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March 28, 2024

Blog: Trump says he won’t split off from Republican Party to run as independent

CNN's Republican Presidential Debate

Steve Marcus

Candidates from left : Ohio Gov. John Kasich, businesswoman Carly Fiorina, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, businessman Donald Trump, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul pose on stage for the Republican Presidential Debate in the Venetian theater Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015.

Updated Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015 | 8:29 p.m.

Bush vs. Trump. Rubio vs. Cruz.

A couple of key duels punctuated tonight's Republican presidential candidate debate in Las Vegas, where one-time favorite Jeb Bush tried to make up ground by attacking Donald Trump and Marco Rubio jousted with Ted Cruz over immigration, use of military force and government spying.

The four were among nine candidates who took part in the second of a two-debate event at the Venetian, as the crowded GOP field staged its last debate of the 2015.

Bush called Trump a "chaos candidate'' who would "not be the commander-in-chief we need to keep our country safe." Sparring on Trump's proposal to hunt down family members of ISIS in addition to the fighters themselves, Bush called the plan "another example of seriousness," to which Trump called Bush a nice person in a nation that needs "tough people."

"Donald, you're not going to be able to insult your way to the presidency," he said. "That's not going to happen."

Rubio and Cruz, both senators, went toe-to-toe several times on their votes, with both saying the other mischaracterized his record.

"For Marco to suggest our records are the same," Cruz said in a disagreement about immigration, "is to suggest that the arsonist and the fireman are the same because they are both at the scene of the fire."

Neurosurgeon Ben Carson, former business executive Carly Fiorina, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Ohio Gov. John Kasich also participated in the debate.

The event came after a preliminary debate featuring former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and former New York Gov. George Pataki.

Following is the Sun's live blog of the event.

7:56 p.m.: Trump sought to end speculation that he would run as a third-party candidate and cripple any Republican chance of defeating Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee, saying he was committed to not running as an independent. “I’ve gained great respect for the Republican leadership,” Trump said. “If I’m so fortunate to be chosen, I think I’ll do very well.”

Declining to play to expectations, Cruz declined to follow up remarks he made questioning Trump's fitness to be commander-in-chief. He said that every person on the stage would make a better president than Hillary Clinton. Going into tonight's debate, it had been expected that Cruz would take an opportunity to attack Trump, after the Texas senator passed him in the polls in Iowa. For now, Cruz appears to have decided that conciliation is a better path than confrontation.

7:26 p.m.: Rubio faced questions about his work with Democrats on an immigration reform bill in 2013, for which conservative critics have attacked him. "The American people don't trust us," he said. He said that he learned in 2013 that the federal government needed to enforce immigration laws on undocumented migrants before reform. He added that he would be open to giving green cards to illegal immigrants, but only after a 10-year probationary period. Saying that it "may not be popular with people in my party," he opened a distance between Republicans and himself that he may find useful in a general election, when candidates tend to tack to the center.

That defense drew an attack from Cruz, the fourth time the two men tangled during the evening. "We've seen what happened in San Bernardino, what happens when you let people in without the FBI vetting them," Cruz said. "We'll build a wall that works, and I'll get Donald Trump to pay for it."

"For Marco to suggest our records are the same," said Cruz, "is to suggest that the arsonist and the fireman are the same because they are both at the scene of the fire."

7:19 p.m.: When Trump complained that CNN was being unfair to him by repeatedly asking other candidates about his positions and opening him to attacks, Bush took another opportunity to go on the offensive. If Trump thought dealing with CNN was tough, he asked, how would he handle dealing with ISIS and other adversaries? Trump responded by sarcastically saying, "Oh, you're a tough guy, Jeb, I know. Real tough." When Bush responded, Trump said, "You started off here, Jeb (the center podium) and now you're over there. Pretty soon, you're going to be off the end of the stage."

7 p.m.: In their third sharp interchange of the night, Cruz and Rubio disagreed on whether Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad should be forced from office. Cruz said the U.S. should not to try to remove Assad in Syria without at least planning for what would happen next. "We need to learn from history," he said, pointing to the chaos that followed after the toppling of dictators like Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi. Rubio disagreed, saying he would not shed a tear were "anti-American dictators" to be forced from office. Cruz, coming back, said the search for moderate rebels in those countries was like a search for "a purple unicorn."

