The four remaining active Republican presidential candidates will take the stage at the Fox Theater in Detroit, in what promises to be yet another high drama night in a most dramatic election season.
Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich will be on stage, and the moderators are Bret Baier, Chris Wallace and Megyn Kelly. You may remember that Kelly’s questions in the very first Republican debate irritated Trump. This is their first time coming face to face since that night.
There is a protest underway outside the theater:
Protesters chanting “Flint Lives Matter” outside GOP debate in Detroit. pic.twitter.com/XapEu8CxGJ
— Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) March 4, 2016
Inside the theater, Bret Baier will be doing double duty tonight, taking photos behind the scenes–and during commercial breaks–and posting them to Instagram. Tonight he becomes the first news anchor to be featured on Instagram’s main account.
9:02 p.m. ET: Right to Romney The first question is to Donald Trump, and it’s about the speech delivered today by Mitt Romney, whose name is booed by the crowd in Detroit.
9:04 p.m. ET: And Now, the KKK Wallace follows with a question about Trump’s response to the David Duke question from Jake Tapper on CNN Sunday. “You’re probably about the 18th person to ask me the question,” Trump said.
I have to hand it to Fox News moderators. They’ve been the best so far in this cycle.
— Taegan Goddard (@politicalwire) March 4, 2016
9:06 p.m. ET: There Is No Problem Asked to respond to Rubio’s litany of jokes at Trump’s expense, Trump says, essentially, he has hands that aren’t small, and since his hands aren’t small, well, “there is no problem” with the other thing. Twitter looked pretty much like this:
Oh. my. God.
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) March 4, 2016
NOOOOOOO WAAAAAAAAY
— Matt Ford (@fordm) March 4, 2016
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) March 4, 2016
9:20 p.m. ET: Little Marco Trump has repeatedly referred to Rubio as “little Marco.” The audience is booing. Chris Wallace is trying to get back to the debate. “We’ve got to do better,” he said.
9:24 p.m. ET: Ready with Facts Asking Trump to explain his promises about saving the government money, Chris Wallace puts up full screen graphics to show that Trump’s numbers simply don’t add up.
Credit to Fox News: It asks tough questions of GOP candidates, tougher questions than Democratic candidates were asked in their debates.
— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) March 4, 2016
9:32 p.m. ET: “You’re Looking Well.” Megyn Kelly, addressing Trump, said “hi.” Trump, saying hello, said “you’re looking well,” in a reference perhaps to his comments about Kelly after the first debate.
9:36 p.m. ET: How It’s Playing with a GOP Focus Group Pollster Frank Luntz is with a group of Republican voters who so far, seem to hate a lot of what they’re seeing.
Not good – Rubio’s attacks on Trump are bombing.
The worst dial scores of any #GOPDebate so far.
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) March 4, 2016
…And Trump’s calling Rubio “this little guy” dialed just as bad.
WTF are they doing? Do they know how much viewers HATE this? #GOPDebate
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) March 4, 2016
And now, this:
The number one word my focus group used to describe tonight’s debate: “Embarrassing.”#GOPDebate
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) March 4, 2016
10:10 p.m. ET: Trump University Is Trump University a scam? Megyn Kelly asks Trump about a lawsuit–and the Better Business Bureau’s rating of the business–and repeatedly pushes back with facts.
Megyn Kelly is just schooling Trump — telling him to sit down and shut up and face the music: the court called him a Madoff level con artist
— Philip Gourevitch (@PGourevitch) March 4, 2016
So far Megyn Kelly is winning.
— Michael Weiss (@michaeldweiss) March 4, 2016
This is what prepared debate moderation looks like
— Rich Lowry (@RichLowry) March 4, 2016
Love how Megyn Kelly using “stand by” for “shut up.” Will absolutely be using this in future.
— mary mcnamara (@marymacTV) March 4, 2016
10:30 p.m. ET: Talk Time Trump, unsurprisingly, leads in talk time. Rubio, however, has fallen into last place:
Updated talk times:
Trump: 22:42
Cruz: 11:01
Kasich: 9:17
Rubio: 8:14— Domenico Montanaro (@DomenicoNPR) March 4, 2016
Gotta say, @FoxNews running a good, smart debate tonight. Really pressing candidates for substance.
— Jim Rainey (@RaineyTime) March 4, 2016
10:52 p.m. ET: This Just In Trump handed a fax to the moderators during the last break. Not sure what it may mean.
Trump handed a fax to the @FoxNews anchors during the #GOPDebate just a bit ago pic.twitter.com/EvVbvFZAgK
— Independent Journal (@INJO) March 4, 2016
11:00 p.m. ET: The Debate Has Ended Well, that was.. interesting. But for now, it’s over. Go in peace.