Thread: Trump Bolsters Closing Argument With Most Solid Debate Yet

Trump Bolsters Closing Argument With Most Solid Debate Yet

Trump has not just survived six debates in a series that began way back in August, but started to shine.

January 15, 2016 — 2:13 AM EST

The candidate who faced doubts for months over the true strength of his commanding poll numbers is proving doubters wrong on another count: With about two weeks until the presidential nominating process starts in Iowa, Donald Trump just delivered his most complete performance of the Republican primary season.

Instead of melting under the bright lights of the debate stage, as many Republicans predicted when the former reality TV show host first rose to the top of the polls, Trump has not just survived six debates in a series that began way back in August, but started to shine. On Thursday, he added substance to his trademark charisma to defend his own attacks on China, embrace criticism that he's appealing to voters' anger, and fend off incoming fire from rivals across the debate stage.

Trump's highlight of the night—and perhaps of the debate season—was an impassioned defense of New York City, his hometown. The moment came in response to an attack from U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, Trump's closest rival in the polls, that the real estate developer isn't a conservative because he embodies "New York values."

"When the World Trade Centers came down, I saw something that no place on Earth could have handled more beautifully, more humanely, than New York," Trump said. "We rebuilt downtown Manhattan, and everybody in the world watched. And everybody in the world loved New York and loved New Yorkers. I have to tell you, that was a very insulting statement that Ted made."

Trump's answer earned applause from the debate audience at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center in South Carolina, and also on social media, where it ranked as the second most tweeted moment of the night.

Peter Wehner, a veteran of the past three Republican administrations and author of a recent op-ed column titled "Why I Will Never Vote for Donald Trump," said the candidate was "emotional and moving."

"This was Trump's best moment, and this is his best debate," Wehner said in an e-mail exchange with Bloomberg. "People will remember the Trump answer, with even Cruz applauding his answer."

Ron Kaufman, the Republican national committeeman from Massachusetts, said Trump was attempting to solidify his support among the conservative base of the party.

"That was a skillful way to bludgeon Cruz; it was very well done," Kaufman, a longtime Bush family ally, said in an interview. "He was as calm as I've seen him."

Trump seemed more prepared than he had in other debates and "blew it out of the park" with his answer on New York, said Reed Galen, a Republican strategist who was deputy campaign manager for John McCain's presidential bid.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I think I'd give him most improved," Galen said in an interview. "Hoping that he was going to implode? We've been waiting six months for that. And I wouldn't expect that he'll be less prepared next time."

If the audience is any guide, however, Trump appears to have plenty of work to do before uniting his party. He was booed several times during the debate, including when he called former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, the son and brother of two former Republican presidents and a party establishment favorite, as "weak" and compared him to President Barack Obama.

Trump was also booed during an exchange in which he questioned whether Cruz was eligible to run because the Texas senator was born in Canada. (Cruz meets the constitutional requirement of being a "natural born citizen" thanks to his mother's U.S. citizenship.) But the former host of The Apprentice turned the jeers into laughter when he smiled and suggested the crowd was actually booing the thought of Cruz winning the nomination.

"I don't see him dropping any, and he might have improved himself, something that I don't think any of us thought was possible," Galen said.

Trump came under fire from both U.S. Senator Marco Rubio and Bush for saying the country should increase tariffs on China if the country devalues its currency. Rubio and Bush said such a move would ultimately cost American consumers.

Faced with another challenge from Bush and Rubio, Trump refused to back away from his his call to temporarily ban Muslims from immigrating to the U.S. He also called corporate inversions "one of the biggest problems we have," and said more guns may have prevented the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California.

“If we had guns in California on the other side, where the bullets went in a different direction, you wouldn’t have 14 or 15 people dead right now,” Trump said.

Asked about South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley's Republican response to Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday, when she urged her party to resist the "siren call of the angriest voices," Trump called potential vice presidential pick a friend.

"I'm very angry because our country is being run horribly, and I will gladly accept the mantle of anger," Trump said. "We have no borders. Our vets are being treated horribly. Illegal immigration is beyond belief. Our country is being run by incompetent people. And yes, I am angry."

Trump also promised to distance himself from his company, handing it over to his children, if he was elected president.

"If I become president, I couldn't care less about my company—it's peanuts," Trump said. "I'm going to do it for America."