The Republican field has changed significantly since the height of the Bush administration's push for regime change in the Middle East. Several candidates were sharply critical of a push to remove anti-American dictators like Assad. Cruz argued that the United States had not properly planned for what would happen next. Paul pointed to the chaos following the invasion of Iraq as an example of how that project could go wrong. "We need a realistic foreign policy," he said, "not a utopian one." That did not mark a departure, however, from tough talk on a number of foreign policy issues, like Fiorina's and Paul's call to confront Russia, but did stand in contrast to how Republican leaders approached the issue a decade ago.

6:40 p.m.:After Trump defended his proposal to seek out and destroy the families of ISIS, Bush continued his attack on the businessman and TV celebrity, calling the plan "another example of a lack of seriousness." After Trump called Bush a "very nice person" but said the country needed "tough people," Bush kept up the offensive.

"Donald, you're not going to be able to insult your way to the presidency," he said. "That's not going to happen."

Paul, trailing in the polls, went on the offensive against Trump, saying his proposal was contrary to the First Amendment, the Geneva Convention and "every norm that is America." "Would you want to change the Constitution?" asked Paul rhetorically. Trump tried to brush off the charges, scoffing and saying, "So, they can kill us, but we can't kill them?"

Christie continued to use the debate to emphasize his experience as a governor and federal prosecutor, this time slamming several senators on the stage.

Rubio and Paul jousted over Senate votes on the government's authority to gather intelligence from Americans' communication. Christie mocked them, and the Senate in general, for "endless debate about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin."

He said he'd had to make decisions about "whether to use actionable intelligence," and he said New Jersey was constantly under threat after the attacks Sept. 11, 2001. He didn't detail just what kind of intelligence he was privy to as governor, but said it was way more important than what the senators argued about.

6:30 p.m.Technology issues came to the fore as Trump defended his call to shut down "areas of the Internet" used by ISIS to recruit terrorists. Kasich rejected that proposal. In addition, Fiorina said Silicon Valley companies had not been asked to participate in the war on terror sufficiently by the Obama administration.

In a second interchange of the night, Rubio criticized Cruz for voting against defense authorization bills that fund the military, and over his support of what Rubio called a containment budget that limits the size of the military. Cruz called those charges an insult, leading to Rubio saying that Cruz was offering a policy in which America "would not lead at all." Cruz attempted to respond, but was cut off by the moderator.

6:23 p.m.: Carson, asked to define his recent comments calling for surveillance of mosques, said that "if a lot of people gather to engage in radical activities, we need to monitor it." He went on to add that "our nation is in great danger." Carson extended his criticism of what he called politically correct culture, saying it weakened America's ability to fight terrorism. Carson declined to comment on the debate on metadata collection by the federal government.

Rubio called ISIS “the most sophisticated terror threat we have ever faced,” criticizing Cruz’s vote to end bulk collection of metadata. Rubio said the program — which he called “a valuable tool” — allowed the NSA to “quickly” match up records and see who terrorists had been calling. Both Cruz and Paul criticized the metadata collection program.

To keep the country safe, Fiorina said that the government needed more help from the private sector and Christie said more surveillance measures needed to be put in place. Christie said the San Bernardino shooting and the threat on Los Angeles schools was “the new normal” under Obama and would continue under Democratic frontrunner and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

6:03 p.m.: Trump defended his promises to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants, bar Muslims from entering the country and stop Syrian refugees from resettling in the U.S. “We’re not talking about isolation. We’re talking about security. We’re not talking about religion. We’re talking about security,” Trump said.

Bush took an early opportunity to attack Trump, when CNN moderator Wolf Blitzer asked him to expand on his recent comments calling Trump "unhinged." Bush said, "Donald is great at the one-liners, but he is a chaos candidate, and would be a chaos president. He would not be the commander-in-chief we need to keep our country safe." Trump shot back that Bush's attacks were motivated by a failing campaign. "Nobody cares," said Trump. "Banning all Muslims," said Bush in response, would make it harder to fight ISIS. "We need to engage with the Arab world."

Rubio and Cruz, on the other hand, offered more measure criticism of Trump’s proposal, saying it was too broad. “In this instance, there are many peaceful Muslims across the world in place like India where there are not the problems we’re seeing in countries that have territory controlled by ISIS,” Cruz said. “It’s not a war on a faith, it’s a war on a political and theocratic ideology that seeks to murder us.”

Despite widespread assumptions that Cruz would attack Trump directly, the Texas senator declined to take the first opportunity given to him. Although he criticized Trump's proposal to ban Muslim immigration to the United States, Cruz cast his policy position as a more effective one, making a play for Trump's voters on that basis, rather than pushing back against what may be his closest rival.

