had the court reverse Roe v Wade, it would become a state issue once again,” Paul says.
Updated
“We innovated the government,” said John Kasich, who goes on to talk about low rates of recidivism, drug addiction and mental health. It may just be the most substantive, meaningful response in what feels like a full year of TV debates.
Which obviously means, in this year, that was a terrible debate line.
There were no quips about the government of Sweden, no promises to kill Isis, and no canned lines attacking his rivals. What kind of presidential candidate talks about social policy solutions at a debate?
Rubio riffs on the “role of faith in our country” and “Judeo-Christian values” in the United States.
“In this nation we are influenced by Judeo-Christian values that teach us to care for the less fortunate.”
“When I’m president... my faith will not just influence the way I’ll govern as president, it will influence my way of life. Because my goal is not just to live on this earth for 80 years, it is to live for eternity with my creator.” Snappy line!
My faith “will always influence everything I do,” Rubio says.
Christie is asked about Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who declined to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple.
“The law needs to be followed, and someone in that office needs to do their job,” Christie says. Not necessarily Davis.
Then Christie makes a rather unlikely leap from Kim Davis to... Isis.:
They want everyone in this country to follow their beliefs just like they do. Not religious liberty.
Spotted by the Guardian’s Ben Jacobs at the conclusion of Donald Trump’s rally in Des Moines, Iowa:
This guy was at the Trump event pic.twitter.com/hUNLo8BGep
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) January 29, 2016
LaVoy Finicum was a member of a group of armed protesters who occupied a federal wildlife refuge in rural Oregon. Finicum, the spokesman of the group, was killed in a shootout with police after he allegedly attempted to draw a weapon on an Oregon Swat team.
They’re back. Q for Kasich about his faith, which he cited for expanding Medicaid in his state under Obamacare. Kasich defends the decision and cites a slew of statistics to prove it was a good one. He culminates to a twin call to treat mental illness and drug addiction.
“When I study scripture, I know that people who live in the shadows need to have a chance,” he says.
“The mentally ill, they’ve been stepped on for too long in this country.”
Over on the other channel where Trump was having his alternative whatchamacallit, the discussion focused heavily on veterans – in particular, their suicide risks.
Donald Trump was even presented with a “22Kill Honor Ring,” a black band worn on someone’s right index finger that aims to raise awareness of suicide among US military veterans.
In 2011 (the latest year of data) the US Department of Veterans found that 40 per 100,000 male veterans and 14.4 per 100,000 female veterans killed themselves. That data summary also found that overall suicide rates haven’t changed much over the past several years.
A separate study looked at the suicide risk for veterans who served during the Iraq or Afghanistan wars between 2001 and 2007. It framed the numbers slightly differently: almost a quarter of all veteran deaths were due to suicide.
If you or someone you know needs help, the VA has a helpline (1-800-273-8255) as well as a range of other ways to speak to someone.
Fourth commercial break. And who’s in the lead? In the comments, please!
Christie on Bridgegate: 'I didn't know'
Christie is asked about Bridgegate, the lane closures scandal on the George Washington bridge. He says “I didn’t know about it” and he fired the people involved when he found out. He says there have been three investigations and no evidence of his involvement has emerged.
Then he pivots to attacking Clinton, again. He says he’s a former federal prosecutor who could prosecute her. And furthermore, when he’s president, “Hillary Clinton won’t get within ten miles of the White House.”
“The days for the Clintons in public housing are over.”
Here are some more clips from the debate so far:
Rubio is asked about faltering popularity in Florida. “There’s only one savior, and it’s not me. It’s Jesus Christ who came down to Earth and died for our sins” he says, somewhat literally.
Then he gets off a couple good lines about the Democratic candidates:
Bernie Sanders is a socialist. I think Bernie Sanders is a good candidate for president ... of Sweden!
On Clinton:
In fact one of her first acts as president may be to pardon herself!
Updated
Bush is asked why he’s losing to Hillary Clinton in polls. Bush denies the premise. He says he can take on Clinton. In any case, he says, the Clinton fight will be an ugly one. “It’s not beanbag.”
Rubio adds: “Hillary does not want to run against me, but I cannot wait to run against her.”
Updated
Wallace basically asks Cruz why his colleagues hate him. “Does your style get in the way of your message?”
“I am not the candidate of career politicians in Washington,” Cruz says. He says the endorsements he’s proud of are thousands of volunteers, Rep Steve King of Iowa and evangelical leader James Dobson. He don’t need no stinkin colleagues.
Cruz says if he’s elected he will, every do, “tell the truth and do what I said I would do.” And we have that on video.
Donald Trump, thanking the audience again, exits the stage to the strains of Adele’s “Rolling In the Deep.”
Question off YouTube from an immigrant and a veteran. She says the campaign has been alienating for some immigrants. What does Carson have to say about that?
“We are a land of immigrants,” Carson says. “But we have to be intelligent about the way we form our immigration policies. And that’s one reason I’ve called for us to declare war on the Islamic State.
“If you’ve got ten people coming to your house, and you know that one of them is a terrorist, you’re probably going to keep them all out.”
Then Bush shows Carson as it’s done. “We should be a welcoming nation...we should celebrate it as conservatives. That’s what we believe in.”
Respectful applause.
Donald Trump introduces his very pregnant daughter Ivanka, who is due to give birth in two weeks.
I said, ‘Ivanka, it would be so great if you had your baby in Iowa! It would be so great - I would win!’”
After resting through the ad break, Megyn Kelly goes in for the kill. Armed with video clips of previous Rubio statements, Kelly nails Rubio on immigration reform and amnesty. Rubio blinks furiously and his cheeks look flushed. He only regains his composure - and eye blinking rate - once he goes to the safe zone of killing Isis. Rubio still seemed ruffled when he attacked his former mentor Jeb Bush on the same question several minutes later.
Donald Trump retakes the lectern and declares that, with him in the Oval Office, the US is going to win again.
“We’re gonna win at the military, we’re gonna win at the border, we’re gonna win at trade,” Trump says. “We’re gonna win at every single level - and we’re not gonna be laughed at throughout the rest of the world.”
“It really turned out to be a phenomenal night,” Trump says.
Here are some clips from the debate so far:
Knives out for Cruz
Now Kelly is hitting Cruz with video of him on the Senate floor sounding an awful lot like he supported legal status for undocumented migrants in the immigration reform bill.
He has claimed since that an amendment he proposed to block citizenship for undocumented migrants was meant to be a poison pill, meant to kill the bill, not to get it to pass with a legal status clause.
Cruz denies it. Then Paul jumps in.
“It’s a falseness. That’s an authenticity problem,” Paul says.
Cruz says don’t take his word for it about whether he supported the immigration reform bil. Ask Jeff Sessions.
Rubio attacks: “This is the lie that Ted’s campaign is built on, and Rand touched on it. The truth is, you’ve been willing to say or do anything in order to get votes!”
“You know I like Marco, he’s very charming, he’s very smooth,” Cruz says. But, he says, Rubio supported amnesty, while “I honored my commitments.”
Then Christie jumps in and says “I feel like I need a Washington-to-English dictionary converter.” The crowd claps, agreeing.
Donald Trump introduces social media sensation Diamond and Silk, who have gained online notoriety for their support of his candidacy as the “Stump for Trump” duo, who urge the gathered audience to caucus for Trump.
Protesters return, chanting “We love veterans, Trump loves war!”
“If we could sit with them for ten minutes, maybe, maybe they’d understand,” Trump says of the protesters.
Donald Trump is presented with a “22Kill Honor Ring,” a black band worn on the right index finger that aims to raise awareness of suicide among US military veterans.
“Isn’t that better than this debate that’s going on where everyone’s sleeping?” Trump asks.
Rubio faces tale of tape on immigration
They are back. Here they are! Live from Des Moines. Now the topic of immigration, and Rubio. As a senator he said he would oppose citizenship or blanket legalization amnesty for undocumented migrants.
Oh! They hit him with a highlights video reel of him opposing amesty in 2009. But “Within two years of getting elected, you supported legislation that included a path to citizenship.”
