Fight night: Personal attacks, court debate for GOP hopefuls

This take on Bush 43 isn’t entirely new from Trump (although the accusation that he intentionally deceived America is further than usual), but it comes right as the former president is coming to SC to campaign for his brother. “It took him five days before his people told him what to say, and he ultimately said it was a mistake”. “They lied. They said there were weapons of mass destruction, there were none”.

DONALD TRUMP: “If I say a word that’s a little bit off color, a little bit, it ends up being a headline”. The front-runner pooh-poohed the audience, dismissing them as “Jeb’s special interests and lobbyists”. Cruz released a television advertisement before the debate accusing the real estate mogul of a “pattern of sleaze”, spurring Trump to fire back on Twitter with another round of questions about his Canadian-born rival’s eligibility to be president.

“This is from a guy who gets his foreign from the (Sunday morning news) shows”, Mr Bush said. “While Donald Trump was building a reality show, my brother was building a security apparatus to keep us safe”.

Mr Bush criticised Mr Trump’s suggestion that the USA partner with Russian Federation to defeat Islamic State rebels. “And it reminds us of this, how important this election is”. “The world knows this”.

Messrs. Kasich and Trump chat during a commercial break.

Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, reiterated the imperative of confirming a true conservative as the court’s next justice. “That’s not safe”, Trump said.

Many in the audience booed after Trump yelled out his arguments, and Bush replied by insisting that Russian Federation is not an ally of the United States.

Messrs. Cruz and Trump debate each other directly. “This is just nuts”.

The 2016 presidential field is shrinking on the Republican side, and those still in the race are preparing for Saturday night’s debate in Greenville, South Carolina.

The loss of perhaps the most influential voice from the right on a court where conservatives held but a single-vote majority brought to the forefront of the bitterly contested race the issue of electability.

“He kept us safe and I’m forever grateful”, the Florida senator said, adding that the terrorist attacks of 2001 happened because Bill Clinton failed to kill Osama bin Laden when he had the chance. Many Republican leaders believe both would be unelectable in November.

In response, Trump said Cruz supported Chief Justice John Roberts, who twice voted to uphold President Obama’s Affordable Care Act two times. “The next president is going to appoint one, two, three, four Supreme Court justices”. “We are one justice away from a Supreme Court that would undermine religious liberty for millions of Americans”. Lindsey Graham, the SC senator who ended his own bid for president in December, will campaign for Bush across the state. He made it a point to mention he’d known Scalia for 20 years. All in all, it was an effective night for Rubio, one that ought to put to rest the notion that he’s a shallow, pre-programmed, “pretty face” of a candidate. Not terribly surprising. I think he’s done. Kasich had the line of the night when he warned Republicans that they are fixing to lose the election with the negative and personal attacks on each other. “I think it’s up to Mitch McConnell and everybody else to stop it. It’s called delay, delay, delay”. The sparring played out one week ahead of the South Carolina Republican primary, an event that has become legendary over the years for its bare-knuckle politics.

There was intense pressure on Rubio, who has struggled to recover from his floundering performance in last Saturday’s debate in New Hampshire, to return to his prior form as an agile and skilled debater. He isn’t afraid to take on Donald Trump.

Early in the debate, Trump railed against the former president for his decision to go to war in Iraq.

Several candidates dropped out after disappointing finishes in last Tuesday’s primary in New Hampshire, trimming the stage to six candidates: real-estate developer Donald Trump, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), and Sens. There was the debate in Iowa he skipped entirely. While Bush and Rubio fight to be the establishment candidate, Kasich is quietly flying under the radar with an appealing message and a cheerful campaign. Larry is our main news editor.