Thursday’s GOP debate seen by 11.1 million viewers

New Yorkers have taken aim at Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz, who spoke disparagingly of “New York values” at a debate this week.

During one of several dust-ups with fellow GOP candidate (and native New Yorker) Donald Trump, Cruz launched into a speech slamming the values held by those in NY. “Everybody understands that the values in New York City are socially liberal and pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage”.

When given the opportunity to respond, Trump cited positive poll numbers, saying the headline was “Trump way up, Cruz going down”.

For months, Cruz had painstakingly refused to publicly criticize Trump, even as nearly every other candidate piled on the Republican front-runner’s provocative statements. And – and – you know, the concept of NY values is not that complicated to figure out. “Go back to Canada!” the cover read.

Giuliani, who led the city through the 9/11 attacks, joined the city’s current mayor, Bill de Blasio, in echoing Trump and praised the city for its resilience in the face of worldwide terror.

Ted Cruz is facing new questions about whether he is eligible to be president – this time through a lawsuit.

Trump has been the leading voice questioning Cruz’s Canadian birth – Cruz was ready.

But the Cruz comments, in addition to prompting Cuomo’s calls, sparked a day-long Twitter frenzy and lengthy cable news coverage and analysis of the talk.

“My #NewYorkValues: Tolerance, eccentricity, sleaze, pizza, bagels, dancing, not making eye contact”, Lindsay Goldwert wrote. “I’m proud to be a New Yorker so I’d just say “thank you for the compliment” and move forward”.

The jab appeared to be an attempt to dismantle Trump’s identity as a conservative, but many said it backfired after an emotional response from Trump, who was born and raised in Queens. “We rebuilt downtown Manhattan, and everybody in the world watched and everybody in the world loved NY and loved New Yorkers”.

BARTIROMO: I am from NY. His campaign took in only about $487,000 from NY contributors through September 30, according to the most recent filings.

De Blasio was quick to say amen: “I agree with Gov. Cuomo’s remarks”, he said, adding that anyone who is pro-life “does not represent the views of the people of NY”.

Schwartz told Bloomberg News he has nothing against Cruz, and personally “probably” supports Bernie Sanders.