--- title: Republican Debate: Donald Trump Blasts "Unfair" Questions description: Republican front-runner Donald Trump did not like the tenor of the questions asked of him by Fox News during Thursday's debate. canonical: https://time.com/3988424/republican-debate-donald-trump-complaint/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-07T04:43:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:31:35.219Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Blasts 'Nasty,' 'Unfair' Debate Questions og:description: "The questions to me were not nice." og:url: https://time.com/3988424/republican-debate-donald-trump-complaint/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57e27dba134d4070/69885e4e0b72e31dbc6e54a4/donald-trump-debate-questions.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Real estate tycoon Donald Trump speaks during the prime time Republican presidential debate on August 6, 2015 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Blasts 'Nasty,' 'Unfair' Debate Questions twitter:description: "The questions to me were not nice." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57e27dba134d4070/69885e4e0b72e31dbc6e54a4/donald-trump-debate-questions.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Blasts 'Nasty,' 'Unfair' Debate Questions > Sponsored content. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=7f219aef-7ae9-40e4-8b06-ca21628fb4b1&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 2016 Republican Presidential Debate in Under 3 Minutes [Watch (HLS stream): 2016 Republican Presidential Debate in Under 3 Minutes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/AWg12u3O.m3u8) (2:31)  _Published 2015-08-07. 2016 Republican Presidential Debate in Under 3 Minutes_ by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Aug 7, 2015 4:43 AM UTC by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Aug 7, 2015 4:43 AM UTC Republican front-runner Donald Trump believes he won Thursday’s inaugural Republican presidential debate, but he’s still bristling over the tenor of the questions asked of him by Fox News. “The questions to me were not nice,” Trump told a crowded mass of reporters in “spin alley” after the debate. “I didn’t think they were appropriate.” From the outset, the real estate mogul was pressed on his commitment to the Republican Party, controversial statements about women and immigrants, his business record and shifting positions on issues, resulting in some tense moments on stage. Trump reserved his harshest criticism for Fox News host Megyn Kelly, who pressed him on a history of critical and insulting remarks about women, complaining, “I think Megyn behaved very nasty to me.” “I thought it was an unfair question,” he said. “They didn’t ask those questions of anybody else. So I thought it was an unfair question.” Trump said he would not call Fox News boss Roger Ailes to complain about his treatment, however. After the debate, Michael Cohen, Trump’s special counsel, criticized Fox News contributor and pollster Frank Luntz over a televised focus group in which Republicans criticized Trump for refusing to pledge to back the ultimate GOP nominee and rule out a third party run. > [](https://twitter.com/MichaelCohen212/status/629494998434750464) Trump was still floating a potential independent candidacy after the debate, telling reporters he believes he would beat Hillary Clinton either way. “I would beat her definitely as a Republican, an independent is tougher,” he said. Trump said he enjoyed the opportunity to mingle with his rivals, expressing praise for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush for declining to criticize him on stage. “I really had a good time,” Trump said. “I think it was an amazing debate. I got to know some of the \[other candidates\] and they really are incredible people.” ## Transcript I don't want my marriage or my guns registered in Washington. Why don't I talk about race that often I said it's because I'm a neurosurgeon. To the families of those who died in that war who say they liberated a country and deposed a ruthless dictator, how do you look at them now and say your brother's war was a mistake? Knowing what we know now, it was a mistake. How is Hilary Clinton gonna lecture me about living paycheck to paycheck? I was raised paycheck to paycheck. [ APPLAUSE ] [ MUSIC ] We need to build a wall, and it has to be built quickly. And I don't mind having a big beautiful door in that wall so that people can come into this country legally. We need to keep illegals out. I also believe we need a fence. The problem is if El Chapo builds a tunnel under the fence we have to be able to deal with that too. Mr. Trump is touching a nerve because people want the wall to be built. People want an end to illegal immigration and they want to see it end and we all do. A 4 % growth strategy means you fix a convoluted tax code. The first thing we need to do is we need to even out the tax code for small businesses so that we lower their tax rate to 25 % just as we need to lower it for all businesses. You get in and you change every aspect of regulations that are job killers. We can get rid of the internal revenue service if we would pass the fair tax which is a tax on consumption rather than attacks on people's income. We need to repeal and replace Obamacare. Iran is not a place we should be doing business with. To me we terminate the deal on day one, you reinstate the sanctions authorized by Congress. I think President Obama gave away too much, too early. I would have never released the sanctions before there was consistent evidence of compliance. The world has a burgeoning nuclear power, but the Iranians have said is we will wipe Israel off the face of the map and we will bring death to America. As governor of the state of Florida, I defunded Planned Parenthood. I created a culture of life in our state. I was in business, they asked me a question as to pro life or choice. And I said if you let it run that I hate the concept of abortion. I hate the concept of abortion. What I have advocated is that we pass a law in this country that says that all human life At every stage of its development is worthy of protection. In fact, I think that law all ready exists, it's called the Constitution of the United States. 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