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Topic: Donald Trump had a rough night. Will it matter? (Read 1970 times)

sr. member
Activity: 476
Merit: 252
This is why I love American politics - https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/48klnu/so_the_american_peoples_choices_for_president/ and https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/48k7h0/if_donald_trump_takes_over_the_presidency_after/

There is always something funny or strange being said, and most of it is not true. The whole thing has turned into a joke or the next reality series. ^Ho Ho Ho^

https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/48munk/if_a_democrat_wins_im_leaving/ .... Real funny circus going on.  Grin

"America successfully solves immigration problem by employing a president so bad that people want to stop living in their country.
It's so simple its genius."

Well it sure is rather funny but when you start thinking about the consequences it becomes suddenly much less fun...
legendary
Activity: 3514
Merit: 1963
Leading Crypto Sports Betting & Casino Platform
This is why I love American politics - https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/48klnu/so_the_american_peoples_choices_for_president/ and https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/48k7h0/if_donald_trump_takes_over_the_presidency_after/

There is always something funny or strange being said, and most of it is not true. The whole thing has turned into a joke or the next reality series. ^Ho Ho Ho^

https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/48munk/if_a_democrat_wins_im_leaving/ .... Real funny circus going on.  Grin
hero member
Activity: 840
Merit: 529
Damn. Is it only me or are the Trumpers actually talking without any sense since the beginning?

Well it's not like they're supporting a candidate who's talking without any sense... Oh wait!
legendary
Activity: 1176
Merit: 1001
minds.com/Wilikon
I think everything is said here. Nothing to add. He's a liar, a thief, and doesn't give a fuck about Americans.

Basically, yep.  No respect for the American public whatsoever.  





Problem is that he's fucking right...

Those dumbasses are actually voting for him, his number is terrific :-/

Well of course the statement is false he never said that in an interview, but I bet he thought it.


One of the many reasons I love this place...

 Cool

What rough night?




Didn't understand you. Would you be clearer?


No need. You still would no get it.


Did you hear the joke about the copilot talking to the pilot?

No, what is it?

Oh, never mind.  I guess it flew right over your head.

Was his name "Roger"?



Just to put it all together for those who don't know the joke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqtNxNRCcGg

But while we at it, bro, here be da jive side.

Trump, he down cool with this, y'know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdCjbJ6NEfc


I think Top Secret was their masterpiece... I am still finding hidden gems, after all those years...

 Grin

legendary
Activity: 2912
Merit: 1386
I think everything is said here. Nothing to add. He's a liar, a thief, and doesn't give a fuck about Americans.

Basically, yep.  No respect for the American public whatsoever.  





Problem is that he's fucking right...

Those dumbasses are actually voting for him, his number is terrific :-/

Well of course the statement is false he never said that in an interview, but I bet he thought it.


One of the many reasons I love this place...

 Cool

What rough night?




Didn't understand you. Would you be clearer?


No need. You still would no get it.


Did you hear the joke about the copilot talking to the pilot?

No, what is it?

Oh, never mind.  I guess it flew right over your head.

Was his name "Roger"?



Just to put it all together for those who don't know the joke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqtNxNRCcGg

But while we at it, bro, here be da jive side.

Trump, he down cool with this, y'know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdCjbJ6NEfc
legendary
Activity: 1176
Merit: 1001
minds.com/Wilikon
I think everything is said here. Nothing to add. He's a liar, a thief, and doesn't give a fuck about Americans.

Basically, yep.  No respect for the American public whatsoever.  





Problem is that he's fucking right...

Those dumbasses are actually voting for him, his number is terrific :-/

Well of course the statement is false he never said that in an interview, but I bet he thought it.


One of the many reasons I love this place...

 Cool

What rough night?




Didn't understand you. Would you be clearer?


No need. You still would no get it.


Did you hear the joke about the copilot talking to the pilot?

No, what is it?

Oh, never mind.  I guess it flew right over your head.

Was his name "Roger"?

legendary
Activity: 2912
Merit: 1386
I think everything is said here. Nothing to add. He's a liar, a thief, and doesn't give a fuck about Americans.

