Donald Trump may be leading the pack in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, but he had a big target on his back at the Wednesday prime-time debate, and many of his 10 rivals onstage took dead aim.
The second GOP candidate debate event was held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, on a red and blue stage with the former commander in chief's Air Force One as a striking backdrop.
The event featured the 11 leading Republican candidates: Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul, John Kasich, Chris Christie and Carly Fiorina.
Taking on Trump
Trump would fire the first salvo after Fiorina initially passed on a chance to knock the front-runner.
Asked about Trump's temperament, Fiorina called him "a wonderful entertainer," but added, "All of us will be revealed over time and under pressure." She held back rather than attack Trump when pressed about whether America would be safe in his hands if he held U.S. nuclear codes.
Without hesitation, Trump immediately veered the discussion in a different direction and launched into another candidate: "Rand Paul shouldn't even be on this stage." Trump said Paul's poll numbers are low, and he argued that America needs a businessman as president.
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Paul, asked to respond, said, "I kind of have to laugh when I think, 'Hmmm ... sounds like a non-sequitur.' He was asked whether or not he would be capable, and whether it would be in good hands if he was in charge of the nuclear weapons and all of a sudden there's a sideways attack at me.
"I think that really goes to the judgment. Do we want someone with that kind of character, that kind of careless language, to be negotiating with Putin? Do we want someone like that to be negotiating with Iran? I think really there is a sophomoric quality that is entertaining about Mr. Trump. But I am worried. I am very concerned about having him in charge of nuclear weapons because I think his response, his visceral response to attack people on their appearance, short, tall fat, ugly ... My goodness, that happened in junior high. Are we not way above that? Should we not all be worried to have someone like that in charge of the nuclear arsenal?"
Trump interjected, telling the audience, "I never attacked him on his looks, and, believe me, there is plenty of subject matter right there."
The crowd laughed.
Asked if he would be confident in a President Trump who held the nuclear codes, Bush said, "I think the voters would be able to make that determination." Rather than attack Trump right away, Bush chose instead to focus on what he said were President Obama's leadership failings.
Trump did go on to say he could be trusted with his finger on the nuclear button, saying, "Believe me, my temperament is very good, very calm. But, we will be respected outside of this country. We are not respected now."
Many pundits expected Fiorina, a former Hewlett-Packard CEO, to attempt to upstage Trump with her quick attack lines and detailed knowledge of many issues.
Before the debate began, Fiorina told CNBC, "Mr. Trump's going to be hearing quite a lot from me."
Lagging far behind – with numbers stuck in the single digits – Bush promised to be more confrontational with Trump, who has nicknamed the establishment candidate "Mr. Low Energy."
Bush accused Trump of donating to Bush's campaign and then requesting that the governor authorize casino gambling in Florida. Trump responded: "If I wanted it, I would have gotten it." Trump's classic response drew laughs from the audience.
CNN chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper moderated the event, along with CNN's Dana Bash and talk-radio host Hugh Hewitt.
RealClearPolitics' polling average has Trump leading the GOP pack with 30.5 percent. Carson is at 20 percent, and is followed by Bush (7.8 percent), Cruz (6.8 percent), Rubio (5.3 percent), Huckabee (4.5 percent), Paul (3.3 percent), Fiorina (3.3 percent), Walker (3 percent), Kasich (2.5 percent), Christie (1.5 percent), Santorum (.8 percent), Perry (.8 percent, though he’s no longer running), Jindal (.5 percent) and Lindsay Graham (.3 percent).
As WND reported, four lower-polling GOP candidates – Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former New York Gov. George Pataki and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania – were featured in an earlier "under-card" debate at 6 p.m. EST.
The following is a look at some of the top issues discussed.
Iran
Congress has little chance of stopping implementation of President Obama's nuclear deal with Iran now that Democrats in the Senate have blocked a bill disapproving the agreement. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, is threatening to sue. But Obama had vowed to lift sanctions on Iran even if Congress hadn't failed to muster the votes to stop the deal.
All the GOP candidates and every Republican in Congress oppose the deal, and it was a major issue in the CNN debate.
Asked about his opposition to the Iran deal, Cruz said, "The single biggest national security threat facing America right now is the threat of a nuclear Iran. We've seen six-and-half years of President Obama leading from behind. Weakness is provocative, and this Iranian nuclear deal is nothing short of catastrophic.
