Watch Donald Trump Completely Crush Ted Cruz in Mere Seconds

Mediaite ^ | 11 Mar 2016 | Tommy Christopher

[mandaladon]

There are only a few days left for Republican bed-wetters to stop Donald Trump from steamrolling his way to the presidential nomination via Florida and Ohio, and if Thursday night’s CNN Republican Presidential Debate is any indication, it’s not gonna happen. There was one moment that went largely unnoticed, though, and it perfectly demonstrates why he’s winning.

It came about an hour into the debate, as Ted Cruz was launching into one of his patented Eighth-Grader-Reciting-His-Book-Report-As-Though-It’s-A-Shakespeare-Sonnet routines about how ideologically immune he is to special interests, a linchpin of his appeal, when Trump casually destroyed him. The key here is not what Trump said, but the way Cruz literally throws up his arms in surrender when he’s done:

CRUZ: When I went to Iowa and campaigned against ethanol mandates, everyone said that was political suicide. You can’t take on ethanol in Iowa. And my opponents on this stage not only didn’t do the same. They attacked me and even promised to expand corporate welfare. If we’re going to stop bankrupting our kids and grandkids, you’ve got to be willing to take on the lobbyists…

TRUMP: … if you look back to Iowa, Ted did change his view and his stance on ethanol quite a bit. He did and — at the end. Not full on, but he did change his view in the hopes of maybe doing well. And you know, I think everybody knows that. It was a front page story all over the place, and he did make a change.

BASH: Senator Cruz?

[Liz]

The desperate Cruz is resorting to belittling Trump
supporters saying we/re "low information and not engaged."

Heck, Cruz, himself, has such exemplary character traits (/snix).

<><> his industrial strength narcissistic personality.

<><> his lifelong self-absorption.

<><> putting himself first above others,

<><> always acting like he is better than the rest of humanity.

<><> a snob in spades....feeling he is destined for greatness.

<><> Cruz wouldn/t play team sports b/c he/d share the glory with others.

<><> His vaunted debate championship was not in the National Debate Tournament of 2-person teams;

<><> Cruz debated in a Canadian tournament where he received all the credit himself.

<><> his Senate reputation where most of his colleagues despise him....is well-deserved.

=======================================

Or maybe Cruz will win it all wearing his Mounty uniform?

[TheConservativeBanker]

True, but Trump doesn’t promise “sinless conservative purity” untouched by concerns about political viability or donor interests - Ted does.

[TheConservativeBanker]

Everybody gets bashed here! This is Free Republic.

[HamiltonJay]

Not sure what that clip was supposed to show, because that pause it wants to spin as a big deal was nothing of note. Didn’t see anyone talking down anyone in it.

[RummyChick]

LOLOL

Free Republic..Free Speech for All

[Mollypitcher1]

Reminder. Trump doesn’t smoke. Trump doesn’t drink. Trump doesn’t take drugs.
How much is your life worth?

[af_vet_1981]

Cruz got 1,239,370 votes but that/s only 44% of the vote---he would have needed to reach 50% to get every delegate according to Texas/ convoluted rules. He got 102 delegates.

Donald Trump got 757,618 votes....27% of the vote....he got 47 delegates. Rubio got 502,223 votes....that/s 18% ...he ended up w/ 3 Texas delegates.

So the voters in Texas rejected Cruz since more voted against him than for him. I seem to recall him, or his campaign, using that logic against Trump.

[wattsgnu]

I agree. I feel like I am now in Bizarro World. It’s a shame.

[elengr]

"4. Ted Cruz is a Constitutional conservative."

Really? Then why is he running?

At least Trump, unlike Cruz, loves the land of his birth and wants to make it great again.

[The Toll]

Neocon butthurt.

Cruz is status quo and it’s painfully obvious.

[jpsb]

lol, bump

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

It didn’t go unnoticed. Trump lied. All over the Internet people instantly responded “Trump is lying.”

[lodi90]

Did Teddy ever meet with Yeb yesterday or did they cancel it once they realized how bad it looked?

[NoDRodee]

When did Cruz ever change his position on ethanol?
What front page story is Trump talking about?

I watch pretty closely and don’t remember this, I do remember Trump criticizing Cruz for being against the mandates. I even remember the video that was all over FR late in the Iowa campaign where the farmer questioned Cruz about being against the mandate, A Cruz held his position.

I think Rubio killed Trump a lot worse on the Cuba:
Trumps only point was he would keep relations with Cuba and make great deals, great deals, great deals, without one bit of substance

Rubio slammed Trump buy telling the people what a great deal would be, by listing off all the details, made Trump look stupid.

[Fundamentally Fair]

Crush? I have laugh.

He merely refused to engage the ill-informed, inarticulate Trump.

[blueyon]

“I just watched a HUGE pivot when Dr. Ben Carson endorsed Trump about 50 minutes ago.

The power of what I witnessed will resonate for the next 4 or 5 days as we lead up to next Tuesday’s Primaries in Florida and Ohio.

Both Carson and Trump elevated themselves with the dialogue that was delivered this morning. It was BIG. “

What happened that will change things?

[georgiegirl]

Is Harvard where Cruz learned to make those hand gestures while debating? What’s the descriptive word I’m looking for: sophomoric? over the top? flailing? annoying? just stop?

[moehoward]

“It was an awful debate for Ted.”

Ted was way off his game.

[saywhatagain]

I not going to take the time to defend and cite articles, but this was one issue (ethanol) I followed closely. Mr. trump is clearly wrong on this. The problem with Cruz was the way he masterfully handled this was nuanced and I believe most did not "get" what he did"

In short he showed the farmers there was more advantage to them to drop subsidies and then he shared his energy plan to which they bought into. Again I am short on details in the moment without the citation, but it was brilliant what Cruz did. He saw an alternative to a problem and solved it.

[King of Florida]

Almost a big a mark as yesterday, when Camille Paglia called him "a ham actor doling out fake compassion like chopped liver."

Ted needs to check his privacy settings. Because a lot of people have his number.