Donald Trump was expected to lash out at his fellow presidential candidates during the second GOP debate on Wednesday, and he really followed through. Not long after the candidates introduced themselves, Trump started bashing them. Granted, the moderators encouraged the other debaters to attack Trump by asking questions like "Would you feel comfortable with Donald Trump's finger on the nuclear code?" So of course he's going to respond to personal attacks. But he also found ways to slyly slip insults into otherwise-average responses. Here's a definitive list of Trump's insults throughout the debate, from the incredibly offensive to the just plain tacky.
One thing's for certain: Trump doesn't hold back when it comes to shaming his opponents. Whether it was about another candidates' appearance, experience, or stage presence, he never failed to take a dig at any of the Republicans he hopes to beat out for the GOP nomination. Part of the reason Trump is so entertaining to watch is his unabashed desire to say offensive and embarrassing things about other people, and a nationally televised debate is the ideal place for him to showcase his most well-known personality trait.
Here are Trump's worst insults throughout the GOP debate.
1. To Jeb Bush: "More energy tonight. I like that."
2. About George Pataki: "Everything I've done has been a tremendous success ... Pataki wouldn't be elected dog-catcher right now."
3. About Rand Paul: "I never attacked him on his looks, and believe me, there’s plenty of subject matter right there."
4. About all American women: "I will take care of women.
5. About Paul: "First of all, Rand Paul should not even be on the stage. He's number 11."
6. To Scott Walker: "You have a huge budget deficit. That's a point. That's a fact."
7. About Bush: "This is not an act of love. He's weak on immigration... he doesn't get my vote."
8. To Bush and all immigrants: "To have a country, we have to have assimilation. I'm not the first one to say this... This is a country where we speak English, not Spanish."
9. About Obama: "Somehow he just doesn’t have courage. There’s something missing with our president."
10. To Walker: "In Wisconsin you’re losing $2.2 billion right now, I would do so much better than that."
11. About all of his opponents: "The donors, the lobbyists have very strong power over these people."
12. About America: "We are so stupid to have birthright citizenship."
13. To Bush about apologizing to his wife: "I won't do that because I said nothing wrong, but I do hear she's a lovely woman."
14. About Carly Fiorina being a woman: "I think she’s got a beautiful face, and I think she’s a beautiful woman."
15. About Fiorina: "She can't run any of my companies."
16. About Hugh Hewitt: "We had a legitimate misunderstanding about his pronunciation of the name."
17. To Paul: "You do have your one percent."
18. About George W. Bush keeping America safe: "Do you feel safe right now? I don't feel so safe."