--- title: Republican Debate: Donald Trump and Jeb Bush Spar on Muslims description: Donald Trump lashed out at Jeb Bush when Bush attacked his proposal to ban Muslims from the U.S. canonical: https://time.com/4150854/republican-debate-donald-trump-jeb-bush-muslims/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-16T02:16:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:28.925Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump and Jeb Bush Spar on Muslim Ban at Republican Debate og:description: "Donald is great at the one-liners" og:url: https://time.com/4150854/republican-debate-donald-trump-jeb-bush-muslims/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt76c22b27afd02ec3/698875923c1639485a45b360/republican-debate-gop-presidential-016.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4096 og:image:height: 2304 og:image:alt: US Republican Presidential debate at The Venetian Las Vegas og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump and Jeb Bush Spar on Muslim Ban at Republican Debate twitter:description: "Donald is great at the one-liners" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt76c22b27afd02ec3/698875923c1639485a45b360/republican-debate-gop-presidential-016.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump and Jeb Bush Spar on Muslim Ban at Republican Debate > Sponsored content. 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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=2aeff570-5d3e-4e9f-81c7-3624b51ae6a0&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 [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Dec 16, 2015 2:16 AM UTC  Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush at the Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas on Dec. 15, 2015. Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush at the Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas on Dec. 15, 2015. Ruth Fremson—Press Pool  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Dec 16, 2015 2:16 AM UTC The [fifth Republican debate](http://time.com/4149585/republican-debate-vegas-ted-cruz/) got off to a contentious start when the first question pitted Donald Trump and Jeb Bush against each other on Trump’s incendiary proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the United States. Trump defended his proposal, saying, “We’re not talking about religion, we’re talking about security” and “our country is out of control.” He referred to migrants fleeing Syria as “tens of thousands of people with cell phones with ISIS flags on them.” Bush was then asked about his previous comments calling Trump “unhinged” on Twitter. Bush outlined his plan to defeat ISIS and said, “Donald is great at the one-liners, but he’s a chaos candidate, and he’d be a chaos president, he would not be the Commander-in-Chief we need to keep our country safe.” Trump was quick to lash out at Bush. “He said that very simply because he’s failed in his campaign, it’s been a total disaster and nobody cares,” Trump said. But Bush continued: “Banning all Muslims will make it harder for us to do exactly what we need to do, which is destroy ISIS… We need to engage with the Arab world to make this happen.” ## Transcript Live from the University of Colorado in Boulder, the Republican Presidential Debate. [ APPLAUSE ] My great concern is that we are on the verge, perhaps, of picking someone who cannot do this job. What is your biggest weakness and what are you doing to address it? Well, John, I don't really have any weaknesses that I can think of. [ LAUGH ] I trust people too much. Not really seeing myself in that position until hundreds of thousands of people began to tell me that I needed to do it. Well gee, after the last debate I was told that I didn't smile enough. [ LAUGH ] [ APPLAUSE ] But I'm not worried about my finances, I'm worried about the finances of everyday Americans. [ INAUDIBLE ] who today are struggling in an economy that is producing good paying jobs, while everything else costs more. Whose fault is it that Medicare's broke and out of money, that Social Security broke and out of money, and I say look, it's not Republicans' fault, it's not Democrats' fault, it's your grandparents' fault for having too many damn kids. Tell me what's different between the government and Bernie [ INAUDIBLE ] who sits in prison today for doing less than what the government has done to the people on social security and medicare in this country. Let's tell people the truth. For once let's do that and stop trying to give them some kind of fantasy that's never going to come true. When you signed up for this, this was a six year term. And you should be showing up to work. I mean literally, the Senate, what is it, like a French work week? You get like three days where you have to show up? I don't remember you ever complaining about John McCain's vote record. The only reason why you're doing it now is because we're running for the same position, and someone has convinced you that attacking me is gonna help you. Here's the bottom line. [ APPLAUSE ] My campaign- Would you feel more comfortable if your employees brought guns to work? Yes, I might feel more comfortable. I would say that I would, and I have a permit which is very unusual in New York, a permit to carry. And I do carry on occasion, sometimes a lot. But I like to be unpredictable, so people don't know exactly what you carry. [ LAUGH ] I love Donald Trump. Is a good man I'm wearing a Trump tie tonight. Get over that one. Okay? Wait a sec. Al. We're clearly not having that beer you mentioned. [ LAUGH ] But I'll give you thirty more seconds. But I'll buy you a tequila. Okay, alright. Or even some famous Colorado brownies. I'll give you thirty seconds to respond. Whoa. If somebody put me on their homepage, they did it without my permission. Does that not speak to your vetting process or judgment in any way? It speaks to the fact that I don't know that it's going on. We have 19 trillion dollars in debt, we have people out of work, we have ISIS and Al Qaeda attacking us, and we're talking about fantasy football? Can we stop? [ APPLAUSE ] I'm the only one on this stage that has a plan that would create jobs, cut taxes, balance the budget, and could get it done because I'm realistic. You just don't make promises like this. Why don't we just give a chicken in every pot? You find a Democrat that's for cutting taxes, cutting spending $ 10? I'll give him a warm kiss. I do not want to walk my five grandkids through the charred remains of the once great country called America and say here you go, $ 20 trillion worth of debt, good luck making something out of this mess. I want a government so small I can barely see it. I want a government so small that the individual has a chance to drive and prosper. I may not be your dream candidate just yet but I can assure you I am Hillary Clinton's worst nightmare and in your heart of hearts you cannot wait to see a debate between Hillary Clinton and Carly Fiorina. I will tell you this. 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