Trump, Cruz Go At It During The First GOP Debate Of 2016

by  on  in Chloe Sommers, FEATURES • 0 Comments
Photo: FOX Business News

Photo: FOX Business News

It’s the primetime Republican presidential debate in Charleston, South Carolina and the eight presidential hopefuls started the two-hour debate slamming the Democrats.

Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie poked fun at President Obama’s final State of the Union address this week.

Former GOP Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush then took a question on national security but quickly shifted to attack mode.

Cruz isn’t cruisin’ past this question that’s on everyone’s mind:

His answer:

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who was once again being portrayed as a sleepy-eyed child in social media

showed that he can take a joke when he answered his first question:

The real battle that everyone was hoping to see was between businessman Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX).

The people were not disappointed.

Trump called out Cruz on whether or not he is a ‘natural born citizen’. The Constitution outlines that “no person except a natural born Citizen . . . shall be eligible to the Office of President.” However, born to an American mother in Canada, whether he is a “natural born citizen” is up for discussion.

Former Ohio Governor John Kasich isn’t as loud as others on stage like Trump and Cruz, but he does bring a calm tone to the debate with his answer on how he plans to help middle America.

Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich likes Kasich’s answer while comedian Patton Oswalt jokes that his calm demeanor disqualifies him for the Oval Office.

Speaking of jokes, one blogger on Twitter said Christie sounded like he was reading a child’s storybook when he dissed Obama’s SOTU address.

On guns, Bush and trump agree mental health is an issue in America. Trump said, “guns don’t pull the trigger, it’s the people that pull the trigger, and we have to figure out what is going on, we need to protect our second Amendment.” They also agree that these Democrats would undermine Americans’ Second Amendment rights, as this TIME Tweet point out:

Christie attacked Obama for using his executive powers to be a “dictator” over America’s gun laws, however, many journalists took to Twitter to point out that the New Jersey governor has taken similar actions on the state level.

Halfway through the debate, Cruz was confronted about his comment that Trump encompasses ‘New York values’.

On a radio show, Cruz recently said, “I think he may shift in his new rallies to playing ‘New York, New York’ because Donald comes from New York and he embodies New York values.”

Some Tweeters didn’t like what Cruz said about New Yorkers:

Then came the 9/11 trump card.

On keeping America safe, Kasich and Trump have different views:

Overall, Trump remains the national leader for the GOP ticket to the White House with the most recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll placing him first with 33 percent of national Republican primary voters. That’s more than double the support than Cruz’s 2- percent and Rubio’s 13 percent. With Trump’s outspoken, headline-grabbing statements, there’s not much he could have said at the debate to downgrade his leading position.

Rubio is coming off stronger than previous debates. He is no longer being teased about his age or experience. His sound foreign policy understanding shines while others with less experience at the Congressional level resort to hitting Clinton and Obama with one-liners.

Christie had one really good line bashing Obama’s State of the Union address. Christie didn’t out-bully Trump and he didn’t sound as calm as Kasich – I guess that’s considered a win for the man from the Garden State.

Bush did a little too much smiling for such a poor performance. He didn’t say much and what he did say was not forward thinking, instead going on defense when hard-hitters like Trump and Cruz challenged him.

Cruz’s best bet prior to this debate was riding on the Trump ticket but after his squabble with The Donald, I doubt he would be considered for vice president.

Carson’s joke about himself landed well with the audience. Unfortunately, he fell asleep while standing up for much of the second hour of the debate.

That brings the first GOP debate of 2016 to a close but stay tuned as NBC hosts the Democratic presidential debate on Sunday, January 17th, 2016.

Chloe Sommers is the Executive Editor of the Never Daunted Radio Network. You can reach her on Twitter @ChloePalma

 

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