--- title: Did CNBC Ask 'Gotcha' Questions at the Debate? You Decide description: Republican candidates and the national party are complaining about the network's questions at the debate. Here's what they asked. canonical: https://time.com/4094888/republican-debate-cnbc-questions/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-30T20:29:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:39:44.280Z article:section: Politics og:title: Did CNBC Ask 'Gotcha' Questions at the Debate? You Decide og:description: Here's what they asked, compared to what CNN asked Democrats. og:url: https://time.com/4094888/republican-debate-cnbc-questions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb94d7b20c3726c6f/69886eae3c1639282d45a740/gop-2015-debate-2-election-2016-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5184 og:image:height: 2916 og:image:alt: GOP 2016 Debate og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Did CNBC Ask 'Gotcha' Questions at the Debate? You Decide twitter:description: Here's what they asked, compared to what CNN asked Democrats. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb94d7b20c3726c6f/69886eae3c1639282d45a740/gop-2015-debate-2-election-2016-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Did CNBC Ask 'Gotcha' Questions at the Debate? You Decide > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=d0093ba6-95b5-4719-aaf3-7e20969649a9&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Watch The CNBC GOP Debate in Less Than 4 Minutes [Watch (HLS stream): Watch The CNBC GOP Debate in Less Than 4 Minutes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8UytvMpk.m3u8) (3:46)  _Published 2015-10-29. Watch The CNBC GOP Debate in Less Than 4 Minutes_ by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) and [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/) Oct 30, 2015 8:29 PM UTC Watch The CNBC GOP Debate in Less Than 4 Minutes by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) and [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/) Oct 30, 2015 8:29 PM UTC It’s a tried-and-true tactic in politics: if you don’t like the question, attack the person asking it. The Republican presidential candidates railed against their CNBC debate moderators on Wednesday night, accusing them of asking unfair questions about their records. The Republican National Committee released a statement condemning the debate while the stage lights were still on. By Friday, the RNC was moving to cut ties with its sibling, NBC, and trying to boot them as a host for a debate in early 2016\. “The questions that have been asked so far in this debate illustrate why the American people don’t trust the media,” said Texas Sen. Ted Cruz during the debate. “It’s not a very nicely asked question the way you say that,” businessman Donald Trump snarked at another point. “You just listed a litany of discredited attacks from Democrats and my political opponents and I’m not going to waste 60 seconds detailing them all,” Florida Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida responded when he was asked about his personal finances. “Even in New Jersey what you’re doing is called rude,” said that state’s Governor, Chris Christie. The attacks continued after the debate, as RNC chief Reince Priebus said in a letter Friday pulling the plug on NBC’s debate on Feb. 26 that the “questions were inaccurate or downright offensive.” The RNC says it needs assurances about debate terms and tone, although the Chairman was silent on what, exactly, he wants. Dissatisfied Republicans are meeting privately on Sunday to discuss future debates. It was an example of a party deeply disliking the results of its third serious debate and, instead of confronting problems internally, hitting outward. Cruz took the most direct aim at the debate moderators, comparing their questions to the apparently softball questions at the Democratic debate in Las Vegas earlier this month. “The contrast with the Democratic debate, where every fawning question from the media was, ‘Which of you is more handsome and why?'” Cruz said. That line and others during the debate got applause from the audience. But a closer look at the debate questions show that the tone of questions between the Republican and Democratic debates is similar. After all, the first question CNN moderator Anderson Cooper asked Hillary Clinton was “Will you say or do anything to be president?” **Read More:** [_Who Lost the Republican Debate? The Media_](http://time.com/4092090/republican-debate-news-media/) Below we’ve laid out some of the tough questions from both CNBC’s Republican debate this week, and the CNN Democratic debate on Oct. 13\. Here are the Republicans: --- > “” --- And here are the Democrats: --- > “” --- ## Transcript [00:00] Live from the University of Colorado in Boulder, the [00:04] Republican Presidential