“Haven’t you already proven that you can’t be trusted on this issue?” Kelly asks him.
Rubio speaks very quickly and tries to say he’s been consistent but what’s really important is to secure the border.
Bush jumps in, shaking his head.
“I’m kind of confused, because he was the sponsor of the Gang of Eight bill,” Bush says. “And I supported him, because I think people, when they’re elected, you need to do things.”
Bush says Rubio “cut and run” on immigration. Bush says he supports a path to legal status for undocumented migrants. He is to the left of this crowd on this issue. “That’s the conservative consensus.”
Then Bush gets laughs for saying his book on immigration reform is on sale on Amazon for $2.99. “Affordable for everybody.”
“You used to support a path to citizenship!” Rubio says.
“So did you. So did you, Marco,” Bush replies.
Rubio: “You changed your position from a path to citizenship to a path to legal status.”
Bush: “I think it’s important, when people who are elected to office, to forge consensus. He cut and run.”
Updated
Is there a candidate on stage who blinks as much as Marco Rubio? We may be seeing even more of his eyelashes than we are of Megyn Kelly’s. They say blinking is a sign of nervousness. If so, Rubio was seriously unnerved by the question about him shifting positions on cap and trade and climate change.
Rubio pins his pretzel of a position on Charlie Crist, the man he described as a liberal governor who pretended to be a Republican. Then again, when it comes to climate change, Rubio isn’t a scientist, man. So maybe he can be forgiven for changing positions.
It’s hard to put this quotation in the correct context, but John Wayne Walding, retired Green Beret, says that the fact that 22 veterans commit suicide every day makes him furious.
“I want to punch the 22 vets committing suicide in the mouth,” Walding says.
Trump supporters have found a way of dealing with protesters that doesn’t involve violence, notes Lucia Graves.
The Trump campaign has successfully figured out how to get its supporters to respond to protesters in more appropriate ways. When a handful of protesters interrupted Trump’s event the audience turned and shouted – “Trump! Trump! Trump!” – drowning out the voices of the protesters.
It was highly effective. I for one couldn’t hear anything the protesters were saying, and Trump easily continued with his speech. “I love the protesters in the big arena because the cameras never move,” Trump continued gleefully. “They’re always on my face!”
After reports that a protester was beaten and choked at a Trump rally earlier in the election season, the campaign has been taking the issue of how to respond to protesters more seriously. And chanting “Trump!” is exactly the response the Trump campaign has been coaching its supporters to take.
At a rally in Iowa last week, a voice over the loudspeakers explicitly told rally attendees not to respond with violence to any protesters that might surface. At an event later in the week, supporters were instructed to hold their signs over their heads and shout “Trump!”
Say what you will about Trump supporters, but they follow directions well.
https://t.co/cXhdKfZiSQ right now pic.twitter.com/Z3T3unzTUK
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) January 29, 2016
Commercial break the third. Next up after the break: immigration. How are they doing up there? Pretty good from Christie. Kind of popped a bit. Kasich seemed to answer strongly on the Flint water crisis but the crowd did not seem inspired.
While the candidates’ faces are saying an assortment of words, I am wondering about the make-up adorning said faces. I’ve spent some time trying to find out which adult is responsible for the assortment of pancake tones on our screens right now.
I believe I might have an answer. This LA Times article profiles Kriss Soterion, describing her as “a former New Hampshire beauty queen with a lower back tattoo and the distinction of having powdered the noses of every major presidential candidate for the past 16 years”. I’ve been poking around her Instagram account and perhaps this year is no exception.
I’ve contacted her and will let you know if I hear back.
Meanwhile if you have any tips regarding political make-up please contact mona.chalabi@theguardian.com
Bush is asked about statehood for Puerto Rico. He says Puerto Rico should have self determination. “The status of statehood won’t be solved until we deal with the bigger issue” of systemic economic weaknesses, he says.
Then Kasich is asked about the Flint, Michigan, lead poisoning water crisis. “You’ve really got to move when you face a situation like that.. You’ve got to be on top of it, you’ve got to go the extra mile, you’ve got to work with local communities, you’ve got to work for the federal government,” the Ohio governor says.
That’s the first mention tonight of the federal government as an actually useful thing.
“We work for the people, they don’t work for us,” Kasich concludes. But weak applause.
Is this crowd tired? Rubio delivers a pretty sharp response about the evils of cap-and-trade legislation to limit carbon emissions– and the crowd really phones it in on the clapping.
Donald Trump introduces staff sergeant John Wayne Walding, a veteran, former Green Beret who lost his leg in a joint US-Afghan raid nicknamed the Battle of Shok Valley in 2008. He and the rest of his team were awarded the Silver Star for their efforts.
"I feel cooler than Burt Reynolds coming up here getting introduced by Donald Trump"
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) January 29, 2016
“I was very pleased to hear him say that I could get up and speak to you, and so for that I thank you Mr. Trump,” Walding says. Walding, who describes himself as an old friend of Trump’s and his family, paces around the stage because, he jokes, “a moving target is harder to hit.”
“I lost my leg in Afghanistan,” Walding says. “That’s how I got off that mountain - carrying my leg and fighting next to my brothers.”
Updated
For Cruz: How would you replace Obamacare?
Cruz: Obamacare is a disaster and a job killer. “If I am elected president we will repeal every word of Obamacare.” Then he would allow health insurance purchases across state lines; expand health savings accounts; and work to delink health insurance from employment.
No small order.
They are back. First question off break is about entitlement reform, and it is for Chris Christie. He’s challenged to name something the federal government does now that it should not do?
“Get rid of Planned Parenthood funding for the United States of America.”
Bigger than that? asks Baier.
“When you see thousands and thousands of children murdered in the womb, I can’t think of anything bigger than that,” Christie says.
You are not seeing double. Via Washington bureau chief Dan Roberts:
Extraordinary to watch *two* Republican debates taking place at the same time in the same town for the same election pic.twitter.com/pKtIXVIFnw
— Dan Roberts (@RobertsDan) January 29, 2016
Jeb Lund is fast losing his patience with the ignorance candidates are displaying on military matters.
Where to begin with any of these people? We have a smaller navy and fewer ships than at any point since, I don’t know, a date long enough ago to be frightening and probably related to the second world war, which skews the data.
Not one of these clowns could tell you if all of those ships were the same class as the USS Walter Mondale. (It’s a laundry ship.) Ted Cruz thinks that we carpet bombed Iraq in the first Gulf war, which would be news to the people who planned that war. He also thinks he’s going to win a war by doing that, I guess citing all the examples in which unrestricted bombing won a war. [FILE NOT FOUND.] Finally, he, deficit hawk, invokes Reagan’s tax cuts and his ramping up military spending. Welcome to budgetary Opposite Land.
Updated
Commercial break number 2. How do they sound to you? Fox really shut Cruz out of that last block, didn’t Fox?
Question from YouTube about body cameras for police and other technology for law enforcement to protect citizens. The question is explicitly tied to Ferguson, Missouri.
Paul takes the question. He recalls that a third of the Ferguson city budget comes from city fines. He says the war on drugs has unfairly incarcerated “a generation of African American males.” He talks about racial inequality in imprisonment. He points out that he’s been a leader in Congress on criminal justice reform.
“I think it’s something that needs to change, and I think it’s something our party needs to be part of,” Paul says.
Wild cheers from his personal pep squad.
Donald Trump, master of apophasis, declares that he won’t bring up any polls tonight before bringing up his standing in the polls:
“We’ve had amazing polls in Iowa, we’ve had amazing polls no matter where we’ve been,” Trump says. “We’re leading in Iowa and every single state.”
Bush is asked whether he would police charity organizations that say they’re helping veterans?
Bush says the first duty is to fix the department of veteran’s affairs. He says employees get bonuses while people don’t get care.
Bush calls for a choice card for veterans so they don’t have to travel for care. “Give veterans choices and you’ll get a much better result.” He calls for more private programs supporting vets.
Another strong answer from Bush. He’s applauded.
