Latest Debate A “Disaster” For GOP?

Trump Attacked GOP debate immigration reform

In a two-hour showdown in Detroit, the hopefuls for the GOP nomination once again locked horns on the debate stage, and after another highly contentious, insult-riddled night the general consensus seemed to point to a clear winner — Hillary Clinton.

In the Washington Free Beacon, Matthew Continetti summed up the bizarre Fox News-sponsored spectacle — which included frontrunner Donald Trump defending the size of his hands (and other parts of his anatomy) — like this: “The spectacle made me ill. On screen I watched decades of work by conservative institutions, activists, and elected officials being lit aflame not only by the New York demagogue but by his enablers who waited until the last possible moment to try and stop him.”

While Trump’s remaining rivals — Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich — relentlessly attack the billionaire on everything from immigration to Trump University, it’s deemed unlikely to change the general dynamics of the GOP race.

“The spectacle made me ill.” — Matthew Continetti

“The 11th debate of the Republican campaign tested the patience and the limits of viewers and voters,” wrote Dan Balz in The Washington Post. “Insults and interruptions overwhelmed sober discussion. The raucous audience, now a staple of the GOP debates, only added to the sense of game-show politics.”

While the mocking and shouting matches continued on stage, a tweet by Hillary Clinton’s campaign — showing a photo of the Democratic frontrunner with her hand on her chin, looking bored — became the most retweeted moment of the Thursday GOP debate.

Under attack throughout the night by his rivals and the Fox News moderators over immigration, Trump hinted at some flexibility over his controversial views, such as the promise to build a massive southern border wall and make Mexico pay for it.

“I will say, though, in terms of immigration — and almost anything else — there always has to be some, you know, tug and pull and deal,” Trump said. “Now, sometimes you ask for more than you want and you negotiate down to the point.”

But in perhaps the greatest irony of the insult-riddled night, each of the candidates all reluctantly agreed to support the GOP nominee, no matter who it is. The next big test for Trump comes March 15, when voters go to the polls in Florida and Ohio, which are considered must-wins for Rubio and Kasich.

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