Basically, yep.  No respect for the American public whatsoever.  





Problem is that he's fucking right...

Those dumbasses are actually voting for him, his number is terrific :-/

Well of course the statement is false he never said that in an interview, but I bet he thought it.


One of the many reasons I love this place...

 Cool

What rough night?




Didn't understand you. Would you be clearer?


No need. You still would no get it.


Did you hear the joke about the copilot talking to the pilot?

No, what is it?

Oh, never mind.  I guess it flew right over your head.
legendary
Activity: 1176
Merit: 1001
minds.com/Wilikon
I think everything is said here. Nothing to add. He's a liar, a thief, and doesn't give a fuck about Americans.

Basically, yep.  No respect for the American public whatsoever.  





Problem is that he's fucking right...

Those dumbasses are actually voting for him, his number is terrific :-/

Well of course the statement is false he never said that in an interview, but I bet he thought it.


One of the many reasons I love this place...

 Cool

What rough night?




Didn't understand you. Would you be clearer?


No need. You still would no get it.

hero member
Activity: 840
Merit: 529
I think everything is said here. Nothing to add. He's a liar, a thief, and doesn't give a fuck about Americans.

Basically, yep.  No respect for the American public whatsoever.  





Problem is that he's fucking right...

Those dumbasses are actually voting for him, his number is terrific :-/

Well of course the statement is false he never said that in an interview, but I bet he thought it.


One of the many reasons I love this place...

 Cool

What rough night?




Didn't understand you. Would you be clearer?
legendary
Activity: 1176
Merit: 1001
minds.com/Wilikon
I think everything is said here. Nothing to add. He's a liar, a thief, and doesn't give a fuck about Americans.

Basically, yep.  No respect for the American public whatsoever.  





Problem is that he's fucking right...

Those dumbasses are actually voting for him, his number is terrific :-/

Well of course the statement is false he never said that in an interview, but I bet he thought it.


One of the many reasons I love this place...

 Cool

What rough night?


xht
sr. member
Activity: 462
Merit: 250
hey you, yeah you, fuck you!!!
the press is desperate for Rubio to win, This guy has no momentum he hasn't won anything and all he does is repeat the same thing over and over.
full member
Activity: 154
Merit: 100
really enjoy most of the campaigns, its like a soap opera reality show  Grin , i dont understand how trump is still running ..hope to see more laughs  Wink
legendary
Activity: 3752
Merit: 1217
Ok.. it is official. It doesn't matter:



Glued to the TV screen for the last few hours. There is even better news for Trump. It is almost confirmed that Cruz will be his rival for the GOP nomination, after Rubio failed to pass the threshold in Texas.
sr. member
Activity: 462
Merit: 273
I don't know how much more this man can get away with....
sr. member
Activity: 476
Merit: 252
I think everything is said here. Nothing to add. He's a liar, a thief, and doesn't give a fuck about Americans.

Basically, yep.  No respect for the American public whatsoever.  





Problem is that he's fucking right...

Those dumbasses are actually voting for him, his number is terrific :-/

Well of course the statement is false he never said that in an interview, but I bet he thought it.
legendary
Activity: 924
Merit: 1000
I'm amazed that so many republicans support Trump after he bashed George Bush about lying about the WMD's and not keeping America safe.  I guess all those supporters feel the same way about Bush or they wouldn't support Trump.

So was I! But Mr. Trump is masterly at taking risks that would fry other contenders.

Case in point: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/donald-trump-secretly-told-the-new-york-times-1382382
hero member
Activity: 1008
Merit: 510
I'm amazed that so many republicans support Trump after he bashed George Bush about lying about the WMD's and not keeping America safe.  I guess all those supporters feel the same way about Bush or they wouldn't support Trump.
legendary
Activity: 1456
Merit: 1002
I think everything is said here. Nothing to add. He's a liar, a thief, and doesn't give a fuck about Americans.

Basically, yep.  No respect for the American public whatsoever. 





That statement is scary... esp when he`s being the top fuken candidate.