Fox News has issued a statement about the series of phone calls that took place between Donald Trump and Fox News chief Roger Ailes:
#Break: Statement from Fox News about Trump-Ailes conversations pic.twitter.com/6iTXQTc5W6
— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) January 29, 2016
Carson says that the United States should accept anyone who embraces American values and laws. He’s applauded. He’s improved on the stage over the course of these seven debates.
Kasich is asked about potential “backdoors” in encryption programs that could backfire by making the technology vulnerable to hackers.
Kasich says it’s best not to talk about some of these things. “It’ll be solved,” Kasich says.
It’s public record, Kelly says.
“It’s best not to talk about it,” Kasich says. Meaning: the public should not be part of the decision on how to balance security and privacy in technologies everybody uses.
Mike Huckabee replaces Santorum at the lectern and throws caution to the wind. “I figure you’re gonna get the photo anyway, I might as well stand here,” he says.
“Without you, there is no government,” he says of American military veterans, to another vigorous “U-S-A” chant.
“You see, in my mind here, I heard you saying ‘Go, Huck, go!’” he responds.
Despite their possible divides in politics, Huckabee says, he couldn’t avoid making an appearance at the event, because “bigger than even the election, is the fact that we wouldn’t have free elections in this country without people who stood between bullets bombs.”
Ted Cruz’s plan to win this debate is evidently to turn into a plungingly less humorous version of Donald Trump with at least twice the peevishness. He has (surprise!) narcissistically decided that all questions are being asked with the aim of giving other candidates ammunition to “go after” Ted Cruz, so he is going to litigate the conduct of the debate with the moderators.
He has also decided to simultaneously be the bulldog going after the moderators, while embracing the familiar conservative cry of being constantly victimized by questions, issues, press, other conservatives. He’s getting hammered on policy, not on being himself, and trying to play the victim on what is supposed to be his specialty: being a know-it-all. You made your bed, sir.
Christie is asked about profiling and law enforcement to stop terror attacks. Christie says common sense obviates the need for profiling.
“Use common sense and let law enforcement make those decisions. That can be done without profiling people. That’s just common sense,” Christie says, somewhat circularly.
He says that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have not supported law enforcement but he would.
3 amigos... Santorum and Huckabee join Trump onstage #GOPDebate pic.twitter.com/NmozxwGD3g
— Paul Owen (@PaulTOwen) January 29, 2016
Donald Trump introduces former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum - winners of the 2008 and 2012 Iowa caucuses, respectively.
Santorum takes a turn at the lectern - his second of the night, after his undercard debate performance on Fox News - and makes an effort to avoid an awkward photo opportunity:
Santorum: I want to stand a little bit over here so I’m not photographed with the Trump sign
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) January 29, 2016
“I’m supporting another candidate for president,” Santorum jokes, “but that doesn’t mean we can’t work together when it comes to helping our veterans, and that’s what Mike and I are doing here tonight.”
Paul nails Rubio on immigration. “It’s a huge mistake to close down mosques. But if you want to keep the country safe, it begins with border security,” he says.
Paul accuses Rubio him of having made a “deal with Chuck Schumer” not to accept any conservative amendments to Rubio’s Gang of 8 immigration reform bill.
Rubio says that any immigrant to the United States under his presidency will be fully vetted.
To state the incredibly obvious, if you’re watching the debate right now, you’re not alone. What’s interesting though is that the percentage of people saying they’ve watched a debate is higher now than it was in December 2007, according to a national survey from Pew Research Center. When Pew asked in December 2015, 69% of respondents said they’d watched at least one of the televised debates - in December 2007, that figure was just 43%.
The chart below from Pew shows how that varies by age group.
What’s more, despite the fact that these debates have discussed little in the way of policy, more Americans are describing them as “interesting” compared to January 2012 or October 2007. That’s true whether the respondents were Republican, Democrat or Independent.
Ted Cruz does some more masterful deflection – with the help of Ronald Reagan, points out Richard Wolffe.
This is Olympic-quality question-dodging by Ted Cruz. Asked by Chris Wallace about his votes against defense budgets, Cruz launches into an extended diatribe against Barack Obama’s defense budgets. Even when asked a follow-up - in response to a few barbed comments by Marco Rubio - Cruz talks not about his own position, but about his idol: Ronald Reagan.
Cruz likes to position himself as the second coming of Reagan, which is a lot better than discussing his own budget votes. Oh yes: and they all want to annihilate, eviscerate and exterminate Isis. In case you were confused on that point.
While Fox News is streaming the GOP debate, its news channel competitors are gleefully mopping up ratings by showing Donald Trump’s rally live.
Even before Trump’s event began, CNN was running a “breaking news” chyron: “Waiting Trump event.”
Once Trump started, they gave him their full attention. So far they have stuck with him for his entire speech.
It was the same with MSNBC. They’ve interrupted the Rachel Maddow show to go live to Trumptown. They’re still there.
Cruz tries to cut in. Wallace shuts him down. “I know you like to argue about the rules but we’re going to conduct the debate,” Wallace says.
Cruz is booed.
Bush gets the question: “Given the fact that your brother got us into two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that have still not ended, what have you learned from his mistakes, sir?”
The question is booed.
Bush presents himself as a foreign policy realist. “It is from the lessons of history that we do this... the caliphate of Isis has to be destroyed,” he says. He points out that he detailed his plan last summer.
An applause line: “Get the lawyers off the backs of the military, once and for all.”
In all a well-received answer from Bush on foreign policy. He’s peppy this evening.
Cruz is really getting booed. He gets the chance to reply, and says that the moderators are asking questions encouraging the candidates to attack one another.
Cruz saves himself, a bit, with a joke: “If you guys ask one more mean question, I may have to leave the stage.”
Donald Trump introduces Phil Ruffin, a casino billionaire, and his wife, who announces that he is donating $1m “to your charity.”
“He says, ‘There’s ten or twenty more of them if you want it or you need it,’” Trump says of Ruffin, before declaring that he turned down the billionaire’s money out of his conviction that politicians shouldn’t be bought.
“I don’t feel good about turning down money because my whole life I’ve been greedy greedy greedy,” Trump says, “but I’m gonna be greedy for the United States!”
The crowd erupts into a short-lived “U-S-A” chant.
Without Trump on the debate stage, some candidates look a lot more relaxed, notes Richard Wolffe
John Kasich purses his lips several times in a weird kind of pout as Chris Wallace describes him as an inside-outside candidate. It’s almost like he loves the question so much that he wants to kiss his questioner.
Maybe it’s just the most visible sign of the different mood that hangs over the Trumpless stage. Every candidate seems more confident and relaxed without an unpredictable real estate developer throwing firebombs from center stage. Who knew?
Christie: Clinton 'not qualified'
Welcome back!
Christie has compared Cruz and Rubio to Obama, who took office as an inexperienced senator.
Christie says that what the country should really be worried about is Hillary Clinton.
Christie’s favorite tack: taking it to Clinton. “She put American secrets at risk for her convenience... Let me tell you who’s not qualified to be president of the United States, Chris. Hillary Rodham Clinton.”
#FactCheck:
Trump says he has raised almost $6 million. His website says he has raised $430,000 pic.twitter.com/oSmtEpnoiO
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) January 29, 2016
Updated
First commercial break! Who’s winning? Cruz is certainly on his feet. Rubio talking fast as usual. Kasich projecting confidence. Bush claiming to be the fighter. Paul with a nice condemnation of dragnet surveillance. Carson sharper. Christie looking for an in.
They’re on point tonight, as a group.
Donald Trump’s rally has already been interrupted by protestors shouting “We love our vets, Trump loves war!”, who are almost immediately drowned out by chants of “Trump! Trump! Trump! Trump! Trump!”
“It really is too crazy, right?” Trump mugs at the audience. “I love protests - I love protests at my rallies.”
Updated
In addition to its enormous financial power, Google is getting opportunities to shape the political debate in ways that are slightly unsettling.
A pie chart just popped up on the screen showing what Americans were searching for in Google. Apparently it was overwhelmingly terrorism.
