Donald Trump feels heat in feisty TV debate
Thursday’s debate ratings more than doubled Fox News’s best ratings in the past, for election night 2012, the Nielsen company said. A debate with seven lower-polling candidates earlier in the day had 6.1 million viewers.
The debate turned into a slugfest, with front-runner Donald Trump in particular feeling the heat.
He tweeted out criticism of the network’s three moderators as “not very good or professional” and retweeted a message from a supporter who called the network’s Megyn Kelly a “bimbo”.
Fox News chairman Roger Ailes defended his moderators.
Trump refused to rule out an independent White House bid and bristled at questions about his attitudes toward women, leaving his rivals struggling for attention during their feisty first Republican presidential debate.
The nine other Republicans sharing the stage with Trump turned on one another at times but largely avoided direct challenges to the combative real estate mogul.
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky confronting Trump after he kicked off the debate by refusing to pledge his support for the Republican nominee in the November 2016 election.
“I will not make the pledge at this time,” said Trump, who for weeks has said he would not rule out an independent bid that would almost certainly split the Republican vote and boost the chances of victory for the Democratic nominee.
Trump’s response drew boos from the crowd and a rebuke from Paul, who said Trump was keeping his options open to support Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, a reference to his past friendship with Clinton and husband Bill.
“He’s already hedging his bets because he’s used to buying politicians of all stripes,” Paul said.
Trump’s veiled threat to bolt the party if necessary could risk his support among Republican primary voters and stall his momentum, although the billionaire reality television star has repeatedly defied predictions of political doom.
In a show of hands, participants in a Fox News focus group which supported Trump before the debate overwhelmingly indicated they had changed their minds about him, critical of his refusal to commit to backing the eventual Republican nominee.
“I think he took out a gun and shot his campaign in the head,” said Florida Republican strategist Rick Wilson.
No candidate emerged the clear winner from the two-hour debate, leaving the Republican race more unsettled than ever. A record 17 candidates are vying for their party’s nomination.
During a combustible performance, Trump fired off insults at Paul, Fox News hostess Megyn Kelly, comedian Rosie O’Donnell, the Mexican government and an assortment of other targets.
He tangled with Kelly when she pressed him about past derogatory comments he had made about women, including calling them “fat pigs,” “dogs,” and “slobs,” Trump dismissed the question as “political correctness”.
He accused Kelly of not treating him well, drawing more boos from the audience. “Honestly Megyn, if you don’t like it, I’m sorry. I’ve been very nice to you although I could probably maybe not be based on the way you have treated me,” Trump, whose base of support is overwhelmingly male, said to a mixture of boos and applause.
I really enjoyed the debate tonight even though the @FoxNews trio, especially @megynkelly, was not very good or professional!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2015
The debate’s feisty tone suited the flamboyant Trump, who has been the centre of campaign attention for weeks for his personal attacks on rivals and his scathing comments about US Senator John McCain’s war record and about Mexican immigrants.
Trump kept it up in the debate, calling the Mexican government “much smarter, much sharper, much more cunning and they send the bad ones over”.
.@FoxNews you should be ashamed of yourself. I got you the highest debate ratings in your history & you say nothing but bad...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2015
The sometimes combative nature of the debate made bystanders at times of more measured rivals such as former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who is No 2 in the polls, and Wisconsin governor Scott Walker.
Bush called Trump’s rhetoric “divisive” and said “we’re going to win when we unite people with an optimistic message”.
The next Republican debate is on September 16.
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