"This deal, on its face, will send over $100 billion to the Ayatollah Khameini, making the Obama administration the world's leading financier of radical Islamic terrorism. This deal abandons four American hostages in Iran, and this deal will only accelerate Iran's acquiring nuclear weapons."
He promised, "You better believe it, if I am elected president, on the very first day in office, I will rip to shreds this catastrophic Iranian deal."
Kasich agreed that the Iran deal is bad, and he said the military option should be on the table if Iran tries to cheat and develop nuclear weapons. However, he said the United States should not "do it alone." He said if Iran cheats, the U.S. should rip up the deal and reapply the sanctions.
Paul said he "wouldn't look at the agreement and cut it up without giving Iran a chance to comply."
Walker called it "a bad deal on Day 1."
Huckabee said, "This is really about the survival of Western Civilization. ... This threatens Israel immediately. This threatens the Middle East, and this threatens the United States of America."
Fiorina said she Iran must submit to anytime, anywhere inspections.
Critics say Obama's deal is a disaster that does nothing to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons because:
- The inspections process is largely determined by Iran, including which sites to inspect and when.
- Inspection details will be kept secret from Congress and the American public.
- The deal legitimizes Iran's vast, and supposedly peaceful, nuclear program.
- It will give $150 billion in unfrozen assets to the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism.
- It lifts the conventional arms embargo on Iran in five years.
- And it eliminates international travel restrictions on some of the world's leading terrorists, including the head of Iran's revolutionary guard.
- The deal does nothing to stop Iran from building or buying nuclear weapons after a decade.
This month, Trump joined Cruz in a fiery rally opposing the Iran nuke deal.
Cruz told WND, "If this deal is consummated, it will make the Obama administration the world's leading financier of radical Islamic terrorism. … Billions of dollars under control of this administration will flow into the hands of jihadists who will use that money to murder Americans, to murder Israelis, to murder Europeans."
Trump charged, "We are going to get nothing. They rip us off, they take our money, they make us look like fools."
Fiorina said, "It would be different if Iran was a good actor and had negotiated in good faith all this time, but they haven't and we've caved many times. I've never negotiated an Iran nuclear deal, but I've negotiated a lot of high-stakes deals, and there are a couple of rules, and every rule has been broken. If you want a good deal, you've got to walk away sometimes. We never did." She also expressed her skepticism that Iran would comply with inspections.
Kim Davis and religious freedom
Rowan County, Kentucky, clerk Kim Davis – along with assorted Christian bakers, photographers and florists – have become focal points in the battle of religious freedom, particularly since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage.
The issue of Davis' arrest was raised early in the GOP debate. Various candidates have supported Davis for refusing to issue marriage licenses to all eligible applicants, include same-sex couples. After her release from jail after five days of incarceration, she was escorted from the Carter County Detention Center by Huckabee.
During the debate, Huckabee noted that Davis was elected under the state constitution to obey Kentucky law, and the Supreme Court "decided out of thin air that they were just going to redefine marriage." He said, "The courts can't legislate."
Because the courts decided to uphold same-sex marriage and the other two branches decided to stand by and accept it, Huckabee said it was "judicial tyranny."
"We made accommodation to the Fort Hood shooter to let him grow a beard," he said, adding that Davis' religious beliefs should be accommodated.
Bush agreed, saying Davis should be accommodated, even if "a law needs to be changed."
Cruz was also in attendance at Davis' release and has aggressively supported religious freedom.
Fiorina and Trump have both expressed their belief that Davis had an obligation to perform her duties as an elected county clerk, which includes issuing marriage licenses.
Bush has stated Davis "doesn't have the authority to defy the courts. … She is sworn to uphold the law, and it seems to me that there ought to be common ground. There ought to be big enough space for her to act on her conscience and – now that the law is the law of the land – for a gay couple to be married in whatever jurisdiction that is."
Carson said, "This is a Judeo-Christian nation in the sense that a lot of our values and principles are based on our Judeo-Christian faith. … There are substantial numbers of people who actually believe in the traditional definition of marriage. I'm one of them. It doesn't mean that I don't think that other people can do whatever they want to do. … But I don't actually believe that they have the right to force their way of life upon everybody else. Nor would I try to force my way of life upon everybody else. And this is where some intellect has to come into place, and our legislators need to sit down and ask themselves, 'How do we make sure that the rights of all Americans are protected?' [It] requires a little bit of effort."