Let’s set aside the fact that there is no way in hell that over 80% of all Google searches were for the word terrorism (and let’s also set aside that pie charts are terrible) the issue is a lack of transparency.
Google Trends data does not the actual volume of search traffic, just a murky index of changing popularity over time. Every time you see numbers attached to Google tonight, I’d read them with plenty of skepticism.
Donald Trump isn’t sure whether or not this special event will end up hurting him in the polls - but he doesn’t care.
Will I get more votes? Will I get less votes? Nobody knows. Who the hell knows?”
Trump tells the crowd that his campaign - or the veterans, he’s not really clear - has raised more than $5m in the past two days because of his feud with Fox News.
“Really, it was closer to $6m,” he boasts.
Updated
Rubio calls for rebuilding the American military. He says that Cruz has voted against funding it – the authorization act vote.
Cruz says that Obama has allowed the military to deteriorate dangerously. “What Reagan did was he began with tax reform and regulatory reform,” unleashing economic growth and then rebuilding the military, Cruz explains.
“I intend to do the exact same thing,” Cruz says. Sounds like it could take awhile.
“We had about 24 hours to put this together,” Donald Trump tells the crowd. “It was very, very quick. This is an honor; this is a really... honor.”
Trump tells his fans that his refusal to attend the Fox News debate comes from the same place as his desire to make America great again. “You have to stick up for your rights when you’re treated badly,” Trump says. “You have to stick up for your rights - you’ve got to do it.”
“We have to stick up for ourselves as people, and we have to stick up for our country when we’re being mistreated,” he continues.
Cruz is asked about voting against the defense authorization act, and asked whether his record in the Senate does not contradict his warlike rhetoric.
“I will apologize to nobody for the vigorousness with which I will fight terrorism,” he says.
Talk of carpet-bombing Isis, he says, “is not tough talk”:
It is not tough talk. It is a different fundamental military strategy than what we’ve seen from Barack Obama.
A bellicose moment from Cruz. It sounds like a big war he’s calling for.
Updated
Donald Trump live on stage! Pack up your #GOPDebate and go home pic.twitter.com/Lt2gMrhifx
— Paul Owen (@PaulTOwen) January 29, 2016
Carson now comes out with a bit more sharpness and concision than usual.
“I’ve had more 2am phone calls than everybody here put together,” Carson says. He says that the nation is in crisis and he has a proven record of performance in crisis.
Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio did a fine job of opening the night with evasion and meaninglessness. Ted Cruz didn’t even have the stones to admit to the strategy he used to brag about: that he would draft behind Donald Trump, support him, then wait for him to implode. Marco Rubio said some words. They were real words, and they were English, so full points for that.
It begins!
“Ladies and gentlemen, the next president of the United States... Donald J. Trump.”
Cue the Adele.
Kasich is touting his recent strong weeks, including newspaper endorsements, in New Hampshire. “I’ll keep heading in that direction, believe me.”
He’s applauded – but Iowa is not for Kasich the way pockets of New Hampshire might be.
Paul: bulk collection stopped zero terrorist attacks
Rubio jumps in and calls for beefed up government surveillance and for imprisoning terrorists at Guantanamo and “finding out everything they know” – seemingly a pro-torture gambit.
Paul muscles back into the conversation and presents the basic case against dragnet surveillance:
The bulk collection of your phone data... did not stop one terrorist attack. I do not believe you have to give up your liberty to protect your security.”
Ted Cruz is known for being an expert debater. Richard Wolffe points out one example of his skills on display tonight.
Asked a tough question about why he has flip-flopped on his feelings towards Donald Trump, Ted Cruz chooses to answer a completely different one. Megyn Kelly in effect asked Cruz why he changed his mind about Trump. Instead Cruz pretended that Kelly had asked him to insult Trump.
An imaginary question he was only too happy to condemn as outrageous. And that’s how Cruz is a champion debater. Curiously, Kelly didn’t follow up, which only confirms her anti-Trump sentiment. Or something.
Updated
Rand Paul is asked about Cruz camp claim that Ted Cruz is the conservative heir to Paul’s father, Ron Paul. Did Rand make a mistake not to embrace his father earlier?
Paul calls his father “probably the most honest we’ve seen in politics in a generation.”
Then he says that Cruz has not lived up to his father’s legacy. He says that Cruz did not show up in the Senate to vote in favor of Paul’s signature Audit the Fed bill. Paul also singles out NSA reform, and quotes Cruz as saying that he thinks the government should collect 100% of communications records.
Cruz responds that he respects Ron Paul and had campaign commitments in New Hampshire when the Senate voted on audit the Fed but he looks forward to signing the bill.
The Donald isn’t necessarily known for his punctuality.
Trump is apparently in the building at Drake
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) January 29, 2016
Updated
Chris Christie begins by articulating the frustration of “people out there because the government doesn’t work for them.”
Christie says his record as governor is a record of accountability and responsibility. “With a Democratic legislature I’ve gotten conservative things done,” he boasts.
Bush is asked about his status as an establishment figure, and whether the division of the establishment has enabled the rise of outsiders.
“We’re just starting. The first vote hasn’t been cast yet. Let’s let the process play out,” Bush says.
Then, unprompted: “I kind of miss Donald Trump. He was such a teddy bear to me. ... Everyone else was in the witness protection program when I went after him.”
Bush is branding himself as the candidate who had the guts to take on Trump.
Rubio gets the ball. He is asked about unifying the Republican party.
The election’s not about Trump! Rubio says, bringing up Trump himself.
“He’s an entertaining guy, he’s the greatest show on Earth.”
But the election is about replacing Barack Obama, a “disaster”, Rubio says.
Updated
I miss clap-o-meters
Cruz is asked about the fight that’s broken out between him and Trump.
“If Donald engages in insults or anybody else, I do not intend to reciprocate ... To every Donald Trump voter or potential voter, I hope to earn your support,” he says.
Cruz says “policies and vision and record should be the meat of politics,” not personal insults.
Updated
Cruz slams Trump
First question is to Cruz, and about Trump: what does his absence say to Iowa voters?
Cruz starts out by thanking Iowans. “If I’m elected president, keep an eye on the tarmac, because I’ll be back.”
I’m a maniac, and everyone on this stage is stupid, fat and ugly. And Ben, you’re a terrible surgeon. And now that we’ve got the Donald Trump portion out of the way, I want to thank everyone on this stage for showing the respect to show up and make their cases to the people of Iowa.
Updated
And here are all the top-tier Republicans... except one #GOPDebate pic.twitter.com/FoaNTAuJAz
— Paul Owen (@PaulTOwen) January 29, 2016
The crowd cheerfully claps for the participants. Rand Paul is applauded wildly – he apparently brought his fan base. Baier says the crowd is very excited to be here. He gets claps and whoops.
Republican debate begins
Here we are, back inside the Iowa Events Center. The moderators are Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly and Chris Wallace. We are about to meet the candidates. Seven onstage. No empty lectern awaiting Trump.
Attendees of Donald Trump’s anti-debate event are now listening to “The Playlist,” the well-documented music set list that plays before every one of Trump’s campaign events. Comprised primarily of classic rock tunes with a smattering of Adele, Puccini arias and Broadway standards from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s CATS, the set typically plays on loop as crowds await an appearance by Trump.
Here at the Guardian’s campaign liveblog - where the campaign trail comes alive! - we bring you the chance to experience the set list from the comfort of your homes.
A special thanks from seven-time Tony winner Lloyd Webber.
You asked, we answered.
Google trends is tracking the top questions about Jeb Bush posed to Google in advance of tonight’s main event debate, which is scheduled to start in about a half hour.
See the top trending questions on @JebBush before the #GOPDebate https://t.co/gmZioSFk5K pic.twitter.com/FZsXfKCWAH
— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) January 29, 2016
Let’s give these a crack.
1. 62. He turns 63 on 11 February, in a couple weeks, two days after New Hampshire.
