By: Mason Benovy
On Thursday, January, 14th, FOX News held the first Republican debate of 2016. The debate took place at the North Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, South Carolina. Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, and John Kasich took the stage at 9 PM EST.
Although the debate began with the candidates sparring in a playful manner, Ted Cruz’s citizenship issue came up and the mood quickly changed. Because Cruz was born in Canada, Trump claimed he shouldn’t be eligible for presidency.
Cruz fired back and stated:
“I would note that the birther theories that Trump has been relying on, some of the more extreme ones insist that you must not only be born on US soil but have two parents born on US soil. Under that theory, not only would I be disqualified, Marco Rubio would be disqualified, Bobby Jindal would be disqualified, and interestingly enough, Donald J. Trump would be disqualified. Because Trump’s mother was born in Scotland. She was naturalized.”
After that, the conversation on his citizenship was over, but Cruz was attacked much of the night.
In response to President Barack Obama’s State of Union last week, South Carolina Governor, Nikki Haley, indirectly called out Trump as being one of the “angriest voices” running. When asked if Haley had gone too far, Trump didn’t think so.
“I’m very angry because our country is being run horribly, and I will gladly accept the mantle of anger, I’m very, very angry,” Trump said, “So when Nikki said that, I wasn’t offended. She said the truth.”
Another hot topic was the 2nd Amendment Rights and President Obama’s call for tighter gun control. It has struck a chord with most, if not all, of the Republican candidates. Marco Rubio in particular, claimed in regards to ISIS, “…the last line standing between them and our families might be us and a gun.”
Later in the evening, Kasich attacked Trump’s plan to ban Muslims from entering the United States, saying we need support from Muslim countries to stop ISIS. The majority of candidates agreed with Kasich. Bush then jumped in and stated that Trump’s plan would ban Muslims from some of America’s allies like India and Indonesia. Trump defended his proposal saying that until the nation can figure out “what’s going on” with terrorism, it’s what we have to do.
The immigration issue surfaced, and Rubio and Cruz took the main roles in the conversation. Rubio, who has been attacked on the issue, says the immigration system needs to be reformed with an emphasis on security, especially in this “era” of terrorism. Cruz said terrorism is not new and was around when Rubio worked with Democrats on an immigration issue; Rubio said Cruz has flip-flopped on a number of immigration issues. Cruz cited 11 attacks Rubio made, many of them false. He again attacked Rubio over immigration, saying he wants to give legal status to millions of migrants.
The closing statements came next.
John Kasich gave a self promotion for his book, saying the experiences within it came with help from hard-working Americans.
Jeb Bush said credibility counts. He said he will build a safer and stronger America.
Chris Christie used his statement to blast President Barack Obama. He said Obama’s State of the Union speech was “fantasy-land.”
Ben Carson said so many Americans are discouraged and angry and to fix that we can’t use traditional politics.
Marco Rubio used his to claim that if Hillary Clinton is elected, the next four years will be worse than the last eight.
Ted Cruz directed his closing statement at veterans and their families. “I will have your back,” Cruz said.
Donald Trump said if he’s elected, the U.S. will no longer make “stupid deals.” He said the U.S. will win everything it does during his 8 years in office.
