Can you say ‘President Trump’?
Republican rivals assail character, call him unfit to lead
SI MI VALLEY, CALIF. President Trump?
The celebrity billionaire who showed in the first Republican debate six weeks ago that he ought to be taken seriously as a potential nominee walked on stage for the second debate Wednesday determined to demonstrate that now he should be taken seriously as a potential president.
Donald Trump’s rivals were equally determined to prove that wrong, raising questions about his conservatism, his temperament and his depth of knowledge on national security and other issues.
“Everything I’ve done, virtually, has been a tremendous success,” Trump declared as he dismissed rivals who said he wasn’t suitable to serve as commander in chief. He and the other 10 participants at the debate, sponsored by CNN and held at the Reagan Presidential Library, were standing in front of a jetliner used as Air Force One dur- ing Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Citing his record in making billions, writing the best-selling Art of the Deal and hosting TV’s The Apprentice, he said, “What I want to do is put that ability in this country to make this country great again.”
The others weren’t convinced. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul called Trump “sophomoric” and asked, “Do we want someone with that kind of character, that kind of careless language to be negotiating with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, to be negotiating with Iran?” Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, asked about Trump, said fixing the nation’s “extraor-
Everyone versus Trump. Trump got the three-hour debate off to a lively start with an unprovoked attack on Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, saying Paul “shouldn’t even be on this stage. ... He’s got 1 percent in the polls and how he got up here — there’s far too many people anyway.”
Trump’s “visceral response to attack people on their appearance — my goodness, that happened in junior high,” Paul shot back.
“I never attacked him on his looks,” Trump shot back. “And believe me, there’s plenty of subject matter there.”
That set the tone for a debate featuring sharp one-liners, personal attacks and intraparty cross-fire, as the crowded field of 11 top-tier candidates jockeyed for attention in a prime-time CNN debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. The moderators of the CNN debate kept the sparks flying by asking the candidates to respond to previous attacks by their opponents.
“If I were sitting at home watching this back and forth, I’d be inclined to turn it off,” Ohio Gov. John Kasich complained. “We’ve just spent the last 10 minutes here ... with a lot of ad hominem.” Kasich’s admonition barely slowed the personal attacks. Former Florida governor Jeb Bush repeatedly attacked Trump for his contributions to Democratic candidates. Trump, who has frequently criticized Bush as “low energy,” retorted, “More energy tonight. I like that.” (Bush later earned a high-five from Trump for declaring that his Secret Service code name would be Everready. “It’s high-energy, Donald.”)
Then Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of tech giant HP, and Trump got into a fight over their respective business records. Trump said he would never let Fiorina run one of his businesses; Fiorina ac- cused Trump of driving his casinos into bankruptcy.
Foreign policy dominated the first hour of the debate. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said President Obama should cancel next week’s state dinner with the leader of China, while Paul and Bush argued that the president has to talk with rivals, including China and Iran.
That issue reflected a division among the Republican field based as much on temperament as on ideology. On Iran, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas called the nuclear deal negotiated by Obama and five other world powers “catastrophic” and promised he will rip it to “shreds” if he is president.
Kasich agreed that the Iran deal is a bad one but said the next president has to enforce it and make sure Iran lives up to the bargain.
There was agreement on Planned Parenthood after undercover videos appeared to show the organization’s executives negotiating the sale of body parts from aborted fetuses. Most candidates said Congress should force Obama to veto a bill defunding it.
“We’re fighting with each other up here,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said. “Let’s ask Hillary Clinton. She believes in the systematic murder of children in the womb to preserve their body parts for sale. ... It’s disgusting.”
Bush found himself defending the records of his father and brother, who Cruz called the “President Bushes,” over their Supreme Court nominees, their handling of the economy and their wars in Iraq.