If hes aware of that and using his tv icon image as leverage, who knows what where our next deficit will be.. even more trillions in debt?
legendary
Activity: 3724
Merit: 3063
Leave no FUD unchallenged
I think everything is said here. Nothing to add. He's a liar, a thief, and doesn't give a fuck about Americans.

Basically, yep.  No respect for the American public whatsoever. 



legendary
Activity: 1176
Merit: 1001
minds.com/Wilikon
I need a shower.

Funny...When Dee Snyder still fronted Twisted Sister, he was summoned to Congress to testify. At the time, there was some of those flaps over rock music. When he finished & left the testimony room, he was asked about it.

His reply: "I felt dirty."


My first memorable video on MTV, was playing 24/7 back then.

legendary
Activity: 924
Merit: 1000
I need a shower.

Funny...When Dee Snyder still fronted Twisted Sister, he was summoned to Congress to testify. At the time, there was some of those flaps over rock music. When he finished & left the testimony room, he was asked about it.

His reply: "I felt dirty."
legendary
Activity: 1176
Merit: 1001
minds.com/Wilikon
I believed in his clean, tea party darling fresh face. Yet another decepticon

The kind of thing that makes a fella hate politics, period. Undecided

I always root for the underdog. Rubio had zero chance and was pushed in his position by the tea party. I loved it.

That was then.

Now I learn about gay porn production, brother in jail for $15 millions in cocaine drug deal (not some little bag of weed in his pocket), multiple homes, etc, etc, etc... Wow...

I need a shower.

legendary
Activity: 924
Merit: 1000
I believed in his clean, tea party darling fresh face. Yet another decepticon

The kind of thing that makes a fella hate politics, period. Undecided
legendary
Activity: 1176
Merit: 1001
minds.com/Wilikon
Super tuesday is in 3 days, I can hardly wait..

If Trump takes Texas it's pretty much over..

Will be difficult. Cruz is very strong there. And as per the latest poll from RCP, Cruz is leading Trump by more than 7 points (34.0% vs 26.8%). Texas is having a large Hispanic population. And it sees to me that unlike the case with Nevada, they are not too eager to support Trump. Might be putting their weight behind Marco Rubio.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/tx/texas_republican_presidential_primary-3622.html

Well if you think about it, it's actually a no-brainer going for Rubio than Trump here. America should really wake up to its senses.

Not all that likely, considering that PredictWise's implied odds for Rubio are substantially lower than the implied odds for Ted Cruz only two months ago:


You don't need to use any chart-crunching dongles to see that Rubio's campaign is in a lot of trouble.

Interestingly, though, Sen. Rubio [and Sen. Cruz] can blow off the result by saying, "I was too young", "I'm like Ronald Reagan in 1968 (although that would be a stretch]", and so on. 


As soon as the story of rubio's brother being a big drug dealer will be used against him, this will terminate him. Not a neat dude, became the GOPe's hero by default after bush dropped out.

I believed in his clean, tea party darling fresh face. Yet another decepticon



legendary
Activity: 924
Merit: 1000
Super tuesday is in 3 days, I can hardly wait..

If Trump takes Texas it's pretty much over..

Will be difficult. Cruz is very strong there. And as per the latest poll from RCP, Cruz is leading Trump by more than 7 points (34.0% vs 26.8%). Texas is having a large Hispanic population. And it sees to me that unlike the case with Nevada, they are not too eager to support Trump. Might be putting their weight behind Marco Rubio.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/tx/texas_republican_presidential_primary-3622.html

Well if you think about it, it's actually a no-brainer going for Rubio than Trump here. America should really wake up to its senses.

Not all that likely, considering that PredictWise's implied odds for Rubio are substantially lower than the implied odds for Ted Cruz only two months ago:


You don't need to use any chart-crunching dongles to see that Rubio's campaign is in a lot of trouble.

Interestingly, though, Sen. Rubio [and Sen. Cruz] can blow off the result by saying, "I was too young", "I'm like Ronald Reagan in 1968 (although that would be a stretch]", and so on. 
full member
Activity: 238
Merit: 100
Super tuesday is in 3 days, I can hardly wait..

