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South Carolina town hall: Marco Rubio recalls racist taunts against his family – live South Carolina town hall: Rubio and Cruz attack Obama for upcoming Cuba visit – live
(35 minutes later)
3.29am GMT
03:29
Jeb Lund
Ted Cruz thinks that the fluctuations in the oil market are created by fiat currency and thinks that a dollar tied to a fixed amount of gold is a stable dollar that would level out fluctuations in the oil market.
That is a really interesting economic idea with nothing that could contradict it apart from, say, the history of America in the 19th century.
3.28am GMT
03:28
“Our relationship with Saudi Arabia is, as you know, fraught with complications,” Ted Cruz says. “When it comes to Saudi Arabia, we need ot have real scrutiny and real pressure.”
“They are not seeking our interests - they are seeking their monetary interests,” Cruz elaborates. To combat the “stranglehold” foreign nations have on American energy, Cruz says, we need to develop American-sourced energy sources. “This country is blessed with abundant natural resources... but you shouldn’t have government picking winners and losers. There shouldn’t be any subsidies.”
3.24am GMT
03:24
Megan Carpentier
Ted Cruz said tonight – incorrectly – that Trump had said George W Bush should be impeached during the last debate. He said: “To see, on a Republican presidential stage a candidate suggesting that we should have impeached George W Bush, that really draws into question the judgement of that candidate to be commander in chief.
But, though Trump attacked W Bush’s record at the last debate (and said in 2008 that he would’ve been happy to see Pelosi impeach Bush), he actually deliberately avoided suggesting he ought to have been impeached.
Perhaps Cruz was banking on most South Carolinians having skipped it?
(And, yes, it seems like one could spend all night fact checking Ted Cruz.)
3.24am GMT
03:24
A pastor asks Ted Cruz about the “growing threat” against religious values in the United States, an area of particular focus for the Cruz campaign.
“We are seeing an assault on Judeo-Christian values, we are seeing an assault on religious liberty, and we need a president who will stand up and protect those values,” Cruz says, declaring that candidates should be held to a higher standard than just parroting pro-life, anti-gay marriage statements.
“You shall know them by their fruits,” Cruz quotes the Bible, referencing his history of fighting Planned Parenthood in court and protecting a statue of the ten commandments in front of the Texas capitol. “In June of last year we saw a decision from the supreme court that was nothing short of tragic... I think there’s something really wrong when Republican candidates are echoing the talking points of Barack Obama.”
“When it comes to religious liberty, if I’m elected president I intend on the first day I enter office to instruct... every government agency that the persecution of religious liberty ends today.”
3.20am GMT
03:20
Jeb Lund
“We will not be drafting our daughters into the front lines ... I’m the father of two daughters. Women can do anything, but the idea that the federal government could forcibly conscript women into service doesn’t make any sense.”
It’s like Cruz is saying Women can do anything, except this one thing, for no reason I can come up with, because I said so, and they’re women. Unless he’s just objecting to people being drafted into combat, in which case, please condemn that happening to men, too. Because I am a lazy man, and there is no United States Army Nap Battalion.
3.19am GMT
03:19
When asked about Donald Trump’s assertion at the last Republican presidential debate that George W Bush didn’t keep the United States safe because the 9/11 terror attacks happened under his watch, Ted Cruz questions Trump’s judgment.
“I thought it was ridiculous,” Cruz says. “Listen - I like Donald. I am not gonna engage in personal attacks - but his policies don’t make sense.”
3.12am GMT
03:12
Jeb Lund
Why does Ted Cruz think that saying “radical Islamic terrorism” does anything to stop terrorism? It’s so exhausting hearing the Beetlejuice theory of military policy.
How many times do you have to say it for it to work? Do you have to say it really loud? Do you have to say it in a mirror, with the lights off, holding a candle? Who then defeats the terrorists? Is it Bloody Mary or The Candyman?
Also, it’s just such a funny argument to make from someone who has to constantly distort the record to advance his points. If naming something what it actually is magically solves problems, it’s puzzling that Cruz is so averse to telling the whole truth and nothing but in many other circumstances.
3.11am GMT
03:11
After saying that he will “shamelessly waffle” and not decide between Clemson and South Carolina, Ted Cruz is asked by an undecided voter about his wife’s potential role in a Cruz administration.
“She’s got a real heart for economic development,” Cruz says, in part because of her background as the child of Christian missionaries and in part because of her role as a managing director at Goldman Sachs. “Heidi has a real heart here in America... empowering them to achieve the American dream.”
3.11am GMT
03:11
Megan Carpentier
On Ted Cruz’s assertion that the majority of inmates at Guantánamo return to terrorism, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center told a Senate panel on 5 February that only 6 of the 88 detainees released by Obama are “directly involved in terrorist or insurgent activities”.
But when it comes to detainees released by George W Bush, he’s right.
Read more about the actual facts on Guantánamo detainees at The Guardian:
Related: Only six Guantánamo detainees released under Obama 're-engaged'
3.03am GMT
03:03
Megan Carpentier
Ted Cruz said that Planned Parenthood had been “implicated in multiple federal felonies” as a result of the debunked Center for Medical Progress videos.