2. Yes. Opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest and when the life of the mother is at stake.
3. Well, do you mean George W. Bush, or George HW Bush?
4. LOL
5. Has Jeb! really Googled this enough times for it to trend?
Updated
Tonight’s debate is in the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, Iowa. Here are the participants in tonight’s main event debate, in alphabetical order.
Who: The main event features:
- Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida
- Ben Carson, retired neurosurgeon
- Chris Christie, governor of New Jersey
- Ted Cruz, US senator from Texas
- John Kasich, governor of Ohio
- Rand Paul, US senator from Kentucky
- Marco Rubio, US senator from Florida
-
Donald Trump, real estate developer and reality show star
Updated
Main event debate to begin
For readers playing through and for those of you just joining us – welcome! to our live-wire coverage of the seventh Republican presidential debate, plus Donald Trump’s parallel competing event.
The non-Trump Republicans are scrambling for position in second place as the Iowa caucuses loom, just four days out now. Tonight watch for aggressive closing arguments from Texas senator Ted Cruz, who is clinging closest to Trump in the Hawkeye state and Florida senator Marco Rubio, who’s in third, according to polling averages.
But tonight’s the night for the candidates to leave nothing on the table. Former Florida governor Jeb Bush is facing what has at times appeared to be the sunset of his candidacy. New Jersey governor Chris Christie will continue to make a hard sell to New Hampshire voters. And Ohio governor John Kasich has shown some life in the Granite state.
Meanwhile, there’s Trump, who’s tweaking Fox News by boycotting their spectacle and mounting his own. It’s hard to talk of expectations where Trump is concerned. What we can expect is a unique spectacle in American politics, an election front-runner abandoning the field and striking off alone.
Thanks for joining us!
Updated
Donald Trump may not be participating in tonight’s debate, but the Republican frontrunner remains the talk of the town as candidates prepare to take the stage in Des Moines.
Trump’s ongoing battle with Fox News remains at the forefront of media coverage, with the real estate mogul announcing just now on CNN that the network had apologized to him. He will nonetheless hold on to his pledge to skip the debate, a move that could steer significant attention away from Trump’s opponents, who are looking to distinguish themselves in his absence.
All eyes are particularly on Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, the two first-term senators who are polling behind Trump both nationally and in the early states. Cruz is hoping to seal the deal with undecided caucus-goers in Iowa, where he has invested heavily for his grassroots campaign.
Rubio goes into this debate having been on the receiving end of close to $25m in attack ads by his opponents - more than any other candidate in the race - and he will likely have the largest target on his back. Other so-called establishment candidates believe they must knock the Florida senator out to gain traction as a viable alternative to Trump and Cruz.
Rand Paul will also return to the stage, having been forced out of the previous debate due to low polling.
Updated
In a just-aired interview with CNN, Donald Trump told the cable news network that an unnamed figure at Fox News “apologized” to the billionaire frontrunner for a “wise-guy” press release that the network released earlier this week.
“I was treated very unfairly by Fox. Since then they’ve been excellent, they’ve been very nice, but it’s too late,” Trump told CNN’s Brianna Keilar in an interview aboard his private plane.
“I wanted to fight for myself just like I’ll fight for the country,” Trump said. “You have to stick up for yourself, you have to fight for yourself and you have to fight for your country.”
In the interview, Trump declared that despite the alleged apology, he would continue with his plans to host a counter-programmed benefit/fundraiser/rally/anti-debate three miles from the debate hall.
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, fresh off of his (potentially final) Republican presidential primary debate performance, has officially made it to Donald Trump’s campaign rally-slash-military fundraiser at Drake University.
Huckabee waiting in the wings. #notthedebate pic.twitter.com/BIsINi0aqd
— Ali Vitali (@alivitali) January 29, 2016
Huckabee, winners of the 2008 Iowa caucuses, told the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman that he would attend the event after participating in tonight’s undercard debate on Fox News purely to support US veterans. Huckabee further clarified that his attendance is “not an endorsement of Trump’s candidacy,” telling CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that he’s “still running for president.”
Or, at least, until the results of Monday’s caucuses come in.
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush keeps his eyes on the opposition – not meaning Trump:
The best poster to see before tonight’s #GOPDebate pic.twitter.com/BhxFZVRJwG
— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) January 29, 2016
While we’re warming up for the main show, the O’Reilly Factor on Fox News is talking about the importance of name recognition. But face recognition can matter too for these debates and a poll by Vox and Morning Consult suggests that Trump and Clinton are well ahead of their peers on that measure.
Of the 2,028 registered voters they polled, 97% correctly identified Hillary Clinton when shown a picture of her face and 96% identified Trump.
Bernie Sanders only managed 69%. His fellow Democrat Martin O’Malley was correctly identified by 30% and Republican John Kasich by a measly 34%.
Carly Fiorina said some pretty offensive things about Hillary Clinton that were sexist and disappointing – especially coming from another woman, writes Lucia Graves.
Fiorina was asked about her earlier comment: “Unlike the other woman candidate in this race, I actually love spending time with my husband.”
It’s disappointing when people make sexist attacks on Hillary Clinton. It’s especially disappointing when the person making those attacks is the only other woman running for president.
Fiorina is doing text book stuff: attacking Clinton’s personal choice to stick by her husband in the face of his infidelities and, basically, accusing her of being ambitious.
“Hillary Clinton has been climbing the ladder to try to get power, and here now she is trying for the White House, she is probably more qualified for the big house,” Fiorina said on Fox News. “She’s escaped prosecution more times than El Chapo ... ”
Skipping over the part where she compares Clinton to a recently recaptured Mexican drug lord, let’s take a closer look at why in 2015 we think it’s OK to attack the only woman who has had a serious shot at the presidency for being ambitious.
Every single person running for president is ambitious; it comes with the territory ... But you won’t hear any one accusing Donald Trump of “climbing the ladder”. No, that’s an attack specifically reserved for women.
And Fiorina, who has repeatedly endured gendered attacks herself – think of the time Trump made fun of her face – should know better. I’m not holding her to a higher standard. Just to her own.
Updated
You asked, we answered.
Google trends is tracking the top questions about Donald Trump posed to Google in advance of tonight’s main event debate, which is scheduled to start in about a half hour.
Here are the top trending questions on @realDonaldTrump ahead of the #GOPDebate https://t.co/gmZioSFk5K pic.twitter.com/kWxExthLEK
— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) January 29, 2016
Let’s give these a crack.
1. Because he could.
2. All of them except for Fox?
3. Are you kidding? The networks broadcast his every phone call. When there’s not even a picture.
4. Let’s go to the tape:
5. No.
Trump campaign just confirmed to me that he WILL NOT participate in Fox News debate tonight
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) January 28, 2016
Donald Trump is holding an event next week in a state that is not holding a primary anytime in the near future. The Republican frontrunner will be headed to Little Rock, Arkansas, on Wednesday.
The event, combined with former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee’s appearance at Trump’s event tonight, will be sure to get tongues wagging about whether the Republican candidate might drop out and endorse Trump there. Huckabee has set his hopes on a strong performance in Iowa, but the former Iowa caucus winner has been lagging in the polls in the Hawkeye State.
The concert hall where the Trump event is taking place is an old-fashioned venue with red velvet curtains and wooden chairs and is filling up with a mix of Trump supporters and veterans. The headgear is a blend of Make America Great Again hats and caps representing various American Legion posts that veterans belong to and naval ships which they served on.
Many attendees had come from out of state to be there like Doug Banker, a Marine veteran from Los Angeles. The long haired bearded veteran was sitting calmly wearing a white and gold Make America Great Again hat and checkered blue suit. He had flown out to Des Moines to support his fellow veterans at the event.
Banker, a conservative who wasn’t committed to supporting Trump, though the real estate mogul’s decision to boycott the debate could be a good thing. It showed Trump “was not going to give into Fox News and what not and to what everyone expects.”
From the comments / who won the undercard?
You’ve weighed in – some of you - on the undercard victor. But browsing through the comments in fact there is not a rich store of enthusiasm for any of the candidates onstage tonight. Or for their positions. Or anything about them, really.
Here’s a sampler:
Both of these events are right wing pantomimes with no intellectual worth.
