--- title: Republican Debate: Read Full Text of the Eleventh Debate description: Here is the full text. canonical: https://time.com/4247496/republican-debate-transcript-eleventh-detroit-fox-news/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-04T06:06:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:50:33.889Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read the Full Transcript of the Eleventh Republican Debate og:description: Here is the full text. og:url: https://time.com/4247496/republican-debate-transcript-eleventh-detroit-fox-news/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt82c1d58d09b76c02/6988803abc6cfc36103dc012/timpeol-gop-republican-debate-donald-trump-marco-rubio-ted-cruz-john-kasich-14.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2379 og:image:height: 1338 og:image:alt: TIMEPOL Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Marco Rubio, Megyn Kelly og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read the Full Transcript of the Eleventh Republican Debate twitter:description: Here is the full text. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt82c1d58d09b76c02/6988803abc6cfc36103dc012/timpeol-gop-republican-debate-donald-trump-marco-rubio-ted-cruz-john-kasich-14.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read the Full Transcript of the Eleventh Republican Debate in Detroit > 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=297554a1-0d29-4372-b97b-786a3438a49a&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 [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Mar 4, 2016 6:06 AM UTC by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Mar 4, 2016 6:06 AM UTC The four remaining Republican presidential candidates met in Detroit for the 11th debate of the primary season. Fox News hosted the debate featuring front-runner Donald Trump, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. The moderators were Fox News hosts Megyn Kelly, Bret Baier and Chris Wallace. Here is a complete transcript. --- > “” --- ## 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/4247496/republican-debate-transcript-eleventh-detroit-fox-news/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4247496/republican-debate-transcript-eleventh-detroit-fox-news/"},"headline":"Read the Full Transcript of the Eleventh Republican Debate in Detroit","datePublished":"2016-03-04T06:06:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-05T08:50:33.889Z","description":"Here is the full text.","url":"https://time.com/4247496/republican-debate-transcript-eleventh-detroit-fox-news/","keywords":["Debates","2016 Election","Sen. 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