Paul opened the Republican presidential debate by going after Trump and Rubio. Paul said Trump was wrong in calling for censoring the Internet and Rubio should not advocate taking bulk phone data from Americans. Paul said the way to defeat terrorism was "by showing that we do not fear them."

John Kasich payed the role of unifier-in-chief. Before the Ohio governor mentioned anything about national security — which his rivals are giving top billing — he listed the nation's priorities as "creating jobs, making sure people can keep their jobs, the need for rising wages." And he said there was "too much yelling" in politics to solve those problems. "We'll never get there if we are divided" along party lines, he said. "Before all of that," he says, "we're Americans."

Main GOP Debate

Donald Trump speaks during the CNN Republican presidential debate at the Venetian Hotel & Casino on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015, in Las Vegas. Launch slideshow »

Fiorina said the country's problems and wounds could be healed by a tested leader such as herself, citing her experiences beating breast cancer, burying a child and climbing the corporate ranks to eventually become CEO of Hewlett-Packard. Fiorina said she's been called "every B-word in the book" and refused to take no for an answer.

5:50 p.m."The main event in today's GOP debate in Las Vegas is underway, with the nine candidates giving opening statements.

Rubio drew on his ties to Las Vegas, saying that when he lived here as a child, he would sit on his porch while his grandfather smoked "one of his three daily cigars" and told Rubio that America was the greatest country in the world. Obama, said Rubio, did not believe that. Carson opened with a moment of silence for the victims of San Bernardino. Bush cast himself as a serious leader for a serious moment. "America is under attack, our economy is under water and the Democratic candidate is under investigation," he said. Fiorina cast herself as a successful corporate leader who rose from secretary to the boardroom, "while being called every b-word in the book."

5:39 p.m.: Nevada Sen. Dean Heller, who has endorsed Bush, said the former Florida governor understood issues critical to Westerners, praising his call to move the headquarters of the Department of the Interior to a city like Reno. Although Bush has positioned himself in opposition to the gaming industry in Florida, Heller said Bush’s position on the issue as governor did not indicate an opposition to Nevada’s economic lifeblood.

On Monday, Heller said he would support the eventual Republican nominee, unless that person were Trump, whom Heller said was hurting the party among Latino voters.

After the first round of the debate, Rep. Joe Heck, who is running for the Senate seat of retiring Sen. Harry Reid, said he was happy the conversation was centering on national security. He mostly split the difference on issues in which Republicans disagree, stopping short of endorsing Trump's proposal to bar Muslim immigration, but saying that he would prefer a strategic pause in admitting refugees. Heck also called for American ground forces in Iraq and Syria to combat ISIS, but said that they ought to be part of an Arab-majority coalition.

5:07 p.m.Graham's demeanor during the debate drew widespread comment. The Washington Post called his eye rolls "epic," while the Telegraph said he was getting "a serious eye-rolling workout." Funny enough? That was the same verdict on Graham's performance in the debate in September.

Among the candidates, only Graham appeared to focus on contenders who would be taking the main stage after the end of the first debate. He criticized both Cruz and Trump by name. "Mr. Trump, you don't need to talk about everything," said Graham. The other undercard candidates mostly confined their disagreements with each other.

In one of the debate's few moments of levity, Graham quoted from "The Princess Bride," which Sen. Ted Cruz has called one of his favorite movies, to criticize the senator's call for Assad to remain in power. "Ted, getting in bed with Iran and Russia is inconceivable. Princess Buttercup would not like this," he said, referring to one of the film's lead characters.

4:53 p.m.Discussing whether to open combat roles in the military to women, Pataki and Santorum diverged. Where Pataki praised the new policy, saying that it showed that the country has “made enormous progress,” Santorum said that troops would be killed as a result of it.

Pataki sharply disagreed with Santorum. "This is America," he said, drawing scattered applause.

Graham's take: “As to women, if you want to kill terrorists, I’m your guy.”

Both Huckabee and Pataki rejected measures aimed at helping bring hostages home, including paying ransoms to terrorist organizations and prisoner swaps.

4:37 p.m.Expressing his distrust of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Huckabee said the U.S. needed to take an offensive approach, using energy, to change the dynamics of the Middle East. Pataki agreed with that distrust, saying, “Russia is not our friend.”

