Trump, Cruz clash at latest GOP debate in 2016 White House race

The candidates warned of dire risks to national security and challenged claims of recent economic gains for the middle class. “There’s a big question mark over your head, and you can’t do that to the party”.

Thursday night’s debate underscored that the competition between Trump and Cruz will be rough-and-tumble in the days leading up to the February 1 Iowa caucuses, a shift from the relative civility that’s defined their relationship until now.

Cruz was also on the defensive about his failure to disclose on federal election forms some $1 million in loans from Wall Street banks during his 2012 Senate campaign.

Donald Trump had at least two big moments, defending himself as the candidate of anger and hitting back against Ted Cruz’s slur on “New York values”.

Mr Cruz attempted to score a point against Mr Trump questioning his “New York values,” the senator’s code for criticising his conservative credentials, which will be weighed closely by Iowans.

“Sending that signal makes it impossible for us to be serious about taking out ISIS and Syria”, Bush said to Trump. It was one of several times Trump drew applause from one of the debate season’s more demonstrative audiences.

But as Rubio’s candidacy has, like everyone else’s, been stuck in Trump’s shadow, his tone has sharpened – against New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, for example, whose record he attacked as “liberal”.

So the GOP conservative explained: “Listen, there are many, many wonderful, wonderful working men and women in the state of NY. You have to have certainty”, he told Cruz.

Chasing Trump and Cruz is Rubio, who has rung up endorsements from establishment Republicans while being portrayed as a flip-flopper on issues such as immigration. But that was before Cruz took the lead in Iowa.

Americans witnessed yet another Republican debate on Thursday night. “It’s peanuts”, Trump said. “I would suggest we focus on who is best prepared to be commander-in-chief”, Cruz said. His attacks on Trump’s advocacy for a temporary ban on entry into the U.S.by Muslims were admirable, in my view, but were delivered with little conviction. ‘Since September, the Constitution hasn’t changed, but the poll numbers have’. “And Donald Trump sits outside government and rakes in billions buying people like Hillary Clinton”.

“All I’m saying is that our next president can not be someone that does the damage that Barack Obama does to this country”, Rubio said.

This time, it was Christie responding to Rubio’s attacks: “I stood on the stage and watched Marco in rather indignantly, look at Governor Bush and say, someone told you that because we’re running for the same office, that criticizing me will get you to that office”.

By the time it ended about two and half hours later, all the candidates on the stage in SC had mentioned Clinton more than two dozen times.

Christie called a Clinton presidency “a third term” of Obama’s.

Ben Carson, consistently found to be among the most likable candidates in polls, generated laughs after joking about having to wait almost 15 minutes to get his first question.

Speaking at the Fox Business Network Republican Presidential debate, Trump said if he was to become president, he “couldn’t care less” about his company and personal wealth.

The debate rules resulted in businesswoman Carly Fiorina being bumped to the undercard event. Only one is likely to survive the early contests.