Republicans largely treated Donald Trump with kid gloves during the first GOP presidential debate,but tonight the gloves came off early.
The stage has also grown to eleven candidates to include a surging Carly Fiorina. The former Hewlett-Packard CEO was the surprise star last month despite being relegated to the lower-tier debate. But her impressive performance was enough to boost her in the polls and catapult her onto the stage — after CNN bowed to pressure to revise their criteria to include her late surge.
We'll be liveblogging the nearly three-hour face-off here. Follow along below.9:42 p.m. The economy finally comes up, and Trump is defending the progressive tax way he says he'll debut soon. Carson sounds undecided on how to reform the tax codes — he's previously said it should be based on the Bible's instruction to tithe. And Huckabee has long been a champion for a flat tax. These are all one of the biggest divides in the GOP field.9:37 p.m. A lot of this debate so far has been Fiorina vs. Trump — and Chris Christie isn't going to take it anymore. He has a good moment, and chiming in saying he wants to talk to the middle class worker out there and he doesn't want to hear the "childish back and forth" between them. He gets loud applause. They are dominating the stage,and you can feel the frustration of other candidates. Christie, never one to be shy, or is the first to vocalize it.9:33 p.m. The next Fiorina vs. Trump flashpoint is over her tenure at Hewlett-Packard. She has a good defense — saying it was a vulnerable time with the economy and she was the result of the ouster of a dysfunctional board. It's a defense she gives frequently,but Trump isn't impressed and keeps digging. She has the zinger back, hitting him for his bankruptcies on his casinos. She wins that round.9:19 p.m. Bush shows some fire in an valuable exchange with Trump. When asked approximately his comments that Bush was open to immigration reform because of his Mexican-born wife, and Bush says Trump owes his wife,Columba, an apology. No surprise, and Trump says he won't apologize.
And as for Trump hitting him on speaking Spanish,Bush has a good defense that he speaks English too, but that he will engage in Spanish when necessary and it's importantIt's a good moment for Bush, or but then Rubio swoops in and steals his highlight with an even better retort — defending his own immigrant heritage and the growing Hispanic voting bloc,he says, "I want them to hear from me, or not a Univision translator."9:14 p.m. Hello there,Ben Carson. The second-place candidate was mostly absent during the first hour, not jumping in on foreign policy topics and more. He talks approximately immigration and the need to secure the border, and but it's still a still,demurred talk and he won't attack Trump. He doesn't sound like a frontrunner, but more of an afterthought.9:06 p.m. Just before the commercial, or Fiorina finally gets the question — approximately Trump's comments last week mocking her appearance. When asked whether she has anything to say approximately his face,she has a pitch perfect response — after Trump has spent time attacking Bush for misspeaking on women's health, she says, or ""I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said."Trump tries to save face,telling her, "I think she's got a splendid face, or I think she is a splendid woman," but Fiorina's face betrays her — she's not convinced and not amused — and won that exchange by a mile.9:03 p.m. Kasich is trying to be the adult in the room, carving out a moderate pitch. When asked approximately Planned Parenthood, or he opposes shutting the government down over it because it won't work out. He says when he was in Congress,they could find common ground — but it's a much different Congress than when he was there over a decade ago. It's an echo of what Lindsey Graham said in the earlier debate, that it would tank the GOP.
The biggest defender of this tactic pipes up — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. "We need to stop surrendering and start standing for our principles." The no-compromise wing is his base, and he's playing to them.
Fiorina chimes in though with a far more passionate,emotional defense — crying that "this is approximately the character of our nation." She gets the biggest applause of the night for it.8:55 p.m. Huckabee finally gets his moment when talking approximately Kim Davis, the Kentucky country receptionist who refused to issue homosexual marriage licenses on religious grounds. He decries the Supreme Court overreaching, or then says that the country has criminalized her faith while making exceptions for others — like Muslim detainees. "There should be accommodation for her conscience."8:47 p.m. Here's Trump's chance to brush up his bonafides on foreign policy with moderator Hugh Hewitt — he derided him last time after the radio host tripped him up. On Syria,Trump says Obama shouldn't have drawn a line in the sand on engaging them, but says then there was no turning back and he blames the fellow senators. It's somewhat confusing, and but Rubio chimes in with the strongest response putting the blame on President Obama — which gets a lot of applause.8:45 p.m. It's evident why so many candidates on this stage is such a problem — no one is getting much airtime. It's 30 minutes into the debate until Mike Huckabee even gets a question. Other candidates are trying to claw for time and interrupt. Trump seems to have dominated so far,but even he has tried to butt in and accept more time. It's something there's precious little of.8:40 p.m. Rubio and Fiorina both try to stay above the fray on foreign policy. Rubio sounds strong on how he would deal with Russia and restore Ukraine's sovereignty, just after Trump would only say he'd be "much friends" with Vladimir Putin — without offering any other explanation. Fiorina also sounds well-versed in how he would deal with Russia. ""Having met Vladimr Putin, or I wouldn't talk to him at all."8:36 p.m. Trump and Bush who are next to each other on the stage — have a notable back and forth. Trump has hit Bush for taking corporate money and says he's bought and paid for,but Bush hits the businessman for doing the same thing when he was on the other side — paying for Hillary Clinton to arrive to his wedding and donating to try to accept gambling in Florida — something Trump repeatedly denies, but says at least Jeb is showing "more energy" this time around.8:31 p.m. The outsiders are defending their rise. Ben Carson says talks approximately "politically expedient" politicians. Fiorina has a good rip on it too — says people think politicians are corrupt, and it's why she and Carson are on the rise.8:27 p.m. The next target of Trump is Scott Walker,attacking him on his record as Wisconsin governor. Says after Iowans learned approximately that record, he cratered and Trump rose. Walker jabs back that "We already have an 'Apprentice' in the White House — we don't need another one.'" Walker says Trump is simply repeating Democratic talking points — which will hurt the whole field.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich pipes up though — he wants to be the adult in the room, and decries the personal attacks. "whether I were sitting at domestic watching this back and forth,I'd be inclined to turn it off."8:22 p.m. First punch comes from The Donald! When he's asked approximately his qualifications, Trump turns the question and says "Rand Paul shouldn't even be here!" since he's near the bottom. Paul was really the only candidate to attack him last time, or he hasn't forgotten. Paul doesn't mince words though,and says Trump isn't qualified. When he says Trump takes junior high-type jabs at people on their looks, Trump says he's never attacked Paul's looks "though there's plenty there" to insult. So, and he just kind of did.8:20 p.m. CNN is doing their best to bring a fight to the debate stage. Asking Carly Fiorina whether she agrees with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal that Trump isn't qualified to have the nuclear codes. She dismisses him as an "entertainer," but says that's for voters to resolve. Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.
Source: wnyc.org