Huckabee said countries needed to be pressed into joining the fight against ISIS, saying he would even sanction U.S. allies. He also criticized the Iran nuclear deal, saying there was more pressure on Israel not to build in the West Bank than there was on Iran to not build a nuclear bomb.

On other issues, the candidates were in greater agreement. Graham argued that the United States should remove Syrian dictator Assad from power, a position that drew agreement from the other candidates. The men also said that they disagreed with the nuclear deal with Iran, as well as raising concerns about Putin.

GOP Las Vegas Debate Undercard

George Pataki, left, makes a point as Mike Huckabee looks on during the CNN Republican presidential debate at the Venetian Hotel & Casino on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015, in Las Vegas. Launch slideshow »

4:21 p.m.Santorum and Graham sparred throughout the debate on how to defeat ISIS. “The enemy is a theocracy and war is their doctrine,” said Santorum, who said he opposed the use of American ground troops.

“We have to offer a hopeful life instead of a glorious death,” Graham said. “Most people don’t want to live in the 11th century.” The South Carolina senator has argued for 20,000 American military forces to be deployed in Iraq and Syria.

Pataki dodged a question about how long U.S. troops would need to be overseas. “We don’t have to occupy. We do not have to nation build,” Pataki said. “We have to destroy ISIS.”

4:06 p.m.:The candidates differed on how to battle ISIS. Graham called for sending ground troops into the Middle East, a position that Santorum disagreed with, although he said that he wanted to “take back the land in Iraq” using the military forces of Sunni Muslim in Iraq and Kurds. He added that he feared playing into ISIS’s apocalyptic theology by committing the American military.

“You’re not going to win that way, Rick,” Graham said. “If you don’t understand that, you’re not ready to be commander-in-chief.”

Graham added: "The key to fighting this war is to fight it in their backyard, not ours."

Pataki said he would require Silicon Valley companies to provide an entryway into their systems for law enforcement to use when investigating terrorists. He criticized the Obama administration for being “too politically correct” in not examining social media.

Also pushing for more military intervention in the Middle East, Huckabee said the only way to defeat ISIS was to “kill some terrorists and kill everyone one of them we can” to discourage people from joining.

Huckabee declined to put a number on how many troops should be sent overseas. He also declined to say whether the U.S. could defeat ISIS in 10 days, but he said he wanted ISIS to think that.

Huckabee, talking about young people, says they expect that things to be given to them, like health care and medical marijuana. “Get off your butt and go serve your country,” Huckabee said.

3:58 p.m.:Huckabee held firm on his concerns about the National Security Agency's data collection program, saying the government instead should focus on social media profiles. He also said sending people to mosques to check for “anything nefarious” was necessary and would not violate the First Amendment.

"If Islam is as wonderful and peaceful as they say, shouldn't they be begging us to listen?" Huckabee said.

Staking out a different position, Graham thanked thousands of Muslims serving in the U.S. armed forces and said Islam as a whole was not the enemy.

He apologized to allied Muslim leaders in Jordan, Egypt and elsewhere for GOP front-runner Donald Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. "I am sorry. He does not represent us," Graham says.

Pataki struck out at Trump and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, saying, "Neither is fit to be president of the United States."

3:42 p.m.: The first of the two debates opened with a focus on foreign policy issues.

Santorum said that the threat of Islamic terrorism constituted a third world war, and blamed President Obama for allowing the conditions that allow it to thrive. “His policies in the Middle East created ISIS,” said Santorum.

Graham played up his foreign policy experience. In his opening remarks, Graham spoke about a recent trip to Iraq — the 36th he has taken to that country or Afghanistan — in which an American soldier told him, “Sir, I will do my best to stay safe, but I came here to win.”

Pataki, citing the threat on Los Angeles public schools, talked about the need for bolstering national security and combating ISIS abroad in his opening remarks. He said Republicans needed to nominate a leader who will unify them both as a party and a nation.

Huckabee, in his opening remarks, criticized the government’s security policies and said that the American people had lost confidence in their government following the recent attacks in San Bernardino. “They’re just plain scared. They’re scared when they think they’ll go to a Christmas party and get shot at,” Huckabee said.

3:14 p.m.: On a tour through the spin room earlier this afternoon, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson said that there was no particular candidate he hoped to talk to or contrast himself against at the debate tonight. “I’m hopeful that people will begin listening to what I have to say,” Carson said.

3 p.m.The GOP presidential candidates are using their time ahead of the debate in Las Vegas to meet with would-be donors.

