Republican presidential contenders faced off Saturday night at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. Taking part in the debate were New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Dr. Ben Carson, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Donald Trump, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Ohio Governor John Kasich. ABC News excluded former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina from the debate despite protests from many Republicans. Much of the debate coverage has focused on Marco Rubio for repeatedly reciting the same talking points about President Obama, even after he was called out by Chris Christie. Donald Trump defended his call to bring back the Bush-era torture tactic of waterboarding.
Donald Trump: “In the Middle East, we have people chopping the heads off Christians. We have people chopping the heads off many other people. We have things that we have never seen before—as a group, we have never seen before what’s happening right now. The medieval times—I mean, we studied medieval times. Not since medieval times have people seen what’s going on. I would bring back waterboarding, and I’d bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding.”
We’ll have more on the debate after headlines. The New Hampshire primaries are Tuesday.