The moderators are the only possible undercard winners. If they do well, Megyn and Trump will both look silly in comparison.
The main debate will surprise almost everyone by making the leftovers appear almost palatable - if they all resist the temptation of taking potshots at Trump.
That’s it. The undercard is over. Who won? We’re joining you below the line right now.
Fiorina took a swipe at Hillary Clinton when she said that she would never forgive her husband if he did what Bill Clinton did. We assume that’s a reference to Clinton’s infidelity rather than that time he laughed his head off with Yeltsin.
A lot of Americans would say the same as Fiorina. In Gallup survey in 2008, 38% of respondents said they would not forgive a spouse who had a sexual affair with someone else and 26% said they would probably not forgive.
Maybe Fiorina would think differently if she was born under a different red, white and blue flag. A Pew survey in 2014 found that the French were the least likely to say “married people having an affair is morally unacceptable” - only 47% of French respondents agreed with the statement compared to 84% of people in the US and 92% in Pakistan.
Updated
Closing statements
Gilmore: Son of a meatcutter and a secretary. My father talked character. I’m not about to go across town tonight and carry the coat for some billionaire. Second amendment.
Santorum: Thanks to the people of Iowa. I have done 700 (million) events here. A pastor gave me a stone to slay Goliath. Good people of Iowa: pick the leader you know is best.
Huckabee: This week people thought my Adele video was bad (or did he say there was a “dust-up” over the video). So: “Hello, Iowa, it’s me. You know me.” I won here in 2008. Vote me.
Fiorina: I have come to know and love the people of Iowa. We need a citizen government. Stand with me, fight with me, caucus for me.
Some of the candidates in the kid’s table debate are clearly touchy about being ignored. Jeb Lund thinks they need to get over it.
The undercard debate should be renamed the H Ross Perot Memorial Can I Finish? Can I Finish? Can I Finish? Debate. I think at least one quarter of all comments addressed to the moderators and America so far have been about the candidates’ inability to deliver comments to America.
Now, that’s actually a somewhat fair complaint from someone like Rick Santorum, who has been written off by the media as a failure at the expense of Donald Trump, who is inevitably entertaining. But it’s pretty rich coming from Jim Gilmore, who I’m willing to believe has hosted only one campaign event, which was seeing for how long he could eat the unlimited appetizers at TGI Fridays. (The potato skins.)
On abortion, these Republican candidates are largely trying to speak to the estimated 44% of Americans who describe themselves as “pro-life” according to Gallup’s data.
For the past 15 years, though the percentages have wobbled, the overall picture remains the same: America is deeply divided on the issue.
Final commercial break in the undercard. Last chance: Who, if not Gilmore, is winning the undercard ?
Santorum says Obama is the “most divisive president” in his lifetime. “He personally attacks people... and then he tears them down,” Santorum says.
Santorum says that when he was in Washington he passed “a whole laundry list of things... because I was able to be respectful in disagreements.”
Huckabee is asked about Democrats who identify as socialist. “Guess you could say they’re feeling the Bern!” says Hemmer, the moderator.
He is rightly and justly booed.
“I honestly don’t understand how anybody with an IQ above plant life would think we’d be better off if we let the government have all the property...” Huckabee says.
I’m not feelin’ the Bern, Bill.
Against all odds, presidential candidate Jim Gilmore is trending nationwide on Twitter.
This election has been turned on its head by populists. Jeb Lund takes a look at which candidates are best at talking to the people.
Santorum is a good populist. Apart from Trump’s defense of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, he and Huckabee are the strongest on this issue. He really genuinely wants to bring back a functional economy for high-school graduates in rust belt America, where you can buy a house and send your kids to college.
It’s just that he’s still a Republican, so in spite of diagnosing the disease, all his cures are still poison. A flat tax, and tax repatriation are going to be great for rich guys, but the annual savings from both aren’t going to offset the fact that Santorum is talking about $20/hour jobs with benefits that you can fill in China for $2/hour and a handful of dust.
Updated
There it is: the Gilmore Google spike.
This just in: searches for @gov_gilmore are up 700% during the early #GOPdebate. pic.twitter.com/hH40gB6vsd
— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) January 29, 2016
Santorum is asked why he did not attend this year’s March for Life, the anti-abortion rally. He says he’s been the last 20 years but it was snowing a bunch this year so he skipped.
“Twice in my life we were counseled to have an abortion,” says Santorum, whose youngest daughter, Bella, has a rare genetic disorder. He says he and his wife never once considered it.
Then Fiorina jumps in on Santorum’s side.
It is outrageous, frankly, that Fox News, and you, would question the pro-life credentials of Rick Santorum. That is outrageous.
Updated
Fiorina says that most Americans find Clinton’s and the Democratic party’s position on abortion “horrific.” She says as president she would fund women’s health.
Updated
Fiorina: 'If my husband did what Bill Clinton did, I would have left him long ago'
They’re back. Question for Fiorina. She had said, “Unlike the other woman candidate in this race, I actually love spending time with my husband.” Why didn’t she stick with an earlier vow not to level personal attacks?
“It wasn’t a personal attack. I was pointing out the fact that Hillary Clinton will do anything to gain and hang on to power,” Fiorina says.
If my husband did what Bill Clinton did, I would have left him long ago.
Then she gets off some Clinton zingers. She says she belongs in the big house, not the White House.
She’s escaped prosecution more times than El Chapo... the woman should be prosecuted!
The sharp attack on Clinton wins big applause and cheers.
Carly Fiorina: I don't do personal attacks . . .but Hillary Clinton is just like El Chapo
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) January 29, 2016
Updated
Jim Gilmore’s “when I’m president of the United States” line is starting to look more and more unfeasible, according to ABC’s Ryan Struyk.
Gilmore has already missed ballot deadlines in: GA, AL, AR, ID, OK, OH, MI, UT, TX, AZ, ME, MO, IL, LA, KY, DC, NV, VT, MS, KS.
— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) January 29, 2016
Commercial break! Who’s winning? Still Gilmore?
Santorum is asked how his flat tax would create jobs. He doesn’t say that it’s not the job of the tax code to create jobs. But he turns to regulation, saying he would cut “every single Obama regulation, including Obamacare.” He lists ozone regulations, mercury regulations and emissions.
“You want to help the environment?” Santorum says. “Bring jobs back to America.”
Updated
Huckabee takes a familiar question, about the anti-tax Club for Growth’s negative appraisal of his governorship. They say he raised taxes. He says he did not.
“Look at the overall record, and it’s fine,” he says. Maybe. But in any case, Huckabee raised taxes in Arkansas.
Updated
When Jim Gilmore’s president of the United States, gun control is not going to be an issue.
He says he’d veto gun control legislation as “fast as it takes Hillary Clinton to delete her emails.”
The crowd’s not too enthusiastic about Gilmore.
Updated
Gilmore gets his question. He’s asked whether he’d rip up the Iran nuclear deal.
“You know Martha, [the horse] may well be out of the barn,” Gilmore says, because Iran is embarked on a nuclear weapons program, in his view.
Then Gilmore blames the media for everything.
“The country has changed and there are powerful forces at this point that are really controlling our lives,” he says. The federal government is part of it. “But the biggest one is the organized, establishment media... This media is manipulating and shaping and framing this campaign.”
Gilmore says that when he’s president, he will stop the media manipulation of American life.
Updated
The Guardian’s Ben Jacobs, on the scene at Donald Trump’s anti-debate event in Des Moines, Iowa, is finding a recurring theme among young Trump supporters: They’re really, really mad.
#fuckhillary is the name tag of this high schooler at Trump event pic.twitter.com/uE1r6nM1Ed
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) January 29, 2016
Attendee at Trump event thinks "Bernie is a commy" pic.twitter.com/FHDcmYtie5
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) January 29, 2016
Next question goes to Huckabee– and Gilmore does not like it.
“Did you miss me?” Gilmore interrupts, accusingly. “Did you skip me?” He’s angry.
The moderator promises to ask him more questions.... later.