If Trump takes Texas it's pretty much over..

Will be difficult. Cruz is very strong there. And as per the latest poll from RCP, Cruz is leading Trump by more than 7 points (34.0% vs 26.8%). Texas is having a large Hispanic population. And it sees to me that unlike the case with Nevada, they are not too eager to support Trump. Might be putting their weight behind Marco Rubio.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/tx/texas_republican_presidential_primary-3622.html

Well if you think about it, it's actually a no-brainer going for Rubio than Trump here. America should really wake up to its senses.
legendary
Activity: 3752
Merit: 1217
Super tuesday is in 3 days, I can hardly wait..

If Trump takes Texas it's pretty much over..

Will be difficult. Cruz is very strong there. And as per the latest poll from RCP, Cruz is leading Trump by more than 7 points (34.0% vs 26.8%). Texas is having a large Hispanic population. And it sees to me that unlike the case with Nevada, they are not too eager to support Trump. Might be putting their weight behind Marco Rubio.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/tx/texas_republican_presidential_primary-3622.html
legendary
Activity: 2296
Merit: 2262
BTC or BUST
Super tuesday is in 3 days, I can hardly wait..

If Trump takes Texas it's pretty much over..
legendary
Activity: 924
Merit: 1000
Nice graph didn't go the red line would go that high wow that is an impressive turn.

Thanks! It's actually a screengrab from PredictWise. Those folks deserve all the credit.

Funny that you could buy a prediction-market contract for Donald Trump to win the Pubbie nom in the 20s as recently as last December. The Donald really did get the better of the prediction-market handicappers.
legendary
Activity: 1078
Merit: 1014
you must have been watching a different debate. trump emerged the clear winner.
hero member
Activity: 1036
Merit: 501
But Trump has proven hard to stop, and the next few days will reveal whether the Houston debate marked a change in the dynamics of the race or simply amounted to a few uncomfortable moments for Trump on the way to winning the nomination.

Just looky here...

His implied odds of winning did take a small tumble after the debate, but they're now up to new highs.


The red line is Mr. Trump's implied odds. The only panic-selling of any significance came after he came second in Iowa. Even since then, it's been a solid bull trend. The last debate just pushed his uptrend down a few points for a short time; that's all.
Nice graph didn't go the red line would go that high wow that is an impressive turn.
legendary
Activity: 924
Merit: 1000
But Trump has proven hard to stop, and the next few days will reveal whether the Houston debate marked a change in the dynamics of the race or simply amounted to a few uncomfortable moments for Trump on the way to winning the nomination.

Just looky here...

His implied odds of winning did take a small tumble after the debate, but they're now up to new highs.


The red line is Mr. Trump's implied odds. The only panic-selling of any significance came after he came second in Iowa. Even since then, it's been a solid bull trend. The last debate just pushed his uptrend down a few points for a short time; that's all.
legendary
Activity: 2310
Merit: 1028



Tonight's debate summed up in one image.








true definition of trump's stuation but i think he will beat them up.. trump will be the winner of this battle for sure .. i hope this..
legendary
Activity: 3752
Merit: 1217
All the polls say Trump won the debate by a landslide..

It is the opinion of the Republican primary voters, which matter the most. What the anti-Trump brigade in the mainstream media says is not going affect the voting patterns. According to the voters, Trump won another debate. BTW... why everyone is concentrating so much on the performance of Trump? IMO, both Cruz and Rubio performed poorly in the debate.
hero member
Activity: 1008
Merit: 510
I heard that Trump is getting pressure to release his tax returns by Mitt Romney.  I don't think Trump will ever release them because it's going to show how little taxes he pay or it will reveal that he doesn't have as much money as he says he has.  This could be a big problem for him if they keep talking about it.
sr. member
Activity: 350
Merit: 250
★YoBit.Net★ 350+ Coins Exchange & Dice
Oh who cares what happened to Trump?? He's so rich even he doesn't give a damn.
legendary
Activity: 2296
Merit: 2262
BTC or BUST
All the polls say Trump won the debate by a landslide..
legendary
Activity: 1176
Merit: 1001
minds.com/Wilikon
Cruz had another debate where he avoided questions and tried to attack trump instead. Cruz better hope that the establishment will continue to give him money and He's going to need every penny if he can't perform well in the debates.


