GOP fireworks: 1 candidate makes crowd go wild
'We have a government involved in fantasy football?!'
Published: 11 hours ago. Updated: 10/28/2015 at 11:52 PM
It was a big night Wednesday in the race for the Republican Party nomination, as 10 GOP candidates attempted to show America who is most qualified to lead the nation.
The winner is still be up for debate, but the loser may have been CNBC, which hosted the third Republican presidential debate at the Coors Events Center in Boulder, Colorado.
One by one, several GOP candidates took issue with the questions from the channel’s moderators when those questions came across as demeaning or downright silly.
The following candidates took the stage: Billionaire businessman Donald Trump, retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.
The main debate, titled “Your Money, Your Vote,” was moderated by CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla, co-anchor of “Squawk on the Street” and “Squawk Alley”; Becky Quick, co-anchor of “Squawk Box”; and Chief Washington Correspondent John Harwood. Republican contenders debated issues such as job growth, taxes, technology, retirement and health of the U.S. economy.
Biggest applause of the night
Christie ripped into moderators for asking whether government should regulate fantasy football sites such as DraftKings and FanDuel.
“We have a government involved in fantasy football?!” Christie asked incredulously.
His question came only moment after Bush provided a long description of how he would regulate the websites.
Christie blasted the CNBC moderators: “Wait a second. We have $19 trillion in debt. We have people out of work. We have ISIS and al-Qaida attacking us, and we’re talking about fantasy football?!”
The crowd roared with enthusiastic applause, wild cheers and whistles.
Watch Christie’s shining moment:
"How about we get the government to do what they're supposed to be doing – secure our borders, protect our people and support American values and American families?" Christie asked. "Enough on fantasy football. Let people play! Who cares?!”
CNBC takes swipes at at Trump and Cruz
A CNBC moderator took a stab at Trump, asking if he was running a "comic book version of a presidential campaign.
Trump replied, "No, not a comic book, and it's not a very nicely asked question the way you say that." He clarified some of his positions on bringing jobs back to the U.S. and building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Then, later in the debate, Quintanilla turned to Cruz and asked: "Senator Cruz, congressional Republicans, Democrats and the White House are about to strike a compromise that would raise the debt limit, prevent a government shutdown and calm financial markets that fear of another Washington-created crisis is on the way. Does your opposition to it show that you're not the kind of problem solver American voters want?"
Cruz launched into the moderators about their debate questions.
"You know, let me say something at the outset. The questions that have been asked so far in this debate illustrate why the American people don't trust the media."
Watch Cruz:
The crowd applauded.
Cruz added, "This is not a cage match. And, you look at the questions: 'Donald Trump, are you a comic-book villain?' 'Ben Carson, can you do math?' 'John Kasich, will you insult two people over here?' 'Marco Rubio, why don't you resign?' 'Jeb Bush, why have your numbers fallen?'
"How about talking about the substantive issues the people care about?!"
Cruz added, "Contrast with the Democratic debate, where every fawning question from the media was, 'Which of you is more handsome and why?'"
The crowd laughed with amusement.
"Let me be clear. The men and women on this stage have more ideas, more experience, more common sense than every participant in the Democratic debate," Cruz said. "That debate reflected a debate between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. And nobody watching at home believed that any of the moderators had any intention of voting in a Republican primary. The questions that are being asked shouldn't be trying to get people to tear into each other. It should be what are your substantive positions."
CNBC also hosted an undercard debate earlier Wednesday, where the same moderators posed questions about topics such as beer sales, which cell phone apps they have on their phones and whether the day after the Super Bowl should be declared a national holiday.
Trump packs heat: Gun-free zones 'feeding frenzy' for 'sickos'
During the debate, Trump said he "might feel more comfortable" if his employees were allowed to bring guns to work.
"I have a permit, which is very unusual in New York, to carry. I do carry on occasion, sometimes a lot. but I like to be unpredictable ...
"But I feel that gun-free zones, that's target practice for sickos and for the mentally ill. They look around for gun-free zones. ... I think gun-free zones are a catastrophe. They're a feeding frenzy for sick people."
What's your biggest weakness?
