--- title: Mitt Romney, John McCain Attack Donald Trump's Candidacy description: The party's last two nominees go after its current frontrunner. canonical: https://time.com/4247275/donald-trump-mitt-romney-john-mccain/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-03T23:20:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T16:58:12.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: The Remarkable Split in the Republican Party og:description: The party's last two nominees go after its current frontrunner. og:url: https://time.com/4247275/donald-trump-mitt-romney-john-mccain/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3459a57616476ac2/69888036196cf477a903a9ec/timpeol-gop-republican-debate-donald-trump-marco-rubio-ted-cruz-john-kasich-04.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2421 og:image:height: 1362 og:image:alt: TIMEPOL Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Marco Rubio og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Remarkable Split in the Republican Party twitter:description: The party's last two nominees go after its current frontrunner. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3459a57616476ac2/69888036196cf477a903a9ec/timpeol-gop-republican-debate-donald-trump-marco-rubio-ted-cruz-john-kasich-04.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Republicans Debate Amid Party Split > 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=65683bd1-7616-47b7-9ea4-4350fa593880&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Watch the Eleventh Republican Debate In Less Than Three Minutes [Watch (HLS stream): Watch the Eleventh Republican Debate In Less Than Three Minutes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oLxJkDU8.m3u8) (2:49)  _Published 2016-03-04_ by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) and [Philip Elliott / Detroit](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/) Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:58 PM UTCPublished: Mar 3, 2016 11:20 PM UTC by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) and [Philip Elliott / Detroit](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/) Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:58 PM UTCPublished: Mar 3, 2016 11:20 PM UTC No. You were not hallucinating. Donald Trump really did use the opening minutes of Thursday’s Republican debate to assure his supporters that he has an adequate penis. The 2016 race for the GOP nomination has reached peak absurdity. And voters have only been casting ballots for a month. The four remaining GOP contenders clashed in Detroit in a Fox News forum. From the start, it was clear the pile-on against Trump was going to be the central theme. In recent weeks, Trump’s rivals were lending their voices to the anti-Trump chorus. Mitt Romney and John McCain joined the fray in the hours before the debate. Trump used the first minutes to respond with typical insult. He dismissed Romney as a loser and brushed off rival Marco Rubio’s criticism. He mocked Rubio for saying he had small hands and suggested it was an implied attack on his manhood. “Look at those hands. Are they small hands?” he said. “I guarantee there is no problem.” Trump continued with his typical tone. He called Rubio “this little guy” and twice called him “Little Marco.” Trump bragged about the impact of his Twitter account. He insisted he alone could defeat likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. He dismissed Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas as someone who cannot keep up with his crowds. “I was a half million votes higher than him,” Trump said of Cruz. “I was a million votes higher than Marco. That’s a lot of votes.” It left Rubio shaking his head. “He doesn’t have answers and he’s asking us to make him the President of the United States,” Rubio said. Cruz, too, was left reeling as Trump promised to torture terrorists, blustered about immigration and bragged about his poll numbers. “Yelling and cursing at people doesn’t make you a tough guy,” the senator said. “We need a President who is rational, not someone who pops off.” Trump was not cowed. When confronted with his record in business, especially his Trump University, the billionaire interrupted and shouted. It teetered on incomprehensible and decidedly un-presidential. “Is this the debate you want playing out in the General Election?” Cruz said as Rubio and Trump shouted over each other. “Donald, learn not to interrupt. Count to 10.” Trump then turned to shout at Cruz, a former Supreme Court lawyer who looked to undermine Trump as a destined-to-fail candidate against Clinton. “He’s been on every side of every issue,” Cruz said. The business mogul’s rivals also repeatedly confronted him on his shifts on foreign policy, gun rights and even writing checks to Democrats. None of it stuck to Trump, no matter how many times Cruz reminded voters that Trump had on four occasions written checks to Clinton’s campaigns. Trump simply shrugged it off, saying he changed his mind. It was a quick dismissal of the also-ran candidates’ criticism based in policy and record. As the debate came to a close, Trump’s three rivals were boxed into a corner. All said they would honor a pledge made this summer to support the eventual GOP nominee. It was uneasy, but the trio pledged fealty. For his part, Trump refused to entertain the idea that he might let the nomination slip through his fingers. But when pressed, he said he would support the GOP nominee, effectively ending speculation that he might run as an independent candidate. But that, of course, can change tomorrow. As with most things Trump, he plays by his own rules. The debate follows an astonishing one-two punch from the Republican Party’s pair of most recent presidential nominees and an unprecedented effort to derail the party’s leading candidate to join their fraternity. On Thursday, 2012 nominee Mitt Romney and 2008 nominee John McCain urged fellow Republicans Thursday to reject billionaire Donald Trump and his front-running White House bid. Separately, dozens of foreign policy conservatives released a public letter urging Republicans to consider what a Trump administration would mean for foreign policy. It was the most open