The GOPestablishment supports marcosoft roboto. They hate TRUMP and cruz.

xht
sr. member
Activity: 462
Merit: 250
hey you, yeah you, fuck you!!!
Cruz had another debate where he avoided questions and tried to attack trump instead. Cruz better hope that the establishment will continue to give him money and He's going to need every penny if he can't perform well in the debates.
legendary
Activity: 2912
Merit: 1386
The tenth Republican presidential was a good show, as it always is with Donald Trump on the stage.

But for the first time in this unprecedented primary election, Trump could have used a little more winning. He left the stage in Houston, Texas, having been pushed around for most of the night......



Sure...

By mice.
legendary
Activity: 1176
Merit: 1001
minds.com/Wilikon
Christie endorsement will seal the deal.

OMG! I couldn't believe it when I saw your post. Then I searched Google News, and just found out that he had endorsed Trump. I am still confused. How can this happen? Their policies and ideologies are so different.

Unless Cruz and Rubio team up and decide who drops out.

Cruz is fiercely anti-establishment, and Rubio is the blue-eyed boy of the establishment. I am not saying that it is 100% impossible for either one of them to support the other, but it will be.... another confusing tie-up. 

Link?



Never mind!

NJ Gov Christie endorses Donald Trump for president


http://www.cnbc.com/2016/02/26/nj-governor-chris-christie-endorses-donald-trump-for-president.html


legendary
Activity: 1176
Merit: 1001
minds.com/Wilikon
Christie endorsement will seal the deal.

OMG! I couldn't believe it when I saw your post. Then I searched Google News, and just found out that he had endorsed Trump. I am still confused. How can this happen? Their policies and ideologies are so different.

Unless Cruz and Rubio team up and decide who drops out.

Cruz is fiercely anti-establishment, and Rubio is the blue-eyed boy of the establishment. I am not saying that it is 100% impossible for either one of them to support the other, but it will be.... another confusing tie-up. 

Link?

legendary
Activity: 3752
Merit: 1217
Christie endorsement will seal the deal.

OMG! I couldn't believe it when I saw your post. Then I searched Google News, and just found out that he had endorsed Trump. I am still confused. How can this happen? Their policies and ideologies are so different.

Unless Cruz and Rubio team up and decide who drops out.

Cruz is fiercely anti-establishment, and Rubio is the blue-eyed boy of the establishment. I am not saying that it is 100% impossible for either one of them to support the other, but it will be.... another confusing tie-up. 
legendary
Activity: 1176
Merit: 1001
minds.com/Wilikon



Tonight's debate summed up in one image.






legendary
Activity: 1176
Merit: 1001
minds.com/Wilikon
All this will have just the opposite effect. Everyone is ganging up to attack Trump. This is going to polarize the voters on both sides. The liberals can lie as much as they want, but not many of the intelligent voters are going to fall for this trap. The republican establishment has lost all the credibility. And guys like Rubio are the main reason for the current decline of the GOP.


Donald Trump To Hugh Hewitt Why are you Here Very Few People Listen to Your Radio Show






 Grin Cheesy Grin



legendary
Activity: 3752
Merit: 1217
All this will have just the opposite effect. Everyone is ganging up to attack Trump. This is going to polarize the voters on both sides. The liberals can lie as much as they want, but not many of the intelligent voters are going to fall for this trap. The republican establishment has lost all the credibility. And guys like Rubio are the main reason for the current decline of the GOP.
hero member
Activity: 840
Merit: 529
Quote
Before Trump began to counterattack, Rubio demonstrated a tactic that he employed repeatedly to great effect. He launched in on Trump from another angle, pointing out that Trump was the “only person on this stage that has ever been fined for hiring people to work on your projects illegally.”