The event began with the question: What's your biggest weakness and what are you doing to address it?
Kasich essentially declined to answer the question, instead talking about other issues
Huckabee said, "If I have a weakness, it's that I try to live by the rules. ... I'll tell you what a weakness is of this country, a lot of people are sick and tired because Washington does not play by the same rules that the American people have to play by."
Jeb: "I am by nature impatient. ... I can't fake anger. I believe this is still the most extraordinary country on the face of the Earth. And it troubles me that people are rewarded for tearing down our country. It's never been that way in American politics before."
Rubio agreed: "I'm not sure it's a weakness, but I do believe that I share a sense of optimism for America's future that, today, is eroding from too many of our people. I think there's a sense in this country today that somehow our best days are behind us. And that doesn't have to be true. Our greatest days lie ahead if we are willing to do what it takes now. If we're willing to do what it takes now, the 21st century is going to be the new American century, greater than any other era we've had in the history of this great nation."
Trump told the crowd, "I think maybe my greatest weakness is that I trust people too much. I'm too trusting. And when they let me down, if they let me down, I never forgive. I find it very, very hard to forgive people that deceive me. So I don't know if you would call that a weakness, but my wife said 'let up.'"
Carson said, "Not really seeing myself in that position [of president] until hundreds of thousands of people began to tell me to do it. I do, however, believe in Reagan's 11th commandment, and will not be engaging in awful things about my compatriots here. And recognizing that it's so important, this election, because we're talking about America for the people versus America for the government."
Fiorina: "After the last debate, I was told I didn't smile enough. But I also think these are very serious times; 75 percent of the American people think the federal government is corrupt. I agree with them. And this big powerful, corrupt bureaucracy works now only for the big, the powerful, the wealthy and the well-connected. Meantime, wages have stagnated for 40 years. We have more Americans out of work or just Americans who quit looking for work for 40 years. Ours was intended to be a citizen government. This is about more than replacing a D with an R. We need a leader who will help us take our government back."
Cruz: "I'm a fighter. I'm passionate about what I believe. I've been passionate my whole life about the Constitution."
Christie: "I don't see a lot of weakness on this stage. Where I see the weakness is in the three people on the Democratic stage."
Paul avoided the question and instead spoke about his concern for the nation's $18 trillion debt. The debate takes place less than two days before the House is set to vote on a two-year budget deal negotiated by outgoing House Speaker John Boehner and President Obama that authorizes $1.5 trillion to be added to the nation's debt and a $40 billion increase in spending. Paul promised to filibuster the deal.
Plans for tax reform
The candidates discussed their plans for tax reform. Cruz unveiled his big economic plan for a flat tax during the debate.
"It is a simple flat tax where for individuals, a family of four pays nothing on the first $36,000," Cruz explained. "After that, you pay 10 percent as a flat tax going up. The billionaire and the working man, no hedge fund manager pays less than his secretary. On top of that, there is a business flat tax of 16 percent. Now that applies universally to giant corporations that with lobbyists right now are not paying taxes, and as small business."
Cruz said his plan "will allow the economy to generate 4.9 million jobs, to raise wages over 12 percent, and to generate 14 percent growth. And it costs, with dynamic scoring, less than a trillion dollars. Those are the hard numbers."
Carson proposed a flat tax set at 15 percent and said the U.S. would need to get rid of tax loopholes and stimulate the economy by slashing government regulation.
"Remember, we have 645 federal agencies and sub-agencies," Carson said. "Anybody who tells me that we need every penny and every one of those is in a fantasy world. So, also, we can stimulate the economy. That's gonna be the real growth engine. Stimulating the economy – because it's tethered down right now with so many regulations."
Kasich blasted his fellow Republicans' plans: "You can't do it with empty promises. You know, these plans would put us trillions and trillions of dollars in debt!" Kasich said his plan would create jobs, cut taxes and balance the budget, rather than "coming up with these fantasy tax schemes" other GOP candidates have proposed.
Fiorina said, "We need a leader in Washington who understands how to get things done," and she proposed limiting the 73,000-page tax code to only three pages. She said, three pages is about the maximum that a single business owner or farmer can understand without having to hire someone.
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