Donald Trump’s first debate as a real-life presidential candidate was HUuuuge. He gobbled up more airtime than any of his opponents (twice as much as Rand Paul). He was grilled over past misogynistic comments by Fox News’ Megyn Kelly. He was criticized for his companies’ bankruptcies, donating to Hillary Clinton. He was booed for not pledging support to an eventually Republican nominee and doubled down on his threat to run as a third-party candidate. We can’t say that he “won” the debate -- many Republicans loathed his performance. But he did survive. Here are a few highlights of what Trump said during last night’s debate.
1) Trump Won’t Take 3rd Party Run Off The Table
“I cannot say [if I’d pledge my support to a GOP nominee]. I have to respect the person that, if it's not me, the person that wins, if I do win, and I'm leading by quite a bit, that's what I want to do. I can totally make that pledge. If I'm the nominee, I will pledge I will not run as an independent. But -- and I am discussing it with everybody, but I'm, you know, talking about a lot of leverage. We want to win, and we will win. But I want to win as the Republican. I want to run as the Republican nominee.”
2) Stands By Misogynist Blowjob Remark, Fat-Shaming Women On Twitter
“I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct [....] And frankly, what I say, and oftentimes it’s fun, it’s kidding. We have a good time. What I say is what I say.”
3) Stands By “Mexican Rapists And Murders Comment”
“If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t even be talking about illegal immigration, Chris. You wouldn’t even be talking about it [....] The fact is, since [those comments], many killings,murders, crime, drugs pouring across the border, are money going out and the drugs coming in. And I said we need to build a wall, and it has to be built quickly. And I don’t mind having a big beautiful door in that wall so that people can come into this country legally.”
4) Evidence That Mexican Government Is Engaged In A Conspiracy To Send Criminals To The U.S.
“Border Patrol, I was at the border last week. Border Patrol, people that I deal with, that I talk to, they say this is what’s happening.”
5) Predicted Iraq War Quagmire
“In July of 2004, I came out strongly against the war with Iraq, because it was going to destabilize the Middle East. And I’m the only one on this stage that knew that and had the vision to say it. And that’s exactly what happened.”
6) Supports Single-Payer Health Care
“As far as single payer, it works in Canada. It works incredibly well in Scotland. It could have worked in a different age, which is the age you’re talking about here.”
7) Politicians Do Things For Him Because He Gives Them Money
“Well, I’ll tell you what, with Hillary Clinton, I said be at my wedding and she came to my wedding. You know why? She didn’t have a choice because I gave [to her foundation].”
8) On Business Bankruptcies That Cost Lenders Billions
“Let me just tell you about the lenders. First of all, these lenders aren’t babies. These are total killers. These are not the nice, sweet little people that you think, OK? [...] I left Atlantic City before it totally cratered, and I made a lot of money in Atlantic City, and I’m very proud of it. I want to tell you that. Very, very proud of it. [...] And by the way, this country right now owes $19 trillion. And they need somebody like me to straighten out that mess.
9) On “Evolving” From His Pro-Choice Stance
“I hate the concept of abortion. And then since then, I’ve very much evolved. And what happened is friends of mine years ago were going to have a child, and it was going to be aborted. And it wasn’t aborted. And that child today is a total superstar, a great, great child. And I saw that. And I saw other instances.”
10) Becoming A Republican Because Of NYC
“I come from a place, New York City, which is virtually, I mean, it is almost exclusively Democrat. And I have really started to see some of the negatives.”
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