“You hired some workers from Poland,” Rubio said. As Trump began to reject the accusation as “totally wrong,” Rubio suggested that the audience simply search on Google for the evidence.

“I’m sure people are Googling it right now. Look it up: ‘Trump Polish workers.’ You’ll see a million dollars for hiring illegal workers on one of his projects. He did it,” Rubio said. Such a search quickly leads, for example, to this July 2015 Daily Beast story, “Trump Tower Was Built on Undocumented Immigrants’ Backs.”

Trump had no answer. “Be quiet. Just be quiet,” he said in disgust, waving his right arm dismissively at Rubio.

I think everything is said here. Nothing to add. He's a liar, a thief, and doesn't give a fuck about Americans.
hero member
Activity: 835
Merit: 500
The tenth Republican presidential was a good show, as it always is with Donald Trump on the stage.

But for the first time in this unprecedented primary election, Trump could have used a little more winning. He left the stage in Houston, Texas, having been pushed around for most of the night.

Standing between the two U.S. senators who remain the only obstacle between him and the GOP nomination, Trump was under assault from both Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas for a large part of the two-hour spectacle.

A little more than halfway through the raucous back-and-forth, Trump was clearly tiring, and angry at being under so much duress. When the radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt directed another question at Trump, the businessman and reality TV personality snapped at him in anger.

“Every single question comes to me? I know I’m here for the ratings, but it’s a little bit ridiculous,” he complained.

Rubio was relentless. He pushed, prodded, provoked and badgered Trump as no one else during the campaign has been able to do on a stage. Rubio, smiling much of the time, interrupted and talked over Trump rather than standing by and waiting for him to insult or belittle him.

And Cruz followed up on many of Rubio’s attacks or criticisms.

Rubio went on the offensive in his first answer, saying that Trump had only recently adopted a conservative stance on immigration, and then accusing him of hiring people from outside the country.

“Even today, we saw a report in one of the newspapers that Donald, you’ve hired a significant number of people from other countries to take jobs that Americans could have filled,” he said.

He was referring to a New York Times report that showed that Trump’s Palm Beach club, Mar-a-Lago, has brought in hundreds of foreign workers with temporary visas to fill jobs, while denying or ignoring hundreds of applications from American citizens.

Essentially, Rubio was calling Trump a hypocrite, given the billionaire’s campaign rhetoric about getting jobs back for Americans who have lost them, especially to immigrants. Trump compounded this impression in an interview on CNN after the debate, arguing that “you can’t get American people” for such work.

During the debate, Rubio pointed out that the Times had interviewed a number of people who would have been willing to take the work, “if you would have been willing to hire them to do it.”

Before Trump began to counterattack, Rubio demonstrated a tactic that he employed repeatedly to great effect. He launched in on Trump from another angle, pointing out that Trump was the “only person on this stage that has ever been fined for hiring people to work on your projects illegally.”

“You hired some workers from Poland,” Rubio said. As Trump began to reject the accusation as “totally wrong,” Rubio suggested that the audience simply search on Google for the evidence.

“I’m sure people are Googling it right now. Look it up: ‘Trump Polish workers.’ You’ll see a million dollars for hiring illegal workers on one of his projects. He did it,” Rubio said. Such a search quickly leads, for example, to this July 2015 Daily Beast story, “Trump Tower Was Built on Undocumented Immigrants’ Backs.”

Trump had no answer. “Be quiet. Just be quiet,” he said in disgust, waving his right arm dismissively at Rubio.

Trump did not get a breather. Cruz immediately waded in on him for not being conservative enough on immigration.

“When I was leading the fight against the ‘Gang of Eight’ amnesty bill, where was Donald? He was firing Dennis Rodman on ‘Celebrity Apprentice,’” Cruz said, mockingly.

The Texas senator, armed with his own file of facts, said that Trump had donated $50,000 to the politicians who helped pass an immigration reform bill through the Senate in 2013, which Cruz refers to as an “open borders” plan.

“When you’re funding open border politicians, you shouldn’t be surprised when they fight for open borders,” Cruz said, seeking to undercut another of Trump’s key claims, that he will have a wall built across the U.S.-Mexico border to stop all illegal immigration.

