The 6 buzziest moments from the Fox News Republican debates
The top 10 Republican presidential candidates take the stage in Cleveland for the first primetime presidential debate. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The first Republican debates of the 2016 presidential cycle, hosted by Fox News Thursday, were filled with plenty of fireworks. In case you missed any of them, here are some of the buzziest moments from the GOP’s big night.
? Donald Trump refuses to pledge his allegiance to the Republican Party, infuriating Rand Paul
The first question of Thursday’s primetime debate was presented to all 10 candidates onstage but aimed at Trump.
“Is there anyone onstage, and can I see hands, who is unwilling tonight to pledge your support to the eventual nominee of the Republican party and pledge to not run an independent campaign?” co-moderator Brett Baier asked.
The real estate mogul raised his hand, to boos from the crowd inside Quicken Loans Arena, saying he could not rule out a third-party bid.
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“If I do win, and I’m leading by quite a bit, that’s what I want to do,” Trump said. “I can totally make that pledge. If I’m the nominee, I will pledge I will not run as an independent. But — and I am discussing it with everybody, but I’m, you know, talking about a lot of leverage. We want to win, and we will win. But I want to win as the Republican. I want to run as the Republican nominee.”
“This is what’s wrong!” Paul yelled from across the stage. “He’s already hedging his bet on the Clintons, OK? So if he doesn’t run as a Republican, maybe he supports Clinton, or maybe he runs as an independent. But I’d say that he’s already hedging his bets, because he’s used to buying politicians.”
? Paul spars with Christie over government surveillance
The New Jersey governor said his experience as a U.S. attorney under President George W. Bush on Sept. 11, 2001, made him realize bulk domestic surveillance is necessary to stop future terror attacks.
“This is not theoretical to me,” Christie said. “I went to the funerals. We lost friends of ours in the Trade Center that day. My own wife was two blocks from the Trade Center that day, at her office, having gone through it that morning.”
Paul protested.
“I want to collect more records from terrorists but less records from innocent Americans,” the Kentucky senator said. “The Fourth Amendment was what we fought the Revolution over!”
Christie was unmoved: “‘I want to collect more records from terrorists but less records from other people.’ How are you supposed to know?”
“Use the Fourth Amendment!” Paul replied. “Get a warrant!”
“Listen, senator, you know, when you’re sitting in a subcommittee, just blowing hot air about this, you can say things like that,” Christie said.
“I don’t trust President Obama with our records,” Paul said. “I know you gave him a big hug, and if you want to give him a big hug again, go right ahead.”
Christie got in the last word: “Senator Paul, you know, the hugs that I remember are the hugs that I gave to the families who lost their people on September 11th.”
? Trump digs in on illegal immigration, offering to build a wall with a door
“If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t even be talking about illegal immigration,” he said. “This was not a subject that was on anybody’s mind until I brought it up.”
Since his controversial comments about immigration at the launch of his campaign, Trump said there have been “many killings, murders, crime, drugs pouring across the border, our money going out and the drugs coming in. And I said we need to build a wall, and it has to be built quickly.
“I don’t mind having a big, beautiful door in that wall so that people can come into this country legally,” he added. “But we need, Jeb, to build a wall. We need to keep illegals out.”
Kasich fields a question during Thursday’s debate. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)
? Kasich gets applause for saying he’d love his daughters if they were gay
“Ohio Gov. John Kasich hinted at the GOP’s shifting stance on same-sex marriage, saying he would love his daughters unconditionally if they were gay despite his personal beliefs.
“"I’m an old-fashioned person here, and I happen to believe in traditional marriage,” Kasich said. “But I’ve also said the [Supreme Court] has ruled, and I said we’ll accept it. And guess what? I just went to a wedding of a friend of mine who happens to be gay. Because somebody doesn’t think the way I do, doesn’t mean that I can’t care about them or can’t love them. So if one of my daughters happened to be that, of course I would love them and I would accept them. Because you know what? That’s what we’re taught when we have strong faith.”
His frank, passionate response was rewarded with one of the evening’s loudest rounds of applause.
? Trump dismisses question about his role in the ‘war on women’
“You’ve called women you don’t like ‘fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals,’” co-moderator Megyn Kelly said.
“Only Rosie O’Donnell,“ Trump interjected, drawing applause. “Thank you.”
“For the record, it was well beyond Rosie O’Donnell,” Kelly continued. “You once told a contestant on ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees. Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president?”
This was Trump’s response:
I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct. I’ve been challenged by so many people, and I don’t frankly have time for total political correctness. And to be honest with you, this country doesn’t have time, either. This country is in big trouble. We don’t win anymore. We lose to China. We lose to Mexico, both in trade and at the border. We lose to everybody.
And frankly, what I say, and oftentimes it’s fun, it’s kidding. We have a good time. What I say is what I say. And honestly, Megyn, if you don’t like it, I’m sorry. I’ve been very nice to you, although I could probably maybe not be, based on the way you have treated me. But I wouldn’t do that.
? Fiorina’s big (early) night
Earlier this week, Carly Fiorina — one of seven Republican presidential hopefuls relegated to Fox News’ early debate on Thursday — said any exposure at this point in the race for the GOP nomination is important.
“A vast majority of Republican voters, never mind Americans, still don’t know who I am,” Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive, said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Wednesday.
That may soon change. Fiorina stood out at the first nationally televised presidential forum of the 2016 election cycle in Cleveland, leaving many political observers to declare her the winner of the debate among the field’s second-tier of candidates.
“I think Carly Fiorina clearly won this debate,” Fox News’ Brit Hume concluded after the 5 p.m. event.
“Carly Fiorina, I think, won the early debate pretty decisively,” Bill O’Reilly said.
“Carly Fiorina ran away with it,” conservative radio host Laura Ingraham said.
How did Fiorina do it? She did it, in part, by turning around a question about Trump.
“Here’s the thing that I would ask Donald Trump in all seriousness. He is the party’s frontrunner right now, and good for him,” Fiorina said. “I think he’s tapped into an anger that people feel. They’re sick of politics as usual. You know, whatever your issue, your cause, the festering problem you hoped would be resolved, the political class has failed you. That’s just a fact, and that’s what Donald Trump taps into.
“I would also just say this,” she continued. “Since he has changed his mind on amnesty, on health care and on abortion, I would just ask, what are the principles by which he will govern?”