Republican debate: Trump v Bush and Cruz v Rubio as tempers flare – as it happened

14 Feb 201621.45 EST

James Pethokoukis

Don’t kid yourselves: there remains a deep pool of goodwill toward George W Bush within the Republican Party. He made an extraordinary emotional connection after 9-11.

The harsh Trump critique will, I am sure, strike many Republicans as unnecessarily venomous and something they would more likely expect to hear from Bernie Sanders or film-maker Michael Moore. That is why many see Trump as having a ceiling within these primaries.

14 Feb 201621.44 EST

Jeb Lund

Three times (so far) tonight the audience has lustfully booed the facts:

1. That the Bush administration lied to the country about an optional war in Iraq.
   
2. That he did not keep Americans safe, because over 3,000 people died on 9/11 on his watch.
   
3. That the first Bush failed to assassinate Osama bin Laden.
   

These three statements were made by Donald Trump, and he might as well have doused the stage in kerosene and set it ablaze.

“Exciting” in politics is an extremely low bar to clear; the slightest side-eye is usually enough to send politicos and political journalists aflutter and especially a-Twitter.

This was far more than that. This was a man burning down a party from the inside.

And, we’re back: the next topic is “money”. Fittingly, the first question goes to - yup, you guessed it.

“Mr Trump: you have made a lot of promises, and you’re the only candidate who has said he will not touch entitlement.” They say that would cost “12-15 trillion dollars,” and ask if he’s proposing more than he can deliver.

Trump says “I’m going to save social security. I’m going to bring jobs back from China. I’m going to bring jobs back from Mexico. I’m going to make our economy strong again.”

Ad break Twitter roundup:

Trump, again, hits out at the idea that George W. Bush ‘kept us safe’: “the World Trade Center came down under George Bush’s reign” says that he “lost hundreds of friends.”

Jeb rescinds the invitation to the rally in Charleston with his brother, live on stage.

Jeb: “my mother was the strongest person I know”

Trump: “maybe she should be running”

“This is just crazy. Jeez, oh man,” says Kasich.

“I think its my turn, isn’t it,” says Jeb.

“I’m sick and tired of Barack Obama blaming my brother,” Jeb says. “I could care less about the insults Donald Trump gives to me ... but I’m sick and tired of him going after my family.” He goes back to his old line about his brother “keeping us safe.”

“The world trade center came down when your brother was president,” Trump shoots back.

“As a businessman, I get along with anybody,” Trump says. The audience is shouting; febrile. “Obviously the war in Iraq was a big fat mistake,” he continues. “It took Jeb Bush five days before his people told him what to say, and he ultimately said it was a mistake.”

14 Feb 201621.32 EST

James Pethokoukis

With Rand Paul out the race, Trump is now really the loudest voice for a different kind of Republican foreign policy and a less interventionist one – well, less interventionist after bombing the hell out of Isis. He is the only one on the stage against the Iraq War, calling it a “big fat mistake”.

But then he went further, saying that the Bush administration lied the country into war. The former president is supposedly quite popular into South Carolina; we’ll see how Trump’s full-throated criticism – including noting that the World Trade Center was attacked on George W Bush’s watch, which earned him boos in the room – plays.