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/ar...erformance-yet

Jan. 14 2016 11:26 PM
Donald Trump Won Thursday’s GOP Debate. Really.
By Josh Voorhees

Since unexpectedly jumping into the Republican race this past summer, Donald Trump has shaped the political conversation, dominated the national polls, and bended long-held electoral laws to his will. But on Thursday night in South Carolina, the blustery billionaire did something he had still yet to do during the past seven months: He lived up to his campaign trail performance on the debate stage.
Josh Voorhees Josh Voorhees

Josh Voorhees is a Slate senior writer. He lives in Iowa City.

During the first five GOP get-togethers, Trump repeatedly found himself absorbing attacks from everyone from Fox News’ Megyn Kelly to Carly Fiorina. And when Trump wasn’t fending off parries from his rivals or the moderators at past debates, he often went MIA for long stretches—particularly when the conversation veered into policy specifics—ceding the prime-time spotlight to his attention-starved rivals. When he did turn up, it was generally to take cheap shots at the already beaten down Jeb Bush. In North Charleston, though, Trump was the type of “high energy” candidate that he sees when he looks in his high-end, ornamental mirror.

The night finally produced the expected clash between Trump and fellow firebrand Ted Cruz—the two polling leaders in the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses and national surveys—and, while it was close, Trump seemed to get the better of their exchanges. Pressed by the Fox Business moderators, Cruz offered a lengthy explanation for why Trump’s birther-themed claims that Cruz might not be eligible to be president because he was born in Canada were bunk. “Now since September, the Constitution hasn't changed, but the poll numbers have,” Cruz said, reminding viewers that Trump had previously dismissed the question out of hand earlier in the campaign. It was a strong answer, but it set Trump up to play the role of counter-puncher.

“Here's the problem,” Trump responded. “We're running, we're running. He does great. I win. I choose him as my vice-presidential candidate and the Democrats sue, because we can't take him along for the ride. I don't like that. OK?” Cruz’s answer won the room, but Trump probably won in living rooms in Iowa and New Hampshire. Cruz, after all, was forced to watch as precious prime-time minutes of debate time introduced untold number of voters to the idea that politicos and pundits (and a few law professors) are debating his basic eligibility.

Cruz had a slew of great moments, too. He ignored the first question about jobs and the economy to throw some red meat to the crowd by hitting Obama over the images of the U.S. sailors that were captured (and released) by Iran. He also turned a recent New York Times report about his unreported Goldman Sachs loan into a badge of honor. “Thank you for passing on that hit piece on the front page of the New York Times,” he said to cheers.

But Cruz simply lived up to expectations; Trump exceeded them. When moderators brought up South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s implicit (and later confirmed) criticism of his rhetoric during her State of the Union rebuttal, he offered one of those rare sound bites that sums up his entire campaign: “I will gladly accept the mantel of anger.” Later, he did what needed to do on guns—ignoring his past positions in favor of some gun control to present himself as Second Amendment absolutist. He also stood firm when asked if he had rethought his (disgusting and short-sighted) plan to indefinitely ban Muslims from entering the country. “No,” he said flat out to applause and laughter, before elaborating with another key campaign theme: “We need to stop with this political correctness.”

If Round 1 of his fight with Cruz was decided on points, Round 2 was closer to a knockout. In the second hour of the debate when Cruz was asked about his criticism that Trump had “New York values,” the Texas senator rehashed the type of criticism of Trump that focus groups have suggested simply don’t work. Trump, meanwhile, responded by name-dropping William F. Buckley, and then followed up with something conservatives love even more the founder of the National Review: remembering American patriotism on 9/11. “When the World Trade Center came down, I saw something that no place on Earth could have handled more beautifully, more humanely than New York,” he said. The answer was so great that Cruz was forced to grin and sheepishly applaud along with the crowd. Trump then went for the big finish: “We rebuilt downtown Manhattan, and everybody in the world watched, and everybody in the world loved New York and loved new Yorkers, and I have to tell you, that was a very insulting statement that Ted made.”

Trump and Cruz weren’t the only strong ones onstage. Marco Rubio had his moments, as he always does, and Chris Christie was decent as well. (Heck, even Jeb showed signs of life.) But that will only give the remaining establishment candidates more hope, which could delay the eventual consolidation of their supporters behind a single candidate. The longer they wait, the better Trump’s chances are to post a campaign-altering win in New Hampshire, where he already leads, by the way. All in all, it was a very good evening for Trump. This late in the game, a single debate is unlikely to drastically change the existing dynamics. That, of course, will be just fine with Trump.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slate..._ted_cruz.html