rebuke of Trump and the style of politics that has perhaps given the New Yorker an irrevocable upper hand. It also might have been the day that fully separated the Republican Establishment from the party voters who have delivered Trump wins across the nation. “If we Republicans choose Donald Trump as our nominee, the prospects for a safe and prosperous future are greatly diminished,” Romney said in Utah, encouraging voters to reject Trump in forthcoming contests. **Read More:** [_Read Mitt Romney’s Speech About Donald Trump_](http://time.com/4246596/donald-trump-mitt-romney-utah-speech/) Shortly after, McCain issued this statement: “I share the concerns about Donald Trump that my friend and former Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, described in his speech today.” The foreign policy hands, who held senior posts in the administrations of George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, were more strident. “His equation of business acumen with foreign policy experience is false,” wrote the signatories, which included Ambassadors, Cabinet Secretaries and advisers. “Not all lethal conflicts can be resolved as a real estate deal might, and there is no recourse to bankruptcy court in international affairs.” The pair joins others in their party in warning that a Trump nomination all but guarantees a Democratic winner. House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Leader Mitch McConnell have both said their majorities in Congress cannot link arms with Trump, who at various points has refused to reject an endorsement from the leader of the Ku Klux Klan, has insulted women and has spread incorrect and fear-mongering attacks on minorities, Muslims and immigrants. Many parts of the Republican Establishment have been strident in opposing Trump, but it has not mattered. ## Transcript [ APPLAUSE ] Mr. Trump, hi. Hello. How you doing? Nice to be with you Megan. Great to have you here. [ LAUGH ] You're looking well. You're looking well. How are you? [ LAUGH ] This campaign, for the last year, Donald Trump has basically mocked everybody with personal attacks. He's done so to people that are sitting on the stage today. [ APPLAUSE ] He's done so about people that are disabled. He's done it about every other candidate in this race. So if there's anyone who ever deserved to be attacked that way, it's been Donald Trump. He referred to my hands. If they're small, something else must be small. I guarantee you, there's no problem. I guarantee you. And I don't think the people of America are interested in a bunch of bickering school children. They're interested in solutions, not slogans. [ CROSSTALK ] I think I'm talking. This little guy has lied. So much- Here we go! About my record. Here we go! The personal- You asked him about the economy, and the first thing he does is launch an attack about some little guy thing. You haven't employed one person. You ever heard of Trump Steaks? You ever heard of Trump Vodka? Yeah, you know what? All these companies that he's ruined! Take a look at Trump Steaks- People say everywhere I go You seem to be the adult on the stage. You're not going to stop the corruption and the cronyism by someone who has used government power for private gain. we are talking about waterboarding. I said it's fine. And if we want to go stronger, I'd go stronger too. Because frankly that's the way I feel. Yeah. [ APPLAUSE ] Time and time again in this campaign You've actually told the voters one thing only to reverse yourself within weeks of even sometimes days. I was always against going into Iraq. In fact, believe me I was always against. The most important election in the generation And he's trying to con people into giving them their vote, just like he conned these people into giving them their money. It's a minor civil case. Donald, learn not to interrupt. It's not complicated. Count to ten, Donald. Count to ten. Give me a break. Count to ten. You have yet to answer a single serious question about any of this. Will you give us a detailed answer about foreign policy any time you're asked on it? [ INAUDIBLE ] Putin said very nice things about me, and I say very nicely, wouldn't it be nice if actually we could get along with Russia. The question is do you think that Donald Trump is naive About the threat that Vladimir Putin represents. I'm not biting. In Russia, we need to tell them we're gonna arm the Ukrainians with defensive lethal weapons. Not what you said in the op ed. That is not what you said in the op ed. Donald, please, I know it's hard not to interrupt, but try. Breathe, breathe, breathe. [ LAUGH ] You can do it. Breathe. I know it's hard. I know it's hard but just- When they're done with the yoga can I answer a question? You cannot. I really hope that we don't see yoga on this stage. Well he's very flexible so you never know. Let me just ask the voters at home, is this debate you want playing out in the general election? ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4247275/donald-trump-mitt-romney-john-mccain/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4247275/donald-trump-mitt-romney-john-mccain/"},"headline":"Republicans Debate Amid Party Split","datePublished":"2016-03-03T23:20:24.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T16:58:12.000Z","description":"The party's last two nominees go after its current frontrunner.","url":"https://time.com/4247275/donald-trump-mitt-romney-john-mccain/","keywords":["Donald Trump","2016 Election","mitt romney","John McCain"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3459a57616476ac2/69888036196cf477a903a9ec/timpeol-gop-republican-debate-donald-trump-marco-rubio-ted-cruz-john-kasich-04.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Philip Elliott / Detroit"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3459a57616476ac2/69888036196cf477a903a9ec/timpeol-gop-republican-debate-donald-trump-marco-rubio-ted-cruz-john-kasich-04.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIMEPOL Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Marco Rubio","caption":"Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump shows off the size of his hands as Florida Sen. 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