The 10 Republicans squaring off in Thursday night’s presidential debate served up plenty of barbs. Some were aimed at each other, but many were aimed at their presumptive Democratic opponent for the White House. Here are some of the best lines of the night, from both the primetime debate on Fox News and the earlier one involving the seven candidates who didn’t make the cut for the prime time stage.
On Hillary Clinton
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker: “It’s sad to think right now, but probably the Russian and Chinese government know more about Hillary Clinton’s e-mail server than do the members of the United States Congress.”
Carly Fiorina: "Hillary Clinton lies about Benghazi, she lied about emails, she is still defending Planned Parenthood, and she is still her party's frontrunner."
Related: Why Marco Rubio Might Just Beat Hillary Clinton
Dr. Ben Carson: “If Hillary is the [Democratic] candidate, which I doubt, that would be a dream come true….If I was trying to destroy this country, what I would do is find a way to drive wedges between all the people, drive the debt to an unsustainable level, and then step off the stage as a world leader and let our enemies increase while we decreased our capacity as a military person. And that's what she's doing.”
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio: “I would add to that that this election cannot be a resume competition. It's important to be qualified, but if this election is a resume competition, then Hillary Clinton's gonna be the next president, because she's been in office and in government longer than anybody else running here tonight.”
On Money in Politics
Donald Trump: “I will tell you that our system is broken. I gave to many people, before this, before two months ago, I was a businessman. I give to everybody. When they call, I give.”
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul: “Hey, look, look! [Trump is] already hedging his bet on the Clintons, OK? So if he doesn’t run as a Republican, maybe he supports Clinton, or maybe he runs as an independent. But I’d say that he’s already hedging his bets because he’s used to buying politicians.”
Fiorina: “I didn’t get a phone call from Bill Clinton before I jumped in the race. Did any of you get a phone call from Bill Cinton? I didn’t. Maybe it's because I hadn't given money to the [Clinton] foundation or donated to his wife's senate campaign.”
On Planned Parenthood
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee: “It’s time that we recognize the Supreme Court is not the supreme being, and we change the policy to be pro-life and protect children instead of rip up their body parts and sell them like they’re parts to a Buick.”
Rubio: “I think future generations will look back at this history of our country and call us barbarians for murdering millions of babies who we never gave a chance to live.”
Related: Stop the Presses! Donald Trump Just Took a Policy Decision on Planned Parenthood
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal: “Planned Parenthood had better hope that Hillary Clinton wins this election, because I guarantee under President Jindal, January 2017, the Department of Justice and the IRS and everybody else that we can send from the federal government will be going in to Planned Parenthood.”
On the LGBT in the Military and Fighting Terrorism
Huckabee: “The military is not a social experiment. The purpose of the military is to kill people and break things.”
Paul: “I've been fighting amidst a lot of opposition from both Hillary Clinton as well as some Republicans who wanted to send arms to the allies of ISIS. ISIS rides around in a billion dollars worth of U.S. Humvees. It's a disgrace. We've got to stop — we shouldn't fund our enemies, for goodness sakes.”
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie responding to Paul’s comments on NSA surveillance: “Listen, senator, you know, when you’re sitting in a subcommittee just blowing hot air about this, you can say things like that. When you’re responsible for protecting the lives of the American people, then what you need to do is to make sure you use the system the way it’s supposed to work.”
Paul’s response to Christie: “I don’t trust President Obama with our records. I know you gave him a big hug, and if you want to give him a big hug again, go right ahead.”
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz: “We need a commander in chief that speaks the truth. We will not defeat radical Islamic terrorism as long as we have a president unwilling to utter the words, ‘radical Islamic terrorism.’”
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham: “If you're running for president of the United States and you don't understand that we need to have more ground troops in Iraq ... then you're not ready to be commander in chief and you're not serious.”
