Donald Trump’s Republican rivals for president reacted to the frontrunner’s boycott of Thursday evening’s Fox News debate with attempts at humor at his expense.
Debate moderator Megyn Kelly — the target of Trump’s attacks as he feuded with the network in the days ahead of the debate — started the televised showdown by asking Cruz about “the elephant not in the room tonight.”
“Donald Trump has chosen not to attend this evening’s presidential debate,” Kelly said. “What message do you think that sends to the voters of Iowa?”
Texas Sen. [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore] responded by mimicking Trump’s kind of political attacks.
“I’m a maniac and everyone on this stage is stupid, fat and ugly,” Cruz quipped.
Addressing the renowned former neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Cruz continued: “And Ben, you’re a terrible surgeon.”
Turning serious, Cruz said: “Now that we’ve gotten the Donald Trump portion out of the way, I want to thank everyone here for showing the men and women of Iowa the respect to show up and make the case to the people of this state and the people of the country why each of us believe we would make the best commander in chief.”
When given the chance to speak, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush cracked: “I kind of miss Donald Trump. He was a little teddy bear to me.”
“We always had such a loving relationship in these debates and in between and the tweets,” Bush continued. “I kind of miss him. I wish he was here. Everybody else was in the witness protection program when I went after him on behalf of what the Republican cause should be: conservative principles, believing in limited government, believing in accountability, leading by fixing the things that are broken.”
At one point, during a back-and-forth with moderator Chris Wallace, Cruz appeared to make a Donald Trump-inspired joke by saying: “If you guys ask one more mean question, I may have to leave the stage.”
Rubio later said: “First of all, don’t worry, I’m not leaving the stage no matter what you ask me.”
Carson, who has lost momentum in Iowa, used Trump’s absence to emphasize how he was the only person there who was never elected to political office before.
“I will gladly confess that I’m the only one on this stage with no political title,” Carson said.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Kentucky Sen. Paul also participated in the debate in Des Moines, just days before Monday’s caucuses.
While the seven top-tier Republicans debated, Trump held his own event nearby in Des Moines, allowing former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum — who participated in the earlier debate for those who didn’t poll well enough for the primetime showdown— to join him in protest.