Republican presidential candidates clash harshly during 7th debate
US Republican presidential candidates exchanged fierce attacks on immigration and other topics during the 7th GOP presidential debate in Iowa state, competing vigorously to fill the vacuum created by Donald Trump’s boycott of Thursday’s debate.
US Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida denounced each other and took fire from rivals seeking to undercut one another in hopes of gaining favor with Iowa voters before the state’s caucuses on Monday.
Cruz and Rubio, who are behind Trump in the nationwide and Iowa polls and hoping for surprise finishes here, were repeatedly confronted with pointed questions about their views and Senate votes on providing citizenship or legal status to immigrants who are in the country illegally.
But it was Cruz who was criticized the most on the issue, as Rubio teamed up with Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky to portray him as an opportunist.
“Everybody’s for amnesty except for Ted Cruz,” Paul said, using Cruz’s favorite catchphrase against him as he denounced the “falseness” that Cruz perpetrated. “That’s an authenticity problem.”
Rubio was even more critical of Cruz as he tries to reduce Cruz’s support in Iowa and finish in second place behind Trump and strengthen his position in the February 9 New Hampshire state primary.
“This is the lie that Ted’s campaign is built on,” Rubio said, highlighting Cruz’s previous shifts on immigration.
Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, playing the Washington outsider, landed some clever attacks against Hillary Clinton, earning applause for promising that he would never let her “get within 10 miles of the White House.”
Paul, who is so far behind in the polls that he did not qualify for the last prime-time debate, was aggressive and passionate as he made the case for his brand of libertarian politics, explaining that he was opposed to abortion rights but would leave the issue to the states.
Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon, was almost as faded a presence as Trump.
There was more time for Ohio Governor John Kasich and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush to discuss policy, in hopes of helping their chances in the New Hampshire primary, but neither man had a particularly astounding presentation.
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