Three days before the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary, the GOP candidates for president gathered Saturday night for one final debate before the votes are tallied.
The night got off to a hot start when Marco Rubio and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie tangled over Rubio’s record in the Senate. Christie immediately put Rubio on the defensive saying he’s too inexperienced to run the country. Rubio countered by saying he’s more than qualified, but took criticism from the other candidates for using a rehearsed stump speech to attack President Obama and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Saturday’s debate, hosted by ABC, saw the return of Donald Trump. Trump, who sat out the last GOP debate hosted by Fox News, took center stage and saw his most heated exchange with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush over the federal government’s use of eminent domain. Trump argued that eminent domain is necessary for projects like the Keystone XL pipeline while Bush slammed Trump for using eminent domain in Atlantic City, N.J.
The two-hour long debate got off to a rocky start when communication issues led to a botched entrance from the candidates. At one point, Dr. Ben Carson was standing back stage, but still on camera, as other candidates were being called on stage.