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Taxing instructions
Fiorina’s ambition for a three-page tax code might sound completely impossible but this wasn’t always the case - she’s right that the tax code has got increasingly complicated.
In 1940, income tax return instructions were just two pages long. By 2013, they had soared to 207 pages, as this great graphic from the Washington Post shows.
Santorum is asked about the woman at a Bernie Sanders rally who broke down this week talking about the duress of living on the minimum age. What would he tell her?
Santorum says he’d say that America needs jobs. He promises a renaissance in American manufacturing. “Most folks don’t talk about what they’re going to do to create jobs for people.”
Updated
Fiorina is talking about a three-page tax code. She is wearing a prominent golden cross around her neck. She says that instituting the code would challenge the status quo. “Take out your smart phones. If you agree with me that the three-page tax code has to pass... press 1 for yes, citizens, press 2 for no.”
We tried it. It does not work. We’re not saying how we voted. We’re not sure what we were voting on.
Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says that “you can’t win” unless you meet the people of Iowa - but if the most popular Google search questions about Huckabee are any indication, you can’t win unless people are totally sure that you’re still running for president.
Google, which is co-sponsoring tonight’s debate with Fox News, is hosting a fantastic trends page on the debate, the candidates and the Republican party ahead of the Iowa caucuses - well worth the look.
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It didn’t take long for Guantanamo Bay to come up in the conversation. But Republicans have a conspicuously selective history about the detention facility’s record of success.
Prior to January 2009, Republican president George W Bush oversaw the transfer of 532 detainees out of the prison, 110 of whom are confirmed to have re-engaged in terrorism and a further 68 are suspected of having done so.
According to the Director of National Intelligence, who compiled these numbers, the record since Barack Obama took office is quite different: of the 115 detainees that have been transferred from the detention facility since January 2009, only six are confirmed to have re-engaged in terrorism and one is suspected to have.
The chart below shows how, overall, those numbers look very different. One in five re-engaged in terrorism under Bush compared to one in 20 under Obama.
Question for Huckabee, with a nice Biblical gloss:
Is this presidency simply too small a David to slay the Goliath of government?
Huh? Huckabee smiles and says no, and then mercifully speeds into an anecdote about a man who lost his manufacturing job.
“You can’t win unless you go out and talk to farmers and housewives and unemployed truck drivers,” and any president hoping to fill the role must make connections with everyday voters, he says.
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They’re back! The moderator says, ominously, “this is debate number one in what will be a long night here.” He sounds sort of tired already.
First commercial break. Who’s winning? Any Gilmore takers? Let us know in the comments!
Gilmore, who is running for president and is in this debate, says he would not close the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Then he rattles off resume highlights, for the few in the audience for whom he may not be a household name. Let’s check in with Google trends...
Google hasn’t published info yet on how many people are searching “Jim Gilmore,” but it appears from the blue spike in the chart below that there was robust search interest when his participation tonight was announced.
Realtime data from the #GOPDebate https://t.co/jDhLsPt7zV pic.twitter.com/pg5ReuMqgH
— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) January 29, 2016
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Huckabee is asked whether it’s foolish to be open to working with Russia in Syria, as the former governor has proposed.
“I don’t trust [Putin],” Huckabee says, but if they’re confronting the enemy in the Middle East, let them.
Huckabee compares Isis to cancer:
And with any kind of cancer, you don’t contain it, you eradicate.
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Fiorina’s asked whether Obama is right to say that Isis does not pose an existential threat to the United States.
“News flash president Obama. New flash, Mrs Clinton,” she says. “Climate change is not our most pressing national security threat.”
Hearty applause.
Then Fiorina goes hard on Benghazi. Ding ding, time.
Updated
Santorum takes a question about stopping terror attacks around the world.
He says the president needs to get real in confronting “Islamic” terrorism. Then he explains that Isis has “established a caliphate.” Then he explains that a caliph rules a caliphate like a king rules a kingdom.
The answer is we must take their land and make them illegitimate in the eyes of the Muslim world.
He calls for boots on the ground to do so.
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While the undercard debate is underway, just a mile and a half away, much of the American media is piling into a room adjacent to a college classical music venue.
Donald Trump is boycotting the main event in order to hold his own rally at the Sheslow Auditorium on the campus of Drake University. The event is supposed to be a benefit for veterans, though the Trump campaign has yet to make clear how the money is being raised and which veterans organizations are benefiting.
The event is a zoo, with long lines both for attendees as well as media, who are watching the event from a conference room lined with folding tables and a single flat screen television. Reporters get to mix with attendees in the crammed concert hall - capacity 783 - before the event, but will be banished to a media room about 30 minutes before it starts.
The American media gathers for Trump pic.twitter.com/eU1D37rWGM
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) January 29, 2016
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Huckabee is invited to contrast “New York values” with conservative values. He passes on the question, sort of, in favor of a diatribe about big money in politics.
“I’m not going to get into an argument with all those New Yorkers because there’s a lot of them,” he jokes. First joke. Wins laughter in the hall.
Then Huckabee says he wishes New Yorkers had given to his campaign the way they have given to the “corporatist candidates.”
Then Huckabee reverses himself:
When I say I wish they had, I’m glad they didn’t.
Updated
Here's who you could have won... The undercard debate #GOPDebate pic.twitter.com/5cEJViXc2L
— Paul Owen (@PaulTOwen) January 29, 2016
Now, the first question ever for former Virginia governor Jim Gilmore in a GOP presidential debate. He had not visited Iowa at all, as of one week ago.
“I have been in Iowa, but this is not the place where I am beginning my campaign. I am beginning my campaign in New Hampshire,” Gilmore says.
That’s a creative and unique pitch to Iowa voters: I have written you off, voters.
Then Gilmore points out he’s the only veteran in the race and says in his presidency “the veterans are going to be treated with respect.”
Updated
Fiorina is now up. “Is your party in crisis?” is the question.
Fiorina says that she started at the back of the field but now “hundreds and hundreds” of Iowans show up at her every event.
Fiorina registers at 1.6 points in polling averages in Iowa. She closes with a Santorum-style attack on the moderators.
The candidates have figured out that trashing the media works this primary season.
Good follow-up question: If you’re complaining so much about Trump, why are you going to his event after this? Do you plan to endorse him?
Santorum says he’s being invited to throw mud. “I’m not going to attack Donald Trump,” he says.
Does Santorum consider his prospective endorsement of Trump a kind of attack on Trump?
Santorum: media 'segregates' me
Santorum now: He’s asked whether Monday night in Iowa is his “last stand.”
Santorum scoffs. He complains that the debate now begun was not advertised. He is blaming the network for his failure to register in the polls. He’s a hot potato.
“This is what the media has been doing in the past year, in trying to segregate and take Iowans out of the process.”
The entire talk in advance of this debate, he says, was about whether Donald Trump was going to show up. That’s not a substantive issue, he says.
Updated
First question is for Huckabee. He’s asked why his message is not punching through “this time.” Huckabee won Iowa in 2008.
He says his message is not getting out, implying a conspiracy against him. Then: “Let’s get rid of abortion once and for all.” Also he wants a fair tax.
Applause.
Here we go! The undercard debate broadcast has begun. Live from downtown Des Moines. The candidates are onstage and are introduced. They are:
- Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard
- Jim Gilmore, former governor of Virginia
- Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas
- Rick Santorum, former US senator from Pennsylvania
Moderators: Martha MacCallum, Bill Hemmer
As part of political media’s never-ending quest to answer the question, “Just who is voting for Donald Trump?”, CNN talked to more than 150 people around the country about why they’re throwing their support behind the billionaire Republican frontrunner.
Of those 150, the three bros featured in “Going to College, Voting for Trump” are undoubtedly the most (unintentionally) hilarious.
Turner Eakins, Brody Buck and Tate Moyer are a trio of 18-year-old first-time voters in Omaha, Nebraska, who told CNN that Trump’s confidence, dismissal of “quote-unquote political correctness” and general badassery have won their hearts and votes.
With the gusto of three models in the pre-scene introduction of a Sean Cody video, Eakins, Buck and Moyer say that Trump, like themselves, is a man of action.
