Rivals take out the knives for Trump
Final debate ahead of Super Tuesday gets super rowdy
Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz lobbed their harshest attacks yet at Donald Trump, trying to slow the celebrity billionaire’s momentum before Super Tuesday’s primaries, which could vault him far ahead in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
The 10th GOP debate at times deteriorated into personal, vindictive bickering.
The two U.S. senators ganged up on Trump on a slate of topics — immigration, health care, his family money, his personal finances, and basic fitness for the presidency — during the CNN event in Houston. It was a change of pace for Rubio, who has generally avoided direct conflict with Trump, and it made this the most contentious debate yet.
Cruz questioned whether Trump is even a Republican, citing his past support for Democratic policy positions and candidates, including Hillary Clinton.
“In 2013 when I was leading the fight against the ‘Gang of Eight’ amnesty bill, where was Donald? He was firing Dennis Rodman on ‘Celebrity Apprentice,’ ” Cruz said.
Rubio also ridiculed Trump for claiming he’s the one that introduced the topic of immigration reform to the 2016 race, blasting him as “only person on this stage that has ever been fined for hiring people to work on your projects illegally.”
Trump fired back that he was the only one on stage who had hired anyone, period.
The two remaining candidates, John Kasich and Ben Carson, fought just to get a word in. Kasich asked the moderators to take control of all the bickering. Carson at one point, begged for speaking time, noting the debate rules that candidates could respond to attacks. “Can somebody attack me, please?”
Rubio referred to Trump’s now-defunct Trump University as a “fake” school: “You know what they got? They got to take a picture with a cardboard cutout of Donald Trump.” Cruz picked up on this attack and predicted a pending fraud trial brought by students would derail Trump’s campaign later this year.
On Trump’s suggestion to put a high tariff on Chinese exports to the United States, Rubio mocked the businessman: “You are going to be starting a trade war against your own ties and your own suits.”
Trump’s case against Rubio and Cruz was that they’re both inept politicians, who either melt down under pressure or mislead voters.
“You are all talk and no action. This guy’s a choke artist,” he said, referring to Rubio, “and this guy’s a liar” referring to Cruz.
The attacks were an effort to dent the commanding position Trump is in after his easy wins in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. The latest delegate count: Trump 82, Cruz 17, Rubio 16, John Kasich 6 and Ben Carson 4. Next week on Super Tuesday, 595 delegates are up for grabs — about half of the 1,237 necessary to win the GOP nomination.
CNN moderator Wolf Blitzer asked Trump whether he would release his tax returns as 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney has demanded. Trump said he is routinely audited and “I can’t do it until the audit is finished, obviously.” Cruz said that underscores the need to see the returns, in case there’s fraud.