GREENVILLE, S.C. — In their final debate before the South Carolina primary, the six remaining Republican presidential candidates exchanged zingers and dropped a series of sharp, tough and occasionally odd one-liners.
Here are a few of the most memorable lines:
1. Trump after Cruz criticized his abortion rights position: “You are the single biggest liar. You probably are worse than Jeb Bush. This guy lied.”
2. