What To Take Away From The First GOP Debate Of 2016

By Alexa Gagosz on January 15, 2016

The American people got what they expected in the first GOP Debate of the year: clashing ideas, elbowing to fellow candidates, and a centralized conflict and attacks between Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz.

For the rest of them, the rest of us are not sure that they quite made the cut. With the strongest candidates voicing the most talking time, it’s hard to say what’s next for those who stayed quiet, even up on the main stage of the debate.

Republican candidates on the main stage by Flickr user DonkeyHotey

Paul gained, even if not on main stage.

Screenshot of @Gov tweet of accounts and their follower ranks

However, someone who was not present on the main stage, yet refused to stay at a hush tone was Rand Paul. As Paul had boycotted the primary debate on Fox Business on Thursday night after being relegated from the main stage, he took to social media and his supporters spoke out.

Both Paul and Carly Fiorina were relegated to the undercard round after Fox Business Network announced that only seven candidates had qualified for the main stage. The candidates that were able to participate on the main stage for the GOP Debate was Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, and even John Kasich. Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee were also dismissed from the main stage. Rand refused to participate on the undercard stage.

But when the new poll results in Iowa came out from the Des Moines Registrar after the deadline, Paul was shown in fifth place. Since the numbers showed, the Kentucky Senator has been on an interview spree as he tries to reclaim his spot on the debate stage.

Paul told CNN in an interview that “it is a mistake to let the media or the party pre-decide who has a chance and who doesn’t have a chance.”

Senator Paul being interviewed by CBS by Twitter user @RandPaul

As he ditched the undercard stage, he made media appearances that are said to have helped his campaign and may have added the number of voters that the undercard debate could not have done, according to CNN.

During the debate, a group of supporters interrupted the main stage, chanting “We want Rand!” The candidate was hosting his very own “Rand Rally” on Twitter with the hashtag #RandRally and was credited second in follower growth.

Cruz shuts down Trump 

For the people on the main stage of the debate, it seemed to be a throw down between Cruz and Trump, a long anticipated battle between the two on Constitutional law. Cruz was forceful in defending himself after Trump’s accusations, saying that Cruz was not eligible to run for President since he was born in Canada.

Cruz responded by saying that he was eligible because his mother was natural-born. If the case was that both parents had to be natural born to the United States, like many extreme theorists believe, then Donald Trump would be ineligible since Trump’s mother was born in Scotland.

“On the issue of citizenship, Donald, I’m not going to use your mother’s birth against you,” mocked Cruz to Trump during the debate.

Cruz joked at Trump, who had said that he had lawyers looking at Cruz’s eligibility every which way back in September and there was absolutely no problem to it. It is only now, as the Texas senator has risen in the polls that Trump decided to play the “birther” card against Cruz.

“Now since September, the Constitution hasn’t changed. But the poll numbers have,” Cruz directed toward Trump.

As Trump swore that “before I didn’t care,” about Cruz’s eligibility, Trump responded to Senator Cruz in the debate that just because he won’t personally sue him, the Democrats will.

“There’s a big question mark over your head, and you can’t do that to the party,” said Trump during the debate.

As many before would joke about the two’s “bromance” in a sense that Cruz was Trump’s sidekick, the clash was an inevitable forthcoming since the two are battling for the top spot in the Iowa caucuses.

Chris Christie noted to be Obama supporter 

Alongside Trump and Cruz on the main stage was Marco Rubio and Chris Christie, fighting to emerge as an alternative to Cruz and Trump. As the two attempted to establish some time of lane in the party, Rubio had accused Christie of being an Obama supporter with issues such as Planned Parenthood, gun control, and Common Core.

“Gov. Christie has endorsed many of the ideas that Barack Obama supports,” said Rubio during the debate.

The governor pushed Rubio’s remark aside by stating his past decisions in New Jersey and brought up a time where Rubio said that Christie was a “conservative reformer that New Jersey needed.”

“That was before he was running against me,” laughed Christie during the debate.

“New York Values”

Donald Trump vs. Ted Cruz by Twitter user @Politico

In one of the most memorable and intense smackdowns of the night, Cruz made the assumption that businessman Donald Trump “embodies New York values.” Cruz was asked to explain the meaning of the remark and explained that its residents can revolve around “money and media.”

“Not a lot of conservatives come out of Manhattan,” Cruz shrugged. “I’m just saying.”

Trump fought back in his response, bringing up the World Trade Centers collapse during the attacks on 9/11 and then the determination in the residents to rebuild the city after the attacks. Trump made sure to say that he pinpointed this and defined it as the true spirit of New York.

“I saw something that no place on Earth could have handled more beautifully, more humanely than New York,” said Trump in the debate to Cruz.

Cruz continued with remarks about The New York Times and their story about his paperwork errors on former loans he received during his Senate campaign.

Muslim ban noted as racist  

Trump’s controversial proposal of temporarily banning any Muslims from coming into the U.S. was evaluated as Trump merely explained that “We have to stop with political correctness.”

Trump insisted that he would not change his mind on the issue while Governor Jeb Bush tried to make the businessman find reason and reconsider his proposal.

“What kind of message does that send to the rest of the world?” argued Bush.

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format