Jeb Bush calls Trump a ‘chaos candidate’

He continues to make controversial comments that might disqualify more traditional candidates, including his recent call for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S.

But in Tuesday’s debate, Bush landed a number of zingers like, “You are not going to insult your way to the presidency of the United States”. They are former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, former New York Governor George Pataki and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham.

Republican presidential candidates are sparring over national security issues and how best to counter the so-called Islamic State (IS) in the first debate since attacks in California and Paris.

Trump defended the ban, saying, “We are not talking about isolation”.

“Let’s talk about how we do this and not which bill which these guys like more”.

But when Jeb Bush was asked why Trump’s plan to ban Muslims was unhinged, Bush said there was a need to destroy ISIS in the caliphate, and called for embedding out troops inside the Iraqi military. Cruz of Texas, a chief antagonist of Republican leaders in Washington. If he should lose the nomination, some fear he would make such a move, possibly preventing the nominee from defeating the Democratic challenger.

“I won’t get my information from the shows”, said Bush, who questioned whether Trump was getting his information from Sunday morning news shows or Saturday morning cartoons.

Christie ignored the bridge reference.

Cruz said his strategy would take from the first Persian Gulf War and how the US allegedly launched 1100 carpet bombs for 37 days straight and then “mopped up what was left of the Iraqi army”.

Christie continued to emphasize his experience as a governor and federal prosecutor, this time slamming several senators on the stage.

For much of the night, Cruz engaged Florida Senator Marco Rubio in lengthy debates over issues including what to do about Islamic State, domestic surveillance programs, and immigration.

Cruz, who was touted before the debate as the candidate with the most to gain in Las Vegas, insisted the new law gives the government more access to cellphones and other technology terrorists are more likely to use – a contention Rubio disputed.

Cruz doubled to 15 percent, while Rubio and Carson were tied at 12 percent each.

“With Jeb’s attitude, we will never be great again, that I can tell you”, he said.

The senators – both Cuban-Americans in their 40s – also clashed over whether the US should seek to remove dictators in the Middle East, including Syrian President Bashar Assad. Ted Cruz, with a slight lead in Iowa heading into the state’s all-important caucuses, and Dr. Ben Carson, a renowned retired neurosurgeon who entered the debate third in national polls.

Rubio said that he was open to the idea of allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain green cards after a lengthy process and only if the country can reform border security and the current legal immigration system. “We are now at a time when we need more tools, not less tools”.

But it’s as if his front-running status is so familiar that his rivals for the most part chose not to fight him, as the race settles into its lanes.

“Frankly – I think it’s very sad”, he said.

The state-by-state primary contests in the presidential election begin in six weeks in Iowa on 1 February and will last for months. The extremist group claimed responsibility for the November 13 attacks in Paris, and one of the shooters in California pledged allegiance to the group on Facebook shortly before she and her husband killed 14 people at a holiday party.