It’s factually untrue: a federal judge ruled in December 2015 that there was no evidence of a crime on the tapes. In January 2016, a Texas grand jury impaneled to investigate Planned Parenthood instead indicted filmmaker David Daleidan and Sandra Merritt on charges related to tampering with government records and the purchase and sale of human organs.
3.03am GMT
03:03
There has never been an administration more hostile and antagonistic toward Israel than this administration.
– Ted Cruz, on Barack Obama’s foreign policy.
3.02am GMT
03:02
Ted Cruz is the only panelist at tonight’s town hall to come down hard on Anderson Cooper’s repeated question about whether Apple should be compelled to create a backdoor for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to enter the phone of one of the San Bernardino shooters.
“Anytime you’re dealing with issues of security and civil liberties, you’ve got to strike a delicate balance,” Cruz says. “I think we can walk and chew gum at the same time.”
2.56am GMT
02:56
“I’ll confess - I laughed out loud” when I saw Donald Trump’s letter threatening to sue me, Cruz says.
“This letter really pressed the bounds of the most frivolous and ridiculous letters I’ve ever seen,” Cruz says. “His argument in the letter is running his own words in the ad is defamation.”
2.55am GMT
02:55
Senator Ted Cruz takes the stage at CNN's town hall in South Carolina
Anderson Cooper’s first question: “How does it feel out there for you?”
“Look, it feels fantastic,” Cruz says, asserting that he’s rebuilding the “Reagan coalition” of voters. “We won among conservatives, but we also won among evangelicals. We won among Reagan Democrats and we won among young people.”
2.54am GMT2.54am GMT
02:5402:54
Jeb LundJeb Lund
At the close, Cooper and Rubio had an interesting exchange about football, which Rubio played when he was young. Back then, he admitted, they taught you to tackle with your head, which he admitted (to laughs) that the Democrats would say explains everything you need to know about Rubio.At the close, Cooper and Rubio had an interesting exchange about football, which Rubio played when he was young. Back then, he admitted, they taught you to tackle with your head, which he admitted (to laughs) that the Democrats would say explains everything you need to know about Rubio.
But, in reply to Cooper’s question about the dangers of football, he mentioned that his daughters do competitive stunt cheerleading, and he drives a car. Both those things have risks. That’s true!But, in reply to Cooper’s question about the dangers of football, he mentioned that his daughters do competitive stunt cheerleading, and he drives a car. Both those things have risks. That’s true!
Unfortunately, as anyone who’s done either know, brain damage from both ensues when something goes horribly wrong: CTE-related brain damage in football, even without tackling with anything at all, begins accruing on every play during the natural, normal execution of the game. Football fans know this.Unfortunately, as anyone who’s done either know, brain damage from both ensues when something goes horribly wrong: CTE-related brain damage in football, even without tackling with anything at all, begins accruing on every play during the natural, normal execution of the game. Football fans know this.
It was a silly answer to give, especially considering that even serious and informed football fans are flummoxed about what to do. Simply throwing up his hands and saying, “We need to try something!” would have worked.It was a silly answer to give, especially considering that even serious and informed football fans are flummoxed about what to do. Simply throwing up his hands and saying, “We need to try something!” would have worked.
But just note that, on the spot, Rubio defaulted to toeing the party line and the empty rhetoric of billionaire management.But just note that, on the spot, Rubio defaulted to toeing the party line and the empty rhetoric of billionaire management.
2.49am GMT2.49am GMT
02:4902:49
No. No! I’ve never been to a rave! It’s a Republican primary, Anderson!No. No! I’ve never been to a rave! It’s a Republican primary, Anderson!
– Marco Rubio, on his fondness for electronic dance music.– Marco Rubio, on his fondness for electronic dance music.
2.46am GMT2.46am GMT
02:4602:46
Responding to Ted Cruz’s comment that he’s “behaving like Donald Trump with a smile,” Rubio laughs.Responding to Ted Cruz’s comment that he’s “behaving like Donald Trump with a smile,” Rubio laughs.
“Donald smiles! I’ve seen him smile!” Rubio says. “Ultimately, it’s not about me, it’s not about Ted, it’s not about Donald, it’s about what this country’s gonna look like when my 15-year-old daughter graduates from college.”“Donald smiles! I’ve seen him smile!” Rubio says. “Ultimately, it’s not about me, it’s not about Ted, it’s not about Donald, it’s about what this country’s gonna look like when my 15-year-old daughter graduates from college.”
“When the stakes are that high,” Rubio continues, “that’s what I’m going to spend 99% of my time talking about.”“When the stakes are that high,” Rubio continues, “that’s what I’m going to spend 99% of my time talking about.”
2.41am GMT
02:41
An undecided South Carolina voter asks Marco Rubio about Ronald Reagan’s history of being, compared to the contemporary Republican field, more moderate on immigration, particularly refugee resettlement.
“Policies have to reflect the times in which you live,” Rubio says. “In America, there was a time where nobody locked their doors. Now everybody locks their doors. It’s not because we hate the people outside of our homes - it’s because we love the people inside of our homes.”
