GOP 2016 Debate

Republican presidential candidates, from left, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, businessman Donald Trump, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson participate during the CBS News Republican presidential debate at the Peace Center, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, in Greenville, S.C. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

(AP)

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Who do you think won the acrimonious Republican presidential debate on Saturday night?

The six remaining Republican candidates - billionaire developer Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and neurosurgeon Ben Carson - mixed it up for two hours in their ninth debate following a moment of silence on stage for Justice Antonin Scalia, who died Saturday.

Five of the candidates - all but Bush - urged the Senate not to confirm an Obama nominee this year to the Supreme Court. Bush said Obama should nominate a consensus pick.

Fur started flying between Trump and Bush as soon as the questions turned to what the next president should do in Syria, fight ISIS or President Bashar al-Assad.

Bush said it's "absolutely ludicrous to suggest that Russia could be a positive partner" in resolving the Syria crisis, as Trump has suggested.

"Jeb is so wrong," Trump said of Bush, as the boisterous audience reacted with a chorus of boos. "We have to fight ISIS first. You have to knock out ISIS. You can't fight two wars at one time."

Trump said the war in Iraq launched by Bush's brother, former President George W. Bush, was "a big, fat mistake...We should have never been in Iraq," Trump said. "They lied. They said there were weapons of mass destruction, and they knew they were none."

Bush angrily said he is tired of Trump beating up on his family. He said that while Trump was "building a TV show, my brother was building a security apparatus" to keep the nation safe.

Trump suggested that former First Lady Barbara Bush should be running for president instead of her son Jeb.

"This is a man who insults his way to the nomination," Bush said, talking over Trump.

"This is just crazy," Kasich said of the Trump-Bush sniping, which dominated the debate. "This is just nuts."

"I think we are fixing to lose this election to Hillary Clinton if we don't stop this," Kasich said of the personal attacks.

The debate on CBS gave the six candidates the chance to impress South Carolina voters a week before the Feb. 20 primary there, with Rubio, Bush and Kasich desperate to emerge as the moderate alternative to front-runners Trump and Cruz.



Meanwhile, Carson, who finished in eighth place in the New Hampshire primary, needed a strong performance in the debate to become viable again in the 2016 presidential campaign, but he seemed to answer fewer questions than any of the candidates.

The event gave Syracuse.com readers the opportunity to participate in our unscientific poll and tell the world who they think won the debate.

Other highlights of the debate:

On immigration

Cruz called out Rubio for pushing an immigration bill with Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer that would have given workers a pathway to citizenship. Rubio said that Cruz was a passionate supporter of the same bill, which Cruz now denounces.

"For a number of weeks, Ted Cruz has just been telling lies," Rubio said.

Trump interjected that the weakest person on the stage on immigration was Bush.

Bush shot back at Trump that it's weak to disparage women, the disabled, Hispanics, and, "It's really weak to call John McCain a loser because he was a POW."



Obamacare and Medicaid

Kasich was criticized over his decision to expand Medicaid in Ohio, a move rejected by Bush as participating in Obamacare and creating further debt.

Kasich says expanding Medicaid was a good move because it helped keep people suffering from mental illness and drug addictions out of prisons.

Defunding Planned Parenthood

Cruz said Trump has been a liberal most of his life and supports giving federal funds for Planned Parenthood, which performs abortions.

"You are the single biggest liar," Trump said. "You're probably worse than Jeb Bush."

Related story: New Yorkers favor Clinton, Trump, think Clinton will be next president

"Face the Nation" host John Dickerson moderated the debate at the Peace Center in Greenville, which was likely watched by at least 10 million TV viewers. The two other panelists asking questions were CBS News chief White House correspondent Major Garrett and The Wall Street Journal's Kimberly Strassel.

The primaries in New Hampshire and Iowa, won by Trump and Cruz, respectively, have whittled down the GOP field considerably. In the third debates, held Oct. 28, 14 Republican candidates participated. Just 16 days ago, 10 Republican candidates sparred in the seventh debates, held Jan. 28, just before the Iowa primary.

But since the Iowa caucus, a stream of Republican candidates have exited the campaign, including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, businesswoman Carly Fiorina, and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore.

Note: Online polls conducted on Syracuse.com are non-scientific and their results should not be considered an accurate reflection of public opinion.

Contact Mike McAndrew anytime | email | Twitter | 315-470-3016