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Republican debate: Rivals clash as Donald Trump makes claims about size of his genitals Republican debate: Rivals clash as Donald Trump makes claims about size of his genitals
(35 minutes later)
So many unbelievable things have happened in this presidential campaign that, at this point, it's getting hard to keep track or even be shocked anymore. The first Republican debate since the battles of Super Tuesday opened with a volley of insults and innuendo and the sight of Donald Trump seemingly bragging about the size of his genitals
But every once in awhile, something happens that makes you pause, step back and realize just how insane this ride is we're on. In exchanges more accustomed to Saturday night comedy shows, Mr Trump referred to comments his rival Marco Rubio had made last week in which he said the tycoon had small hands and that people knew “what they say about people with small hands”.
The opening of Thursday's Republican Fox News debate was one of those moments. Donald Trump, who among other things had been under fire from his opponents for the size of his hands -- a decades-old insecurity for The Donald -- went there on what everyone (okay, most everyone) in America thinks when they hear someone has small hands. On Thursday night, Mr Trump held up his hands and said no-one had ever before suggested they were small. “He said if my hands were small, then something else is small,” he said. “I guarantee there is no problem.”
"He referred to my hands," Trump said. "If they’re small, something else must be small." The bizarre turn during the 11th Republican debate came as Mr Trump was repeatedly attacked by rivals Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.
And then Trump said this: Mr Trump was forced to insist that he was still tough on immigration following claims he told the New York Times in an off-the-record briefing that he was far more flexible on the immigration issue than many believed.
"I guarantee you there's no problem." Asked directly whether he would release the recording of the meeting, he said: “I did have a meeting with the New York Times editorial board. I think being off the record is very important. I will honour it.”
It's quite possible you're shrugging right now. When it comes to Trump, who has felt the need to defend the size of his hands since a 30-year-old Vanity Fair article questioned his finger length, boasting about his size doesn't surprise you. As a reality TV show host, he once commented to a female contestant "That must be a pretty picture, you dropping to your knees." He pondered to the Rolling Stone about maybe dating his daughter if she wasn't, you know, his daughter. And now that Marco Rubio has been bringing up the allegedly small size of Trump's hands for a few days now, it was bound to come to this, right? He added: “But I will say that in immigration as well as with anything else, there has been to be tug and pull. You have to be able to have some flexibility. I may have said something like that with the New York Times. But I am not going to release something off the record.”
But let's hit pause for a moment and step back to appreciate what just happened. The Republican presidential front-runner just insinuated to America he is, without a doubt, well-endowed. Mr Cruz said: “You could resolve this issue very easily by releasing the tapes. If you went to Manhattan and said this, the voters have a right to know.”
It was a moment that shocked an already jaded press corps and epitomized for some just how out of hand (see what we did there?) the Republican presidential race has become.
  
It's perhaps poetic this happened on the same week the Republican Party is finally coming to terms that Trump is their most likely presidential nominee. They're throwing everything they got at him, from attacking his character and his wealth to the size of his hands. On Thursday, the most recent nominee, Mitt Romney, very publicly denounced Trump in no uncertain terms. The debate also higlighted the big problem facing the Republican Party was also exposed when Mr Trump’s rivals admitted they would all back him if he wins the race.
Hours later, Trump goes on live TV to "guarantee" America there is no problem with the size of his genitalia. Mr Rubio, Mr Cruz and John Kasich all pledged they will support Mr Trump if he wins the Republican nomination.
Copyright: Washington Post Mr Rubio said that he is committed to his party and therefore would support the nominee.
  Mr Cruz said he would prefer Mr Trump to either of the Democratic contenders, Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, describing the latter as a "socialist".
  Mr Kasich was the most hesitant, but ultimately said that while "sometimes (Trump) makes it a little bit hard," he would support him if he is the nominee.