Debate. [ APPLAUSE ] My great [00:08] concern is that we are on the verge, perhaps, of [00:11] picking someone who cannot do this job. What is your [00:14] biggest weakness and what are you doing to address [00:17] it? Well, John, I don't really have any weaknesses that I [00:19] can think of. [ LAUGH ] I trust people too much. Not [00:23] really seeing myself in that position until hundreds [00:27] of thousands of people began to tell me that I needed [00:29] to do it. Well gee, after the last debate I was told that I [00:33] didn't smile enough. [ LAUGH ] [ APPLAUSE ] But I'm [00:40] not worried about my finances, I'm worried about the [00:41] finances of everyday Americans. [ INAUDIBLE ] who [00:43] today are struggling in an economy that is producing [00:46] good paying jobs, while everything else costs more. [00:49] Whose fault is it that Medicare's broke and out of [00:51] money, that Social Security broke and out of money, [00:53] and I say look, it's not Republicans' fault, it's not [00:56] Democrats' fault, it's your grandparents' fault for [00:59] having too many damn kids. Tell me what's different [01:02] between the government and Bernie [ INAUDIBLE ] who [01:05] sits in prison today for doing less than what the [01:07] government has done to the people on social security [01:10] and medicare in this country. Let's tell people the [01:12] truth. For once let's do that and stop trying to give [01:16] them some kind of fantasy that's never going to come [01:17] true. When you signed up for this, this was a six year [01:20] term. And you should be showing up to work. I mean [01:22] literally, the Senate, what is it, like a French work [01:24] week? You get like three days where you have to show [01:27] up? I don't remember you ever complaining about John [01:29] McCain's vote record. The only reason why you're [01:31] doing it now is because we're running for the same [01:32] position, and someone has convinced you that [01:34] attacking me is gonna help you. Here's the bottom line. [01:37] [ APPLAUSE ] My campaign- Would you feel more [01:40] comfortable if your employees brought guns to work? [01:43] Yes, I might feel more comfortable. I would say that I [01:48] would, and I have a permit which is very unusual in [01:51] New York, a permit to carry. And I do carry on [01:55] occasion, sometimes a lot. But I like to be [01:58] unpredictable, so people don't know exactly what you [02:00] carry. [ LAUGH ] I love Donald Trump. [02:04] Is a good man I'm wearing a Trump tie tonight. Get [02:07] over that one. Okay? Wait a sec. Al. We're clearly not [02:11] having that beer you mentioned. [ LAUGH ] But I'll give [02:15] you thirty more seconds. But I'll buy you a tequila. [02:16] Okay, alright. Or even some famous Colorado [02:19] brownies. I'll give you thirty seconds to respond. Whoa. [02:24] If somebody put me on their homepage, they did it [02:26] without my permission. Does that not speak to your [02:28] vetting process or judgment in any way? It speaks to [02:31] the fact that I don't know that it's going on. We have 19 [02:35] trillion dollars in debt, we have people out of work, we [02:39] have ISIS and Al Qaeda attacking us, and we're talking [02:42] about fantasy football? Can we stop? [ APPLAUSE ] [02:46] I'm the only one on this stage that has a plan that [02:49] would create jobs, cut taxes, balance the budget, and [02:53] could get it done because I'm realistic. You just don't [02:56] make promises like this. Why don't we just give a [02:58] chicken in every pot? You find a Democrat that's for [03:00] cutting taxes, cutting spending $ 10? I'll give him a [03:03] warm kiss. I do not want to walk my five [03:08] grandkids through the charred remains of the once [03:11] great country called America and say here you go, [03:14] $ 20 trillion worth of debt, good luck making [03:17] something out of this mess. I want a government so [03:20] small I can barely see it. I want a government so small [03:23] that the individual has a chance to drive and prosper. I [03:27] may not be your dream candidate just yet but I can [03:30] assure you I am Hillary Clinton's worst nightmare and [03:33] in your heart of hearts you cannot wait to see a debate [03:36] between Hillary Clinton and Carly Fiorina. I will tell you [03:39] this. I will beat Hillary Clinton ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4094888/republican-debate-cnbc-questions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4094888/republican-debate-cnbc-questions/"},"headline":"Did CNBC Ask 'Gotcha' Questions at the Debate? You Decide","datePublished":"2015-10-30T20:29:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-05T08:39:44.280Z","description":"Republican candidates and the national party are complaining about the network's questions at the debate. 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