Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
BILLIONAIRE BUSINESSMAN DONALD Trump came out swinging in all directions overnight at a rowdy first Republican Presidential primary debate in Cleveland.
As well as attracting cheers from a raucous crowd, however, the party’s outspoken frontrunner was booed for comments about women and clashing with moderators.
Elsewhere, there were explosive rows between candidates, jokes about Hillary Clinton, and a strange question about the voice of God.
Here are the craziest moments you might have missed, while you were sound asleep on this side of the Atlantic last night:
1. The Don gets booed from the Republican faithful
The tense tone of the debate was set right from the very first question, when Trump was the only candidate who refused to rule out running against the party, as an Independent candidate, if he failed to win the Republican nomination.
“I will not make the pledge at this time,” Trump declared, provoking resounding boos from a crowd full of party faithful, who fear a third-party campaign would split the conservative vote and virtually guarantee a Democratic victory in 2016.
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, whose campaign had been accused of floundering, wasted no time in seizing the spotlight, slamming Trump’s unpopular declaration:
He’s already hedging his bets because he’s used to buying politicians.
2. ‘If you don’t like it, I’m sorry’
Trump, who was at times both aggressive and defensive towards the Fox News panel, and even the audience, was also booed (and cheered) after an indignant response to a question from Megyn Kelly, who confronted him with previous disparaging remarks about women.
I’ve been challenged by so many people and I don’t frankly have time for total political correctness…And honestly, if you don’t like it, Megyn, I’m sorry, but I’ve been very nice to you…
3. A screaming match about government surveillance
Several candidates clashed with one another, but perhaps the most explosive moment of the night came between New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and libertarian-leaning Senator Rand Paul.
The two fought over the NSA’s mass phone and electronic surveillance – revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013 – as a strategy for countering terrorism.
Christie stood by claims that Paul – who opposes mass surveillance – should be held responsible in the event of a future terrorist attack, and accused him of “blowing hot air.”
The two ended up shouting over each other, with Paul hammering Christie for his support of President Obama’s continued use of surveillance methods:
I know you gave him a big hug, and if you want to give him another big hug, go right ahead.
Christie lost popularity in the Republican party in 2012 for publicly embracing Obama during a visit to the hurricane-ravaged New Jersey shoreline, and appearing to snub the party’s candidate Mitt Romney, days before the election.
The final question in the debate was an intriguing one, posed by a Facebook user:
I want to know if any of them have received a word from God on what they should do and take care of first.
In response, the candidates went out of their way to out-do one another in front of a conservative, religious audience.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker casually declared “It’s only by the blood of Jesus Christ that I’ve been redeemed from my sins” and said “God calls us to follow His will.”
However, he did admit that God hadn’t given him “a list of specific things” to do.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz won applause for a story about his alcoholic father “giving his heart to Jesus and turning around.”
Ohio Governor John Kasich declared that “God wants America to be strong…and succeed.”
Donald Trump blasted his way on to centre stage last month, launching his campaign and making the extraordinary claim that the Mexican government was deliberately sending “criminals and rapists” over the border into the US.
To his credit, Fox News panellist Chris Wallace pressed Trump hard on this, asking him (twice) “What specific evidence do you have?”
Rather than using the opportunity to clarify or backtrack, Trump doubled down, claiming “border patrol people…say this is what’s happening, because our leaders are stupid…”
American fact-checking website Politifact has rated Trump’s Mexico allegations “pants on fire” – meaning “there is no evidence to support [them].”
Arguably the three strongest performers in the debate were Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, and Ohio Governor John Kasich, who was bolstered by a sometimes adoring home state audience in Cleveland.
Rubio, the 44-year-old son of Cuban immigrants and the youngest candidate of any party, responded strongly to a question about his relative inexperience, saying “this can’t be a resumé competition.”
He drew huge cheers when he declared:
[God] has blessed the Republicans with some very good candidates – the Democrats can’t even find one.
The biggest laugh of the night arguably came from former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who joked:
A lot of this election is about a person who’s high in the polls, but doesn’t have a clue about how to govern.
A person who has been filled with scandals, and could not lead. And of course I’m talking about Hillary Clinton.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Ireland needs 23 beds for eating disorders - but seven years on, there's still no sign of them
Paul O'Donoghue
2 hrs ago
608
3
CLINT HILL
Secret Service agent who leaped to shield Kennedy from assassination dies aged 93
3 hrs ago
4.3k
Murder Investigation
American mother drops newborn to death from Paris hotel window
11 hrs ago
45.3k
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 152 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 104 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 136 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 106 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 78 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 77 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 37 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 33 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 127 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 60 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 75 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 82 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 38 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 43 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 25 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 86 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 96 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 68 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 50 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 84 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 64 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say