Two of the top draws? Billionaire casino owners Steve Wynn and Sheldon Adelson. Wynn and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz were scheduled to talk Tuesday, and Adelson was planning to meet with Donald Trump for the first time since he became a presidential candidate. Both Wynn and Adelson are capable of writing seven-figure ?— or more —? checks to super PACs set up to boost the candidates. Adelson is hosting the event at his Venetian casino and resort on the Strip.

A Democratic debate earlier this year was held at Wynn's Las Vegas property. When the main debate begins later Tuesday, donors will fill many of the seats in the theater because candidates often dole out their precious few tickets to those who have written big checks.

Some, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, also have raffled off seats at the debate as a way to entice and reward smaller donors.

2:49 p.m.

As bomb-sniffing dogs inspected cars entering the Venetian parking garage ahead of today’s Republican debates, all was quiet in the hallways leading to the theater where the candidates will spar.

Outside, it was a different story.

Newscasters, police officers, protesters, costumed characters and tourists converged near Roman-inspired statues and fountains along Las Vegas Boulevard.

“It looks like a zoo,” said Tammy Sciarillo, a tourist visiting from Dallas. “It doesn’t even look like a presidential debate. It’s actually a little disappointing.”

CNN is hosting two debates at the Venetian, with the focus expected to be on terrorism and foreign policy.

Businessman Donald Trump continues to lead in the polls, while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is gaining in critical early voting states including Iowa.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush make up the rest of the top tier of candidates. Contenders such as Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and businesswoman Carly Fiorina are looking to shine in what could be one of their last big chances to appeal to voters before primary ballots are cast.

Outside the Venetian today, protesters gathered on the sidewalk.

“No justice! No peace!” they yelled.

“Black lives matter!”

“Up with love, down with hate, then we’ll have a real debate!”

The protesters took swipes at the GOP candidates, whose likenesses appeared on giant puppets towering over the group. They called for a “no hate debate” — a prominent social media hashtag today — that would address issues such as immigrant rights, social justice, gun violence prevention and fair wages.

“If I had my way, Bernie Sanders would be elected, and the Republicans would not be in control of the House and Senate,” Las Vegas resident Vern Quever said.

Nearby, a trio of women representing the Make It Work campaign advocated for “pocketbook issues” — affordable child care, family leave and equal pay for women.

“The goal is to make sure the candidates are actually talking about the issues,” said Tracy Sturdivant, co-founder of Make It Work.

Not everyone was there to rally, though.

A steady stream of tourists used their smart phones to document what had become part of their Vegas vacation.

A man dressed as Elvis, complete with a white sequin suit, clutched a Pabst Blue Ribbon beer on the edge of the protest. He listened for a few moments, then sped off in his motorized wheelchair.

“All right, shut up,” he said as he scooted away.

The undercard debate, scheduled to be held before tonight’s main event, will feature four challengers who lag in the polls: former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and former New York Gov. George Pataki.

Huckabee, who won the Iowa caucuses in 2008, has struggled to motivate the conservative Christian voters he relied on during his previous run for president, as has Santorum. Graham made headlines recently after throwing away his prepared remarks to attack Trump at a meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition. “ISIL loves Donald Trump,” said Graham, who argued that the frontrunners' attacks on Muslims would allow the terrorist group to recruit members more easily. Pataki, a moderate, has faced troubles similar to those of Jeb Bush in connecting with voters more inclined to back conservative candidates in the primary.

2:40 p.m.

Hillary Clinton is offering a pre-debate rebuttal to the kinds of homeland security proposals likely to be the focus at the GOP match-up.

The Democratic presidential front-runner didn't single out her rivals by name in her address at the University of Minnesota. But she left little question that she was taking aim at their proposals.

"Promising to carpet bomb until the desert glows doesn't make you sound strong, it makes you sound like you are in over your head," she said, referencing a promise Texas Sen. Ted Cruz made last week in Iowa.

She says many of the Republican candidates share the same kind of "divisive rhetoric" used by businessman Donald Trump, saying it undermines law enforcement's ability to prevent attacks at home and efforts to build global coalitions to combat the Islamic State. Trump has proposed banning Muslims from entering the country — temporarily and with exceptions, he has said.

"Not only do these comments cut against everything we stand for as Americans, they are also dangerous," Clinton says. "We need every community invested in this fight, not alienated and sitting on the sidelines."

The Associated Press contributed to this live report.

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