They’re also big on wearing incredibly tight shirts.
Moyer isn’t totally sure about Trump...
...but as my father once said, “If you don’t want to go to Minneapolis, then don’t get on the train.”
The Nebraska caucuses are scheduled for March 5, 2016.
Losing the frontman
What will it be like to watch the Republican presidential candidates take the stage without frontman Donald Trump? Will the act be as good? Will they deliver the same boost that fans have come to expect and love?
Or will the thrill not quite be the same? The pixie dust gone? The old hits tinged with loss?
There’s a long trail of uneven precedent to point to here. AC/DC continued to tour after the death of Bon Scott; Pink Floyd forged on without Roger Waters; Van Halen persevered after losing David Lee Roth. The list extends: Queen without Mercury, Fleetwood Mac without Christine McVie, Lynyrd Skynyrd without everyone...some succeeded, and some crashed and burned.
But the Republican field is not a band. (Yet.) They’re closer, perhaps, to a beloved situation comedy.
So perhaps it is more apt to contemplate (and here a big h/t @rayajalabi) Laverne and Shirley without Cindy Williams (Shirley); American Office without Steve Carrell; House without Lisa Edelstein; Downton without Dan Stevens; The OC without Marisa (RIP Mischa Barton); Two and a Half Men without Charlie Sheen; ER without Anthony Edwards (!); Law & Order SVU without Stabler, Buffy the Vampire Slayer without David Boreanaz (!!); or That 70s Show without Topher Grace.
Also to be carefully considered, however, is the flip side: that the comparison to be made here is not to the act that continues after losing its lead – but to the lead who soars after going solo.
Will Donald Trump emerge as Beyonce sans Destiny’s Child? Phil Collins without Genesis? Lauren Hill post-Fugees, Lou Reed post-Velvet Underground, Joan Jett post-Runaways, Iggy Pop post-Stooges, Robbie Williams post-Take That, Lionel Richie post-Commodores... or ... or ..
Will Donald Trump emerge as Justin Timberlake, post-*NSync? Seems right.
Needless to say, it would here be your civic duty to Let Us Know in the Comments.
Updated
The Guardian’s Ben Jacobs has confirmed that Donald Trump will not be making a last-minute change to his schedule and will not be attending tonight’s Republican primary debate in Des Moines - sorry, Jeb Bush.
Trump campaign just confirmed to me that he WILL NOT participate in Fox News debate tonight
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) January 28, 2016
While we wait for the undercard debate, scheduled to begin in about half an hour, you can get caught up on the day in politics news by scrolling through Alan Yuhas’ live blog:
And here are other selections from our politics coverage today:
Once again, after political analysts and media experts declared for months that there was no possible way that Donald Trump was going to do the thing that he was threatening to do, Donald Trump did the thing that he was threatening to do. You’d think we’d have learned by now.
Here’s what you need to know about Donald Trump’s debate counter-programming:
What is it?
The candidate is billing the event as the “Donald J. Trump Special Event to Benefit Veterans Organizations,” with proceeds from tonight’s event apparently being directed towards the the Donald J. Trump Foundation’s work on veterans services. (Given that tickets to the event, held at the 775-seat Sheslow Auditorium at Drake University, are being given away for free, it’s unclear where the proceeds will come from.)
The Donald J. Trump Foundation traditionally gives only a tiny fraction of its total donations to veterans organizations. Between 2009 and 2013, it gave $57,000 of $5.5m to veterans groups; the rest went to 291 other organizations. (Trump himself has made no charitable contributions to his own foundation since 2008, as of last August.)
How to watch:
Corey Lewandoski, Trump’s campaign manager, has invited the press to cover the fundraiser as closely as they wish. “It’s open the media and obviously as all of Mr. Trump’s speeches are if the networks choose to come and cover that we obviously would welcome that opportunity,” Lewandowski told Breitbart News. “If they want to live feed or live stream that, they’re welcome to do that as they do many of his speeches.”
The two non-Fox News cable news networks have both intimated that they plan to cover Trump’s event - at least in part - although neither network will pre-empt regularly scheduled programming. If you want wall-to-wall coverage, however, C-SPAN will be streaming the rally live at 9pm Eastern, with a “pre-program” at 8pm Eastern.
Donald Trump Campaign Rally in Des Moines, IA – LIVE at 9pm ET on C-SPAN https://t.co/f5BE5lmLKz #iacaucus pic.twitter.com/SdqPRLBEcv
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 28, 2016
Who will be there?
The Donald himself, obviously, but the Republican frontrunner will be joined by two other presidential candidates. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and former senator Rick Santorum - winners of the 2008 and 2012 Iowa caucuses, respectively - will attend the event after participating in tonight’s undercard debate on Fox News. Representatives for both campaigns told the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman that they’re attending purely to support US veterans, the putative beneficiaries of Trump’s event. Huckabee clarified that his attendance is “not an endorsement of Trump’s candidacy,” telling CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that he’s “still running for president.” (Our analysis: If you have to say it...)
Why is this happening, again?
Why isn’t it happening?
Basically, Trump is still sore about Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly’s introductory line of questioning at the Republican presidential debate in Cleveland, Ohio, in August, wherein the anchor grilled Trump on his history of offensive statements about women. The two have been engaged in a highly public feud ever since, with Trump insinuating that Kelly was menstruating during the debate and Kelly’s attempts to take the high road thwarted by Fox News boss Roger Ailes’ snarky press release dismissing Trump’s threats to ditch the debate.
Trump, after conducting an informal Twitter poll, decided not to attend the debate unless Kelly was replaced as moderator, which Fox News has refused to do.
And now we’re here.
Updated
Hello! And welcome to our live-wire coverage of the seventh Republican debate in the 2016 race to the White House. Tonight we’re in Des Moines, Iowa, where voters will set the wheel of history in motion when they gather to caucus in just four days.
Donald Trump, the free-floating GOP frontrunner, has ostentatiously ditched tonight’s debate as a demonstration of his disgust with host network Fox News and one of its moderators, Megyn Kelly.
The Donald has scheduled a simultaneous event in Des Moines, billed as a benefit for military veterans – which means it’s Republican fight night on the plains of Iowa and in the streets of Des Moines. His fellow candidates Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum have promised to join him – but only after they have competed in the consolation-prize undercard debate for Fox.
So tonight, for our readers, it’s two blogs for the price of one. While I (Tom McCarthy) bring you play-by-play of the debate, my colleague Scott Bixby will bring you coverage of the Trump event. It’ll be like channel surfing, without all the taxing effort of diddling the remote control.
Here’s Scott:
It’s going to be a huge (yooge!) night in Des Moines, where only three miles from Fox News’ prime-time Republican presidential debate, Trump will be hosting a concurrent “special event”. Like a journalistic Katniss Everdeen, I have volunteered as tribute to bring you analysis and insight into the real estate tycoon’s every utterance, eye roll and insult from a rally every bit as unmissable as the Hunger Games.
… interlacing with which I, Tom, will ensure that you miss not a moment as the rest of the Republican field attempts to fill Trump’s shoes.
Boring details
When: The undercard debate begins at 7pm ET, and the main event starts at 9pm ET.
Where: The Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, Iowa. Fox News will broadcast the event and stream it live on their website here.
Who: The main event features:
- Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida
- Ben Carson, retired neurosurgeon
- Chris Christie, governor of New Jersey
- Ted Cruz, US senator from Texas
- John Kasich, governor of Ohio
- Rand Paul, US senator from Kentucky
- Marco Rubio, US senator from Florida
-
Donald Trump, real estate developer and reality show star
Moderators: Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly, Chris Wallace
The undercard features:
- Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard
- Jim Gilmore, former governor of Virginia
- Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas
- Rick Santorum, former US senator from Pennsylvania
Moderators: Martha MacCallum, Bill Hemmer
Why: Indeed.
Please jump into the comments section and let us know who you expect to emerge on top when all the smoke has cleared. Thanks for joining us!
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I'm all for Gilmore, Schrödinger's candidate.