Planned Parenthood
The nation's biggest abortion provider has been reeling from the fallout of a series of devastating undercover videos exposing its business selling baby body parts, apparently for profit – which is illegal. Planned Parenthood received $528 million from taxpayers last year. A bill to defund the agency failed in the Senate because there were not enough Republicans to overcome the 60-vote threshold to avoid a filibuster by Democrats.
Thirty-one Republican lawmakers in the House of Representative signed a letter saying they are committed to opposing any legislation to fund the federal government unless it defunds the Planned Parenthood abortion business. That could lead to another government shutdown, if a spending bill is not passed by Sept. 30.
During the debate Wednesday, Kasich objected to shutting down the federal government to defund the abortion provider. He said there are many ways to remove government funding and "use it for women's health elsewhere."
Cruz called the videos "horrifying," and he accused Planned Parenthood of trying to "sell the body parts of unborn children for profit." He encouraged all Americans to watch the videos and ask themselves, "Are these my values?" Cruz said taxpayer money shouldn't be used to fund "this criminal enterprise."
Cruz blasted fellow congressional Republicans for surrendering on the fight to defund Planned Parenthood.
When asked if the GOP was surrendering, Christie said, "Here's the problem, we're fighting with each other up here. We agree. Let's ask Hillary Clinton."
"She believes in the systematic murder of children in the womb to preserve their body parts in the way that maximized their value for sale for profit.
"It is disgusting, and the American people need to hear it. We shouldn't be fighting with each other. She's the real opponent. She's the real problem."
Fiorina called on Obama and Clinton to watch the Planned Parenthood videos:
"I dare Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, to watch these tapes. Watch a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking while someone says, 'We have to keep it alive to harvest its brain.'"
Watch Fiorina's challenge to Obama and Clinton:
The crowd went wild with applause. Rising to a crescendo, Fiorina declared, "This is about the character of our nation. And if we will not stand up and force President Obama to veto this bill, shame on us."
Bush said he'd rather give the taxpayer funds to the 13,000 other women's health organizations in the U.S. rather than Planned Parenthood.
Cruz is leading the fight in the Senate to attach an amendment defunding Planned Parenthood to any budget bill, but is getting a cold reception from his colleagues, so far.
In a USA Today op-ed, Cruz wrote: "I intend to lead the fight in the United States Senate to defund Planned Parenthood, even while investigations continue. The time for show votes is over. Funding the federal government does not require funding Planned Parenthood. But basic decency and our commitment to the right to life do require that we stop taxpayer funding of abortions and any trade in baby parts."
According to a study by the Congressional Research Service, Planned Parenthood would continue to receive the majority of its federal funding – including all of its Medicaid payments – even if Congress cannot enact a new spending bill on Oct. 1.
Trump said taxpayer funds to Planned Parenthood should be stopped if it continues doing abortions. Trump said he has "evolved" on the issue from pro-choice to pro-life.
Asked where he stood on the issue of abortion itself, Trump said he supports the rare exceptions of permitted abortion in cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother. Trump also clarified that he does not support a health exception that pro-life advocates have long opposed since Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, because such exceptions essentially allow unlimited abortions up to birth for any reason.
Fiorina supports a government shutdown if Planned Parenthood is not defunded, and she has criticized Trump's views on the issue, saying he sounds like a Democrat after he waffled on the subject in two interviews in August.
Illegal immigration
Immigration is one of the hot-button issues of the 2016 elections, thanks to Trump, who has made it the focus of his campaign.
At the debate, Trump re-emphasized his wish to "build a wall" on the U.S.-Mexico border, adding, "We have a country based on laws."
"They're going to go out, and they'll come back if they deserve to come back."
Trump said any immigrant who has been arrested will not be allowed back into the U.S.
Bash asked Trump about his insistence that Bush speak English rather than Spanish while on the campaign trail.
"We have to have assimilation," Trump said. "This is a country where we speak English, not Spanish."
Christie addressed the issue of foreign visitors coming to the U.S. and overstaying their visas. He said their fingerprints should be taken, and they should be forced to leave if they stay without permission.
Carson defended his own immigration plan against charges that it's "amnesty." He also claimed there aren't Americans to do the jobs illegal immigrants do. He added that immigrants wouldn't be allowed to vote, under his plan.
On the issue of birthright citizenship, Trump said, "We're the only ones dumb enough, stupid enough, to have that." He said there are a lot of legal scholars who call the issue a misinterpretation of the 14th Amendment.
