Trump, Cruz assert their standing atop Republican field

“You have a big lawsuit hanging over your head … who the hell knows if you can even serve in office?” exclaimed Trump, referring to his own repeated questioning of the Texas senator’s Canadian birth and possible ineligibility to become president. Instead, the real estate magnate said to Cruz: “There’s a big question mark on your head”.

Republican presidential candidates take the stage before the Fox Business Network Republican presidential debate on Thursday night in North Charleston, S.C.

Despite their ties, Tribe has repeatedly sought to undermine Cruz over the question of his eligibility.

“On the issue of citizenship Donald, I’m not going to use your mother’s birth against you”, Cruz said.

The businessman fired back that Cruz misrepresented the level of Trump’s support, but didn’t dispute that he’s brought up the issue because Cruz “is doing a little better”. “Since September the Constitution hasn’t changed, but the poll numbers have”, he said. “Donald is dismayed that his poll numbers are falling in Iowa”. Quite the opposite, in fact. “Under long-standing US law, the child of a USA citizen born overseas is a natural-born citizen”.

Peter Wehner, a veteran of the past three Republican administrations and author of a recent op-ed column titled “Why I Will Never Vote for Donald Trump”, said the candidate was “emotional and moving”.

He went on to point out that Trump, whose mother was born in Scotland, was disqualifying himself. “I’m going to do it for America”.

“It was a paperwork error”, he said, calling the story a “hit piece”.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush urged Trump to reconsider, asking: “All Muslims?”.

“The people in NY fought and fought and fought, and we saw more death, and even the smell of death…”

Trump described the comment as “very insulting” and defended New Yorkers who bounced back after 9/11.

Asked to respond to the suggestion by the Republican Governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley’s suggestion that Americans should not “follow the siren call of the angriest voices”, Trump held his angry ground.

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Trump pointed out that Cruz could not do that anyway because it wouldn’t work, as the real-estate mogul was born in the U.S.

“Think about the firemen that were running up the stairs … they’re coming in and they go up to try and save people”, he said. “Sending that signal makes it impossible for us to be serious about taking out ISIS and restoring democracy in Syria”. It was one of several times Trump drew applause from one of the debate season’s more demonstrative audiences.

Republican presidential candidates drew a sharp contrast Thursday night with the optimistic portrait of the economy and the nation’s security that President Obama painted in his State of the Union address this week, warning that sticking with Democrats in the November election could have dire consequences.

Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey called that “storytime with Barack Obama”.

Christie said that if Hillary Clinton is president “it will lead to greater war in this world”.

Christie says President Barack Obama has done “worse than nothing” about Assad, and former Secretary of State Clinton will be worse.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio spent much of the night attacking not his primary opponents, but rather President Obama.

“She’s under investigation by the FBI”.

If elected, “she might be going back and forth between the White House and the court house”, he said.

“Unlike another woman in this race, I actually love spending time with my husband.” former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina on Clinton.

In one of his strongest moments of the evening, Rubio listed a string of issues on which he said Cruz had flip-flopped on, including immigration and ethanol subsidies.

“I could say, oh, I’m not angry”.

“I will gladly accept the mantle of anger”, he said, rattling off a litany of his complaints about how the country is being run.

The prime-time showdown in SC will highlight a race that has cleaved into two distinct – and increasingly heated – contests, with time dwindling to sway voters before the February 1 Iowa caucuses.