Elections

These Are Trump’s Top Primary Debate Moments [VIDEO]

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Phillip Stucky Political Reporter
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Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump are set to square off in their first debate Monday.

To prepare, here are some of the top moments of Trump being Trump as he eliminated 16 other contenders in the Republican primary.

1. Trump Hammers Former President George W. Bush’s Record On Iraq

During February’s CBS debate moderated by John Dickerson, Trump doubled down on his Iraq War attacks, saying Bush 43, “knew there were no” weapons of mass destruction. “You can make mistakes, but this one was a beauty.” Primary challenger former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush attempted to stand up for his family’s legacy, but was promptly beaten down.

Trump also took a shot at the audience, adding that he didn’t need to fill the audience with fundraisers, because he was a self-funded candidate.

2. Trump Talks Over Sen. Marco Rubio

During the February CNN debate in Houston, Texas, Trump slammed “lil Marco” for his Senate voting record.

Rubio attempted to assault Trump’s alleged use of illegal immigrant labor for many of his projects. “You’re only person on this stage that has ever been fined for hiring people to work on your projects illegally,” Rubio said of Trump. “You hired some workers from Poland—” Trump quickly shut Rubio down, “No, no, I’m the only one on the stage that’s hired people. You haven’t hired anybody.”

3. ‘The Wall Just Got Higher’

At the same CNN debate in Houston, Trump attacked someone not present on the debate — former Mexican president Vicente Fox. Fox had recently made statements about Trump’s proposed border wall, “I’m not going to pay for that f-ing wall.” After saying that someone in his position should be nicer, he made the simple refrain, “The wall just got 10 feet taller.”

4. Trump’s Original Response About His Taxes

Trump first faced attacks about his tax returns from Republicans, not Clinton. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney announced on Fox News the day before the debate that there was a “bombshell” in Trump’s taxes, prompting attacks from many of the primary contenders, including Sen. Ted Cruz.

“As far as my return, I want to file it, except for many years I’ve been audited every year,” Trump said. “Twelve years, or something like that. Every year they audit me, audit me, audit me…I will absolutely give my return, but I’m being audited now for two or three years, so I can’t do it until the audit is finished, obviously. And I think people would understand that.”

Romney fired off a tweet immediately after criticizing Trump’s response.

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