Fiorina said Trump is pandering on the birthright citizenship issue, but Paul agreed with Trump.
"It hasn't really been completely adjudicated," he said. "The original author of the amendment said on the Senate floor that this applied to slaves and didn't apply to others."
America's immigrant population hit a record high of 42.1 million (legal and illegal) in the second quarter of 2015. The total Mexican immigrant population (legal and illegal) reached 12.1 million in the second quarter of 2015 – the highest quarterly total ever. In addition to Mexico, growth in the immigrant population was propelled by a 449,000 increase by people coming from Latin American countries other than Mexico in the last year.
Economy and jobs
According to numerous surveys, the most important election issue in the 2016 cycle is the economy, including jobs.
Millions of Americans still can't find full-time jobs, and their paychecks are barely keeping up with inflation. Private-job growth plunged in July, signaling slowing momentum in the U.S. economy. Employers hired 185,000 workers in July, significantly below the expected increase of 215,000 jobs. In the second quarter of 2015, the U.S. economy grew at a lackluster 2.3 percent. In August, private-sector jobs growth fell short of expectations with 190,000 positions – again below the projected 200,000.
Trump, Bush and Christie all have vowed to double economic growth.
Trump has said he wants to be the "jobs president" and has promised to "make America great again." He pledged to bring U.S. jobs back "from China, from Mexico, from Japan, from so many places." When he announced his run, Trump said he'd impose a 35 percent tax on Ford vehicles made in Mexico and imported into the U.S.
Trump also opposes raising the federal minimum wage from the current $7.25 an hour, as he believes that would increase unemployment, as do most Republicans. He also has proposed a five-part tax plan to reform the income tax code. He has said he would raise taxes on hedge-fund managers.
Many other GOP candidates favor a flat tax or a "fair tax" on purchases instead of income. Huckabee said he favors a tax on consumption rather than productivity, like the Fair Tax.
Carson accused Trump of having socialist tax policies that unfairly penalize top earners.
Paul said he would eliminate the tax code and implement a 14.5 percent tax across the board.
Bush and Christie have said they'll grow the economy by 4 percent a year – a rate not seen in the U.S. since 2000, just before the dot-com bubble burst and the U.S. plunged into recession.
Christie has presented a five-point plan to reach his 4 percent goal: lower taxes, cut regulation, revamp energy, make the research and development tax credit permanent and abolish payroll taxes for Americans under 25 and over 62.
Fiorina states that progressive policies have contributed to income inequality. She would roll back regulatory burdens facing businesses. On taxes, Fiorina would lower every rate, close every loophole – maybe retain a few that benefit the middle class – and shrink the 75,000-page U.S. tax code to three pages, stating most of the deductions and exemptions benefit the wealthy, powerful and well-connected.
Medical marijuana
The candidates were asked: Would you enforce federal laws against marijuana in places like Colorado where it's illegal?
Paul said, no, he doesn't believe the federal government should override the states.
Bush admitted he smoked marijuana "40 years ago," and he said "my mom's not happy" that he just admitted it.
Bush said it is appropriate for the federal government to enforce drug laws. Paul blasted Bush for campaigning against medical marijuana in Florida.
Paul said Bush is "trying to put poor folks in jail."
Christie noted that New Jersey doesn't send nonviolent drug users to jail if they don't deal drugs. He said he supports rehabilitation programs, but "that doesn't mean we should be legalizing gateway drugs."
Fiorina said she "buried a child to drug addiction."
"We must invest more in the treatment of drugs. We are misleading people when we tell them that marijuana is just like having a beer. It's not. ... We do need criminal justice reform. ... It's clearly not working. But we need to tell people the truth. Drug addiction is an epidemic and it's taking too many lives."
Social Security
On the issue of Social Security, Trump said he agrees with Christie that billionaires should not collect checks.
"I would be willing to write mine off 100 percent," Trump said.
Christie agreed, suggesting that the program could be saved if rich people were not allowed to qualify for it: "We need to save this program for the good folks out there who paid for is and that need it."
Secret code names
Asked what their Secret Service code name would be as president, the candidates responded:
Christie: "True heart."
Kasich: "Unit 1."
Fiorina: "Secretariat."
Walker: "Harley."
Bush: "Eveready. It's very high energy, Donald."
Trump: "Humble."
Carson: "One nation."
Cruz: "Cohiba."
Rubio: "Gator."
Huckabee: "Duck hunter."
Paul: "Justice never sleeps."
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