Manchester, New Hampshire – Seven Republican presidential candidates debated in New Hampshire on Saturday evening in their first and only debate before the state’s first-in-the-nation primary on Tuesday.
ABC News and the Independent Journal Review hosted the event where seven candidates, including the three former and current state governors, took the debate stage in the race for the Republican nomination.
Businessman Donald Trump, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and Ohio Governor John Kasich took the stage. Carly Fiorina was not included in this opportunity despite all the attempts made by the candidate to participate.
Questions during the night included asking Trump’s opinion about Cruz’s comments that he doesn’t have the temperament to be commander-in-chief and might use a nuclear weapon against Denmark. Which the businessman said he had the best temperament as he had built a massive corporation and employed thousands of people.
Carson was asked to comment about the opportunity his campaign circulated a news story saying the neurosurgeon was taking a break from the campaign.
“I’m not going to use this opportunity to savage the reputation of Sen. Cruz. I will say I’m very disappointed members of his team thought so little of me that they thought that after having hundreds if not thousands of volunteers and college students who sacrificed their time and were dedicated to the cause, one even died, to think that I would just walk away 10 minutes before the caucus and say ‘forget about you guys.’ I mean who would do something like that?” Carson responded.
But by far the most commented moments of the night turned around Florida Senator Marco Rubio. During Saturday’s debate, Rubio repeatedly argued that Obama was not an incompetent leader, on the contrary, Rubio claimed he believes Obama was calculating in his attempt to change the country.
“Let’s dispel once and for all with this fiction that Barack Obama doesn’t know what he’s doing. He knows exactly what he’s doing,” Rubio said.
New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie called it the “memorized, 25-second speech,” and argued that Rubio did not have the experience needed to serve as president.
Even though all the criticism, Rubio is stronger than ever. He won a solid third-place result in Iowa receiving 23.1% of the vote. Now, Florida Senators says the New Hampshire debate made his fundraising reached new heights.
Source: CBS News