Donald Trump challenges Ted Cruz over Canada birth in Republican debate

Republican presidential contender Donald Trump – who is fond of calling his competitors “nice guys” – says that title no longer applies to his chief rival, Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

But no niceties were exchanged before the audience in SC, with Trump even questioning his rival’s constitutional claim to serve as president because he was born in Canada.

In the fiercest clash of night, Mr Trump, who is leading Mr Cruz in national polls, questioned the Texas senator’s eligibility to be president due to his birth in Canada to an American mother. Mr Trump, who noted that his poll numbers rose after making that policy proposal, said his mind was made up.

“And I recognise that Donald is dismayed that his poll numbers are falling in Iowa”, he added.

Seeming to smell blood in the water, Mr Cruz doubled down on his Trump offencive, sneeringly attacking the front-runner’s “New York values”, which he said people in SC knew were different than their own.

Seven Republicans qualified for the main debate stage, the fewest in the first six debates.

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), a Ted Cruz supporter, said Friday that Donald Trump’s mention of 9/11 to defend New York City during the last GOP debate was “below the belt”. Everyone in NY loves new yorkers and that was a very insulting statement that Ted made.

Trump stuck with his controversial call for temporarily banning Muslims from the United States because of fear of terrorism emanating from overseas.

“Listen, there are many, many wonderful, wonderful working men and women in the state of New York”, Cruz said Thursday.

Trump responded that “the great William F. Buckley” hailed from NY and also highlighted New Yorkers’ response to the terrorist attacks in 2001.

“I like Chris Christie”, said Senator Marco Rubio of the New Jersey governor, who is competing for the same sort establishment voters he is pursuing.

Picking a fight with a candidate outside of his lane, such as Trump or Cruz, won’t earn him many votes. “Under that theory, not only would I be disqualified, Marco Rubio would be disqualified, Bobby Jindal would be disqualified, an interestingly enough, Donald J. Trump would be disqualified”.

Mr Trump is far ahead nationally.

Hosted by Fox Business Network, the debate saw the other candidates attack President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address earlier this week. American values are E Pluribus Unum: out of many, one! And in a nod to Trump’s home in midtown Manhattan, Cruz said: “I can frame it another way: Not a lot of conservatives come out of Manhattan”. Bush blasted Trump for his stance. Rubio had said it seemed as if a strategist had persuaded Bush, not a natural fighter, to harshly attack his fellow Floridian.