5 Moments That Mattered at the 6th GOP Undercard Debate
Fiorina, Huckabee and Santorum made their pitches to voters in undercard debate.
— -- Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum made their pitches to voters in the sixth GOP undercard debate Thursday night. Rand Paul boycotted the event, and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore’s low poll numbers left him out of the mix.
Here are five moments that mattered:
Carly Fiorina Levels One-Two Punch at Trump and Clinton
Fiorina came out swinging.
“I haven't spent my lifetime running for office...and unlike another woman in this race I actually love spending time with my husband,” Fiorina said referring to Democratic frontrunner, Hillary Clinton.
“Clinton sits inside government and rakes in millions, handing out access and favors, and Donald Trump sits outside government and rakes in billions buying people like Hillary Clinton.”
Later in the debate, Fiorina attacked Clinton again: “Mrs. Clinton, actually you cannot wipe a server with a towel,” she said, referring to the email scandal.
Audience Boos Expanded Gun Background Checks
The presidential hopefuls on stage weren’t the only ones voicing their opposition to President Obama’s recently-unveiled executive actions on guns. Moments after one of the moderators brought up the issue, the audience responded with loud boos.
And the candidates served up some red meat.
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee compared the process of purchasing a gun to making a salad: “I purchased guns and I can assure you it is much more difficult to purchase a firearm than it is to get the ingredients of a salad at the supermarket.”
Rick Santorum Takes On Clinton
Clinton was a favorite punching bag at the debate, and Santorum used his final moments to take her on.
“I know I'm out of time, I'm going to take some of Rand Paul's time here for a second,” he said.
Santorum cast himself as “someone who fought Hillary Clinton on Iran sanctions,” adding “I fought battles against her, in 1994 I ran against the Clinton machine.”
Fiorina Calls Out the Putin-Trump “Bromance”
While discussing the fight against ISIS, Fiorina had some harsh words for the Donald Trump-Vladimir Putin mutual admiration society.
“We need to be very clear-eyed now about who are our allies and who are our adversaries,” she said. “Despite Donald Trump's bromance with Vladimir Putin, Vladimir Putin and Russia are our adversary.”
Trump has said he'll "get along fine" with Putin and the Russian leader referred to Trump as "talented, without any doubt."
The Ghost Of Lindsey Graham
Notice something missing tonight? It just might have been Graham, who dropped out of the presidential race before Christmas, but who brought a memorable -- often humorous -- presence to the first five GOP debates.
There were more than a few tweets tonight his absence from the debate stage in his own home state.
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