Billionaire Donald Trump, as expected, stole the show at Thursday night’s GOP debate as his fellow GOP contenders lined up to attack the current primary frontrunner. But despite Trump’s lightening rod presence, there was plenty of time for all the candidates to discuss serious issues like immigration, Iran, government surveillance, and entitlements.
Trump spent much of Thursday night defending past business and personal moves and explaining why he feels conservative voters should take his campaign seriously.
When asked by moderator Chris Wallace how Americans can trust him to run the nation when his own companies have filed bankruptcy, Trump responded: “Because I have used the laws of this country just like the greatest people that you read about every day in business have used the laws of this country, the chapter laws, to do a great job for my company, my employees, myself and my family,” Trump said. “I have never gone bankrupt.”
When Wallace reasserted that the Trump companies had nonetheless filed bankruptcy, Trump told him he was “living in a world of make believe” if he thought the lenders weren’t “killers” by their very nature.
Trump similarly had to respond to questions about his past contributions to the campaigns of Democratic politicians and to Hillary Clinton’s family foundation.
“I gave to a foundation that, frankly, that foundation is supposed to do good. I didn’t know that her money would be used on private jets going all over the world,” he said.
Trump also noted, “Most of the people on this stage I’ve given to.”
The wealthy candidate signaled that he would continue his unapologetic bucking of the Republican establishment from the beginning of the debate when he refused to vow not to run third-party if he fails to secure the GOP nomination.
“I want to win as the Republican. I want to run as the Republican nominee,” he said. But Trump declined to pledge loyalty to the GOP “at this time.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), not exactly a darling in the eyes of the party establishment, took that as an opportunity to attack Trump, saying the refusal is a sign he’s “already hedging his bets because he’s used to buying politicians.”
What followed was a contentious debate where most of the non-Trump candidates followed a similar pattern of attacking Trump and self-promotion.
Despite the GOP establishment’s constant suggestions that former Fla. Gov. Jeb Bush is the only sensible candidate, he didn’t do much to stand out during the event.
“I governed as a conservative, and I govern effectively,” Bush said at one point. “We left the state better off because I applied conservative principles in a purple state the right way, and people rose up.”
Bush’s vanilla appeal was overshadowed by fireworks between Paul and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who squabbled over civil liberties.
“I want to collect more records from terrorists but less records from innocent Americans,” Paul said in response to a question about how much lawmakers should restrict the NSA.
Christie shot back, calling Paul’s answer “completely ridiculous.”
“How are you supposed to know?” Christie asked.
Paul responded “You fundamentally misunderstand the Bill of Rights. Every time you filed a case, you got a warrant from a judge.”
“I don’t trust Obama with our records,” Paul added. “I know you gave him a big hug, and if you want to give him a big hug again, you go right ahead.”
Christie said Paul didn’t have the experience to speak knowledgably about the topic.
“When you’re sitting in a subcommittee just blowing hot air about this, you can say things like this,” Christie said.
“You know the hugs that I remember: the hugs that I gave to the people who lost their families on Sept. 11, and those had nothing to do with politics, unlike what you’re doing,” he continued.
Mike Huckabee tackled Social Security with an answer that probably surprised some debate viewers. The candidate said he’d ensure the entitlement program’s solvency by rearranging the tax code to collect payments from “illegals, prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers, all the people who are freeloading off the system now.”
Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s performance in the debate was better than expected, considering that he just barely qualified to be include in the event.
Kasich offered measured praise for Trump, saying that that businessman had hit a nerve with frustrated conservatives and that people “who want to just tune him out, they’re making a mistake.”
Kasich also got praise from debate viewers and commentators for his diplomatic response to a question regarding gay marriage.
“I’m an old-fashioned person here, and I happen to believe in traditional marriage,” he said. “The court has ruled and I said we’ll accept it … because somebody doesn’t think the way I do doesn’t mean I can’t care about them and can’t love them. If one of my daughters happened to be that, of course I would love them and accept them.”
Neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) were also on the stage Thursday but struggled for air time.
Ahead of the main debate, the seven GOP candidates whose polling numbers were too low to be included got a chance to get their messages out.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (SC) used the jayvee debate as an opportunity to offer voters a simple strategy to defeat ISIS: “Whatever it takes, as long as it takes.”
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, meanwhile, used her time at the “kiddie table” to show voters just how presidential she can be.
“I started as a secretary and became ultimately the chief executive of the largest technology company in the world, almost $90 billion in over 150 countries,” she said. “I know personally how extraordinary and unique this nation is.”
If she becomes the nation’s chief executive, Fiorina said she already has a plan for day one.
“On Day One in the Oval Office, I would make two phone calls,” she said. “The first one would be to my good friend, Bibi Netanyahu, to reassure him we will stand with the State of Israel.
“The second will be to the supreme leader of Iran. He might not take my phone call, but he would get the message, and the message is this: Until you open every nuclear and every military facility to full, open, anytime, anywhere, for real inspections, we are going to make it as difficult as possible for you to move money around the global financial system.”
According to Google Trends, searches for Fiorina’s name skyrocketed during the event.
The post Highlights from the GOP’s first official presidential debate appeared first on Personal Liberty®.
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