Trump says he’d expected more criticism at GOP debate

The leader in the polls, Donald Trump, had little to say on the subject of the NSA but, asked if he wanted to close parts of the internet to combat Isis, he replied: “I would certainly be open to closing areas where we are at war with somebody”.

He was also the most talked-about candidate on Facebook, followed by Cruz, Bush and Rubio.

Front runner Donald Trump declined to attack Cruz, who has surpassed Trump in recent surveys of potential Iowa caucus-goers.

“Oh yea, you’re a tough guy, Jeb, I know”, chided Donald Trump, (R) Presidential Candidate.

“Donald, you’re not going to be able to insult your way to the presidency”, Bush said.

Trump, 69, dismissed Bush’s criticism. “We are not talking about religion, we are talking about security”. “I haven’t even started on Hillary”, Trump said. “And I think he’s capable”, Blake said of Rubio. “Pretty soon, you’re going to be off the end”.

But Mr Cruz and Florida senator Marco Rubio said they understood why Mr Trump had raised the idea and avoided criticising the front-runner directly.

Many of his Republican opponents have condemned his radical steps, and the proposal is expected to be a flashpoint.

Tearing into Trump so forcefully can be a risky move and has yet to prove to be an effective way to gain momentum for a candidate.

Mr Rubio has accused Mr Cruz of weakening the government’s ability to track terrorists because he voted in favour of legislation to eliminate the National Security Agency’s bulk phone-records collection programme and replace it with a more restrictive effort to keep the records in phone companies’ hands.

“ISIS is gaining strength because the perception Is that they’re winning, and President Obama fuels that perception”.

Burr noted that he had not actually seen the exchange in question.

He clashed with Marco Rubio on immigration and national security.

Unsurprisingly, these are also the candidates leading the polls – and they essentially treated the CNN/Facebook debate as one all about them.

The two senators – both Cuban-Americans in their 40s – have been sparring from afar for weeks, and their rivalry could become one of the dominant forces in the race as the first voting contests in February draw near.

Cruz has been reluctant to criticize Trump, and while Trump called Cruz “a maniac” at the weekend, he passed up the chance to do it again. So it’s not as clear as just reading what he said.

The Republican debate on Tuesday was the first since the attack in California and another in Paris, and focused heavily on national security.

According to the poll, nine per cent thought Chris Christie, while Ben Carson and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina were tied for fifth place with five per cent each.

At the so-called “undercard” debate of low-polling candidates, held before the main event, former New York Governor George Pataki blasted Trump’s Muslim proposal as “un-American, unconstitutional, and it is wrong”. If U.S. officials are asked why they failed to prevent some future terrorist attack, Rubio said, “the answer better not be because we didn’t have access to records or information that would have allowed us to identify these killers before they attacked”.