“If we accept 10,000, and 9,999 of them were good people, and one of them was an Isis killer, we’d have a big problem,” Rubio elaborates. “If we don’t know who you are, and we don’t know why you’re coming... we’re not going to be able to let you come, because the threat is so real.”
2.37am GMT
02:37
The most important job I will ever have is not to be president of the United States - it will be father to my four children.
– Marco Rubio
2.35am GMT
02:35
On the recent supreme court vacancy, Marco Rubio reaffirms statements he has made criticizing Barack Obama for going forward with plans to nominate a replacement for the late justice Antonin Scalia in an election year.
“I would respect that precedent,” Rubio says, referring to disputed claims that a new justice has not been nominated and confirmed in an election year in eight decades. “Bottom line is, there will be someone filling that vacancy and I think the new president should be filling that vacancy.”
Updated
at 2.38am GMT
2.29am GMT
02:29
Jeb Lund
Rubio was asked about law-enforcement discrimination against African Americans and gave a really empathetic answer. He talked about having a young African-American friend who has been pulled over seven times and never given a ticket; he wondered what that friend is supposed to think or friend is supposed to do. Rubio says that when a member of the American family feels persecuted, we have a problem.
You could tell that he’s thought about this. You felt like you were on the verge of seeing him connect with something – with the idea that there is systemic oppression and harassment of African Americans, even. It seemed like he was about to have a breakthrough.
Instead, he said: “I’m not sure there’s a political solution, but there’s something we can do.”
Then he segued into some talking points about failing public schools and mentioned a single charity group in New York.
I guess that’s what we can do. All of it.
2.25am GMT
02:25
They’re not some sort of special Jedi Council.
– Marco Rubio, on the Fed.
Updated
at 2.29am GMT
2.24am GMT
02:24
Anderson Cooper asks Marco Rubio if he has ever “felt the sting of racism.”
“Some of the neighborhood kids, older kids, were taunting my family,” Rubio says of his childhood in Las Vegas during the Mariel boatlift in 1980. “I never saw it a reflection on America, I saw it as a reflection on those kids and what they were hearing.”
Citing the record-setting racial diversity of the Republican field this year, Rubio says that “that tells you a lot about the Republican party.”
2.21am GMT
02:21
Jeb Lund
Rubio deservedly gets a lot of grief for being an empty suit – which, the vast bulk of the time, he is – but he seemed human and fairly sharp on the issue of Apple’s encryption of the San Bernardino shooter’s phone. It’s a mess, but he made it sound like the thoughtful mess that it is. He acknowledged the danger of creating backdoors to encryption that criminals could use but, pointedly, the small-government conservative did not acknowledge the ability of the government to abuse it.
That said, he also noted that companies outside the US would not be compelled to follow our backdoor encryption models, which is good point! But, after all that, he decided, “We are going to have to figure out a way forward” that would also acknowledge “exigent circumstances”.
This is sort of a big problem for Rubio because it was relatable and thoughtful stuff, but it was not an answer. It was definitely better than the really sharp, definitive and emphatic non-answers he normally gives, but it still wasn’t an answer.
Then, during the time it took me to type that, he delivered an answer to a woman in the audience on college debt full of (clearly memorized) examples and ideas almost verbatim from his last book; even I could have written those statements at least halfway from memory having read it.
As he talked, he started speaking faster and faster and rhythmically rocking left and right on the balls of his feet. Left and right, left and right, left and right. So consider the human moment ended.
2.19am GMT
02:19
We should not lower standards for anyone, because this is not a game... It’s not about the gender, it’s about the ability to do the job.
– Marco Rubio, on women in combat positions.
Updated
at 2.21am GMT
2.17am GMT
02:17
Megan Carpentier
So, what “convicted cop killer” living in Cuba was Rubio talking about when he bashed Obama’s plan to visit?
Assata Shakur (and, if you recognize only the last name, yes, she was rapper Tupac Shakur’s step-aunt and godmother).
Cuba considers her conviction political and has consistently refused to extradite her; Shakur was a member of the Black Liberation Army who was driving a vehicle with two other members when pulled over by New Jersey State troopers in 1973. Shakur and one trooper were shot and survived; Trooper Werner Foerster and one of her passengers died of gunshot wounds. Shakur was convicted after a trial in 1977 that her lawyers have argued was prejudiced (and before and during which her lawyers believe that law enforcement interfered with her defense), but she escaped and fled to Cuba in 1979.
She remains on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist List today.
Read more on Shakur here:
Related: Assata Shakur: from civil rights activist to FBI's most-wanted
Updated
at 2.23am GMT
2.14am GMT
02:14
“I know I haven’t lived as long as some of the people running for president,” Rubio says, to a retired Army general, “but none of the people running for president has as much experience in national security matters as I do.”
Citing his service in the US senate on the intelligence committee, Rubio describes his prescience in naming Isis as a major threat to the security of the United States, as well as his vote against the use of force in Syria.
“It’s the hardest vote you have to make in Congress,” says Rubio. “No one running as a Republican has shown better judgment or has more experience on national security than I do.”