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

Rubio is asked if he can talk to any previous president, who would it be and what question would he ask.

Can you guess which president he chooses?

Correct! Ronald Reagan.

14 Feb 201622.40 EST

James Pethokoukis

So what would benefit Republicans more: an extended debate on how to a) increase work, b) raise living standards for low-income Americans and c) increase upward mobility; or that extended, unpleasant exchange between Cruz and Trump?

What would benefit Republicans more: if voters next November knew their anti-poverty plans; or just that they would cut taxes deeply for the 0.1 percent?

And there are Republican anti-poverty plans, from higher-ed reform to increasing wage subsidies to reducing occupation licensing regulations – not that voters watching any of these debates would know about these plans. Rubio gave about 30 seconds on his anti-poverty agenda, which may be it for the entirety of this debate for the entire field.

That’s too bad.

Donald Trump is asked if he’s ever told he’s wrong and listened. “Well my wife tells me I’m wrong,” he says. Then he pivots to attack Jeb Bush’s spending “of special interests’ money” in New Hampshire. “This is not going to make our country great again.”

Jeb has taken a real pounding from Trump tonight. But he is not afforded an opportunity to respond; Dickerson asks Trump another question, about his use of profanity. He claims never to have said “the word” - but that “you bleeped it!” Promises not to do it again, though.

Now, we turn to Bush. “I gotta respond to this.” But Dickerson moves straight to a question, about Washington. “I think the dysfunction in Washington is very dangerous. We need someone who doesn’t disparage people, someone who doesn’t brag about having been bankrupt four times.

Trump interrupts again, a steamroller with a high-electricity haircut.

From our correspondent Ben Jacobs, on the scene:

14 Feb 201622.36 EST

Jeb Lund

This debate is like that playground game in which people blindfold you and spin you around, then whip the blindfold off and see if you can walk somewhere. Only it’s on a moving platform, and the person who is “it” is wearing a mask pumping nitrous oxide.

Anybody who can tell you who won or what just happened or even remember the order of things is lying: this is a mess. It’s a glorious, totally engrossing, chaotic mess, but it’s still a mess.

If you tried to footnote this thing, the job would be longer than the regular text of a David Foster Wallace book. People are just saying damn near anything that pops into their minds.

This isn’t post-truth politics, it’s post-restraint politics. Phineas Gage was more composed than this, and the man had a three-foot iron rod driven through his forebrain.

Things got pretty heated just then, before Ben Carson started talking.

“I wanted to look under the hood of the engine of what’s going on in Washington,” says Carson, unprompted, “and I was scared and wanted to run away, but I didn’t.”

“Flexibility is a good thing,” says Cruz. “But you shouldn’t be flexible on core principles.” He says he likes Trump, but points out that the real-estate mogul supports Planned Parenthood.

Trump, rattled, gets mean: “you are the single biggest liar - you’re probably a bigger liar than Jeb Bush.”

“This guy will say anything. Nasty guy.”

Cruz says “Just notice: Donald didn’t disagree with the substance that he supports public funding for Planned Parenthood.”

“Where did I support it, Ted?” shouts Trump. Cruz says he said Trump said - deep breath - that Trump said Planned Parenthood does wonderful things. “It does do wonderful things, just not on abortion,” Trump says, actually rather bravely in this arena.

“My name was mentioned twice,” Ben Carson says, quietly. Everyone ignores him.

14 Feb 201622.27 EST

James Pethokoukis

I had been wondering if Trump would mention the gut-punch viral video of air conditioner manufacturer laying off some 1400 workers as they moved production facilities to Monterrey, Mexico.

But the larger ramification of what Trump is proposing – taxing any manufacturing moved out of the United States – is that he would theoretically end the offshoring of US manufacturing . Of course, states like South Carolina are also the beneficiaries of other countries placing factories in the United States, particularly foreign automakers, and a trade war would almost certainly impact those facilities.

Voters in those states may understand the economics of trade a bit better than most.