When the wall was mentioned moments later, CNN’s moderator, Wolf Blitzer, expressed skepticism that Trump would actually be able to force the Mexican government to pay for it.

How would he do this? Blitzer asked Trump. “I will,” Trump said, without elaboration.

Rubio once again started taking shots at Trump.

“If he builds the wall the way he built Trump Towers, he’ll be using illegal immigrant labor to do it,” he said. Trump rolled his eyes but did not respond. “The second thing, about the trade war,” Rubio went on, “I don’t understand, because your ties and the clothes you make [are] made in Mexico and in China. So you’re gonna be starting a trade war against your own ties and your own suits.”

Rubio pestered Trump eight times about why he didn’t make his ties and branded clothing line in the United States rather than in China and Mexico. Rubio then pivoted quickly to another attack, punching from a different angle.

As Trump was objecting that Rubio didn’t know anything about his reasons for manufacturing his clothing line in China, Rubio shot back: “Well, I don’t know anything about bankrupting four companies.”

Then he launched in again. “I don’t know anything about starting a university, and that was a fake university. There are people who borrowed $36,000 to go to Trump University, and they’re suing now,” Rubio said, discussing the ongoing lawsuit against the school (now defunct) in which Trump has been called to testify under oath.

“That’s a fake school. And you know what they got? They got to take a picture with a cardboard cutout of Donald Trump.”

Trump tried repeatedly to stop Rubio from talking and to get a word in himself, but remarkably, failed to do so. Finally, he went after Rubio for profiting from a home sale.

“Here’s a guy, here’s a guy that buys a house for $179,000, he sells it to a lobbyist — who’s probably here — for $380,000, and then legislation is passed,” Trump said.

Rubio came quickly back with another one-liner. “Here’s a guy that inherited $200 million,” he responded. “If he hadn’t inherited $200 million, you know where Donald Trump would be right now?”

Back and forth it went for much of the night.

This all led up to the most punishing blow Rubio landed, again refusing to let Trump get away with a superficial answer on how he would reform the U.S. health care system. Casually but with a touch of disdain, Rubio pressed Trump on what his plan for health insurance reform would be, other than allowing customers to shop across state lines for a plan.

“What is your plan, Mr. Trump?” Rubio said. “What is your plan on health care?”

“You don’t know,” Trump replied. “The biggest problem —“

“What’s your plan?” Rubio asked again.

“The biggest problem, I’ll have you know…” Trump said, before being interrupted once again.

“What’s your plan?” Rubio said.

Trump gave up, instead mocking Rubio for his near-catastrophic debate performance Feb. 6 in New Hampshire, when New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie badgered the Florida senator into repeating himself multiple times in a way that was subsequently mocked as robotic.

But as Trump once again invoked purchasing health plans across state lines, Rubio used Christie’s tactic against him.

“Now he’s repeating himself,” Rubio said. The audience cheered loudly and knowingly, acknowledging that Rubio was not only demonstrating a toughness that he had not shown under fire from Christie, but was using against Trump the accusation Christie used against him.

Trump was flustered.

“Is there anything else you would like to add to that?” CNN’s Dana Bash asked Trump.

“No, there’s nothing to add,” Trump said.

Trump then came in for questions over whether he would release his tax returns. He replied that because he is being audited by the Internal Revenue Service, he does not want to release them until the audit is completed, and noted that his taxes have been audited for 12 years straight.

Rubio also made light of Trump’s approach to the Middle East peace process. Even radio talk show host Glenn Beck, a big supporter of Cruz, tweeted: “Rubio is killing it.”

Ahead of next Tuesday’s primary voting in a dozen states, Rubio and Cruz both need to arrest Trump’s momentum. On Thursday night, each did about as good a job as they possibly could to change the shape of the race.

But Trump has proven hard to stop, and the next few days will reveal whether the Houston debate marked a change in the dynamics of the race or simply amounted to a few uncomfortable moments for Trump on the way to winning the nomination.
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