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GOP Presidential Candidates Debate In Milwaukee

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Oooh wee, last’s night Republican debate in Greenville, South Carolina was a trip! Not sure what had the candidates coming out swinging, but it went from zero to 100, real quick.

Perhaps Chief Justice Scalia’s recent death had them on the offensive, especially after President Obama made it very clear he wasn’t waiting for a new Prez to fill that seat—he was doing it himself. Or maybe the candidates were feeling themselves in the absence of Jim Gilmore, Chris Christie and Carly Fiorina, knowing they would have more camera time to shine. Or with the South Carolina primaries right around the corner, Trump, Cruz, Rubio and them knew that it’s now or never.

Well whatever was going on, last night’s debate was an evening of verbal jabs, Jeb and jugulars. Here’s a quick breakdown:

Hitting Waaaaay Below The Belt

Last night it seemed like every candidate, minus Ben Carson who seemed sedated, was out there for blood, hurling personal attacks left and right. Former friends Donald Trump and Ted Cruz had some of the most vicious back and forths of the night.

Trump said to Cruz, “You are the single biggest liar,” referring to Cruz telling folks at the Iowa Caucus that Carson was going to drop out of the race soon, which didn’t happen, CNN wrote.

Trump didn’t stop there, saying that Cruz is the “guy [who] will say anything. Nasty guy. Now I know why he doesn’t have one endorsement from any of his colleagues. He’s a nasty guy.”

Cruz pointed out that Trump and Carson’s newfound friendship is pretty odd given that “[Trump] called [Carson] pathological and compared him to a child molester. … Donald has a weird pattern. When you point to his own record, he screams, ‘liar, liar, liar.’”

Cruz does have a good point.

Cruz Vs. Rubio

Why two men who affiliate with the Republican Party, the same party that wants to close borders and send immigrants (especially those who are Spanish-speaking) back to their native countries, continue to play this “Who is More Latino” game is truly beyond me.

Rubio got the biggest glass of shut-the-f*ck-up last night when he accused Cruz of not knowing how to speak Spanish. Apparently to Rubio that matters because Cruz claimed Rubio was on Univision lying about him. He couldn’t know that, Rubio said, because he didn’t speak the language.

“I don’t know how he knows what I said on Univision because he doesn’t speak Spanish,” Rubio said.

Grandpa Munster Cruz hit him with some fluid Spanish that proved him wrong. Hands down, one of the shadiest, pettiest parts of the debate, and we’re here for it.

Still, politics and the purpose of politics is serious business, so we hope they realize they have bigger fish to fry than being the “Head Latino In Charge.”

I See You Jeb, Finally

Poor Jeb. He really has been the butt of this joke called the GOP Presidential candidates, but last night he wasn’t stuttering and spinning like he’s done in the previous 8 debates.

Bush fired back, earning his spot at the adult table by painting Trump as someone who was “insensitive to women and minorities, and criticizing his support for using eminent domain to annex private property,” as the New York Times pointed out. Granted, hearing Bush come for someone who doesn’t have good gender and race politics is ironic given his own politics, policies and family ties, but whatever.

And Bush didn’t stop there. He went on to say that “we’re living in a dangerous world,” which can only get worse under a Trump presidency. He also expressed being “tired” of Trump coming for his family, saying, “While Donald Trump was building a reality TV show, my brother was building a security apparatus to keep us safe.”

Umm…did that really happen though?

Uncle Ben, What’s Going On Boo?

It’s so clear that Ben Carson doesn’t want to run for president anymore, like painfully clear.

He spent most of the debate mute, making the audience forget that there is a 6th GOP candidate in the mix. Even Ohio Gov. John Kasich had some stage presence, not making much sense about health care and Medicaid, but he still commanded some attention to be as little known as he is.

So Mr. Carson, what’s your deal?

I guess USA Today said it best when they wrote that “he was neither a target of or instigator of any of the debate’s most heated exchanges” and the most interesting thing he said “referring viewers to his campaign website.”

Maybe he’s just sticking around to be Trump’s running mate, which he recently said he would do if asked, but he doesn’t have to be a presidential candidate to do that i.e. Sarah Palin.

Sir, if you’re not going to be all in, then please just be all the way out and stop wasting space.

****

The GOP South Carolina primaries will be held on Saturday, Feb 20, with 50 delegates up for grabs, Heavy.com noted.  Currently Trump leads the pack the 17 delegates, Cruz has 11, Rubio 10, Kasich 5, Bush 4 and Carson 3.

Numerous polls show that South Carolina prefers Trump by double digits.

[SOURCES: CNN, New York Times, USA Today]

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No Holds Barred! Last Night’s GOP Debate Was About Going For The Jugular  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com