Tuesday evening’s CNN Republican Town Hall featured two guys (Ted Cruz and Donald Trump) who cannot stand each other and one (John Kasich), who is the unexpected extra man standing after so many other candidates suspended their own campaigns. Separating the three hopefuls from each other resulted in a less enjoyable display without political fireworks, but the trio still spent a lot of time complaining about their rivals. Over the course of three long hours, most of the town hall was a rehash of what we’ve seen at rallies, debates, and other interviews, but this was a way for candidates to refresh their views ahead of the Wisconsin primary.
As far as an evening “winner” goes, Anderson Cooper scored a pretty big haul by telling Trump he’s like a kindergartener after the frontrunner shrugged and asserted, “He started it” about Cruz. Trump also played dumb about the unflattering picture of Ted’s wife: “I thought it was a nice picture of Heidi.” Earlier in the evening, Cruz did not deny the rumors about his alleged affairs, but he did blame it all on Trump:
“The story, on its face, quoted one person: Roger Stone. Roger Stone has been Donald Trump’s chief political adviser. He planned and ran his presidential campaign and he’s been his hatchet man — he’s spent 40 years as a hatchet man. But not only that, the head of the National Enquirer, a guy named David Pecker, is good friends with Donald Trump.”
None of this was anything we didn’t know already, but again, Cruz glossed over the salaciousness of the story for obvious reasons. The Coop let that slide, but he pounced on Cruz’s desire to “carpet bomb” Syria and “patrol and secure” Muslim neighborhoods. Cruz’s answer was vague at best:
“What it means is that we target the enemy. Now, there is a difference between Islam and Islamism. Islamism is a political and theocratic philosophy that commands its adherence to wage violent jihad, to murder or to forcibly convert all infidels. By infidels, they mean every one of the rest of us.”
Perhaps the most telling parts of the evening involved Cooper asking the candidates if they’d support the Republican party’s chosen nominee. All of them admitted that they’d break their previous vow in a rare display of unified honesty. Kasich admitted, “I’ve been disturbed by some of the things I’ve seen, and I have to think about what my word and endorsement would mean in a presidential campaign.” He then delusionally claimed that he’d be the nominee before conceding that perhaps all candidates lied about supporting the eventual party nominee: “It was the first debate.”
Meanwhile, Cruz vaingloriously asserted that the GOP would choose him as their candidate. He called Trump “an absolute trainwreck,” and when pressed by Cooper, Cruz said, “I’m not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife and my family.” He considers Kasich to be a non-issue, which is perhaps a mistake. If Kasich wasn’t pulling available support from a non-Trump candidate, perhaps Cruz’s delegate take could swell.
As for Trump, he was candid about his complete refusal to support anyone but himself, and the reality star also didn’t give a lick about Kasich: “Honestly, [Cruz] doesn’t have to support me. I’m not asking for support. I want the people’s support. (Cooper repeats the question.) No, I don’t anymore.” Then Trump tried his 5-year-old routine by saying Cruz expressed the desire to break the vow first, which brings us full circle with a trio of finger pointers. Well, at least they all agreed not to support each other.
The Wisconsin primary takes place on Tuesday, April 5.