Watch CNN Republican Texas Debate Highlights: Donald Trump Plays Defense, Cruz And Rubio Attack
Donald Trump comes face-to-face with his Republican rivals for the first time since winning his third straight contest when he takes part in a CNN Republican debate Thursday night in Houston, Texas — a debate in which his chief rivals, Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, are expected to take the battle directly to Trump at last, creating possibly even more explosive fireworks than what went off in the previous nine.
Cruz and Rubio have been criticized by conservatives and prominent Republicans for giving Trump what amounts to a free pass as they turned their guns on each other, allowing the New York real estate developer and political neophyte who makes daily headlines with his outrageous statements and over-the-top behavior to charge ahead, becoming a front-running juggernaut in the race for the Republican 2016 presidential nomination.
Trump won the Nevada Republican caucuses on Tuesday, after cruising to victory in the South Carolina primary just three days earlier. On February 9, he won the New Hampshire primary in a landslide as well.
UPDATE: 11:50 a.m., February 26: Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz did their best to finally mount a direct, concerted attack on Donald Trump during the Houston CNN debate, slamming his questionable business practices, his vague health care proposals and even his failure to release his tax returns — a barb for whichTrump had no real response, except to say that he is currently being audited by the IRS and that supposedly prevents him from releasing the returns.
Did Rubio and Cruz manage to land any solid punches? To judge for yourself, watch highlights of the CNN Republican Debate from Houston in the videos below.
In a Houston campaign speech Wednesday, on the eve of the 10th Republican debate, Rubio appeared to test out some potential attacks on Trump, chiding the 69-year-old casino owner for claiming that he could somehow single-handedly reconcile the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as for what Rubio said were Trump’s sympathetic positions toward the “Obamacare” health reform law, as seen in the video from Wednesday’s rally, below.
If anyone needs to attack Trump, it is Rubio, who currently runs a distant third to Donald Trump and second-place Cruz. A new poll taken in Florida by Quinnipiac University and released Thursday held more dire news for Rubio.
The poll showed Trump trouncing Rubio right in the 44-year-old’s backyard, taking an overwhelming 44 percent of the Florida Republican vote compared to just 28 percent for Rubio.
To find out how to watch the CNN live stream of the Texas Republican Debate from Moores Opera House on the University of Houston campus in Houston, Texas, see the streaming link in the final paragraph of this article. The debate gets underway at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, 5:30 p.m. Pacific.
RELATED STORIES:
Ted Cruz In Serious Trouble In Republican Race Following Nevada Caucuses
South Carolina, Nevada Primary Results: Bernie Sanders Defeated, Donald Trump Wins Big
President Donald Trump: Polls Show It Won’t Happen — Reasons He Can’t Beat Clinton Or Sanders
Bernie Sanders Polls: Nevada Loss Leaves Campaign At Beginning Of The End, Clinton Dominates Super Tuesday States
With Growing Lead, Donald Trump Could Be Headed To Most Decisive Primary Season Of All Time
Donald Trump: KKK Showed Up To Support Candidate In Nevada, Or Did They?
Nevada Republican Caucus Was Confusing, Understaffed, And Poorly Organized
But even if Cruz and Rubio, who will also share the stage with Ohio Governor John Kasich and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, finally launch the attacks on Trump that Republican party elders have been waiting for, it may be too late already.
“Time still exists, but not much,” anti-Trump Republican political strategist Liz Mair told CBS News in Dallas. “The strategy of ignoring the front-runner is not working. Cruz and Rubio need to tag-team to cause Trump problems.”
In the following video, Republican House Representative Buddy Carter of Georgia — one of the states voting on March 1, Super Tuesday, when 12 Republican states and territories will vote or caucus — attempts to explain whether or not Republicans will accept Donald Trump as their nominee.
Many political experts see the CNN Texas debate, which will be moderated by CNN Situation Room host Wolf Blitzer, as the final chance for the other Republicans in the race to mount any kind of a meaningful challenge to Donald Trump.
“Trump is entering the debate with three straight victories under his belt,” noted New York Times political correspondent Maggie Haberman. “If Cruz and Rubio can’t find ways to have breakout moments that will propel them into Super Tuesday, it’s hard to see what will stop Mr. Trump.”
To watch the CNN Texas Republican debate live stream, to see how well Donald Trump defends himself from what are sure to be stepped-up attacks from Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, use the streaming link provided by CNN.go by clicking here. CNN has said that it will make the debate live stream available to anyone, without requiring the normal TV provider login credential. To watch the 10th Republican debate on mobile devices, download the CNN Go app.
[Photo by Rainier Ehrhardt/Associated Press]
