The verdict was swift and near universal on Saturday night: the GOP-sponsored presidential debate was such a 'train wreck' that even some Republicans were burying their heads in their hands. Taking the most delight in the six-way shouting fest, perhaps, was leading Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, whose name came up just eight times as the Republican candidates cannibalized each other.'Demonizing immigrants, dangerous foreign policy proposals, and nonstop bickering.
The Saturday night extravaganza saw Donald Trump and Jeb Bush get into multiple scuffles, including one jaw-dropping episode when the New York billionaire attacked former Republican president George W. Bush, Jeb's brother, for allowing 9/11 to happen on his watch. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio again traded slights over immigration. This time, however, Cruz claimed the Florida senator went on Univision in Spanish and said he would not rescind President Obama's illegal executive amnesty on his first day in office.''I don't know how he knows what I said on Univision because he doesn't speak Spanish,' said Rubio, who, like Cruz, is of Cuban descent. Cruz barked back at him in Spanish to prove that he does indeed speak his ancestors' native language.
Republicans were astounded by the viciousness. Democrats could barely contain their delight. Correct the Record, a super PAC backing Hillary Clinton, sent reporters a video of the evening's highlights - or lowlights, depending on the perspective - that included a graphic of two boxing gloves and the text 'GOP Debate: It's a brawl!'
The Democratic National Committee gleefully passed around tweets from Republicans mocking their own party's candidates.'Seriously, this is insane. The GOP is destroying itself tonight, and they have no one to blame but themselves,' Republican pollster Frank Luntz tweeted. Rich Lowry, the editor of the conservative National Review, said, 'Train wreck of a debate, no?' The former national spokeswoman for Rand Paul's presidential campaign, Eleanor May, said, 'Real Housewives of the #GOPDebate. So many cat fights, no real solutions.'
Robert Moran, a partner at Brunswick Group, an advisory firm with a specialty in corporate relations said: 'I have been a Republican all of my adult life. This was a train wreck. There are only 3 candidates that could lead.'Another self-proclaimed Republican on Twitter named Ryan said, 'I'm 40 minutes into this train wreck, I mean #GOPDebate-- What the f***? Trump needs tranquilized and put in a straight jacket... Lunatic.'The Atlantic's David Frum chastised attendees of the fight night as he said, 'And the audience is joining in the bloodbath. Does this look to America like a party ready to govern anything?'DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said in a statement afterward, 'We didn’t hear much truth or substance at this debate, but we did hear one message loud and clear, we need to elect a Democrat to the White House if we want a serious debate and a vision for how to move America forward.'
Jamie Harrison, the head of the South Carolina Democratic Party, told DailyMail.com from the spin room that his takeaways were 'underwear...mooning...cursing.''This is a debate for the most powerful position in the world. This was beneath the office of the presidency,' he said. Republicans were generally unimpressed with their candidates' performances, though the national party and several campaigns that spoke to DailyMail.com said they didn't think the night would end up benefiting Clinton because her email scandal will be a bigger black mark in November if she's the Democratic Party's nominee.'I think Hillary Clinton's probably going to be indicted, is my guess,' said Corey Lewandowski, the campaign manager for Trump. 'So anything she can do to deflect from her email scandal and other scandals which are coming down is probably good for her.'He said, 'I think she should be more worried about Bernie Sanders who beat her handily in NewHampshire, and probably beat her in Iowa, too.'Meanwhile, Twitter user 'a GuyFromTX' said he thought the evening's events would benefit the Republican Party in the fall if it faces Clinton.'Sure, some say the #GOPDebate was a train wreck; I look at is as great practice to lay out a debate a** whipping on #HillaryClinton,'
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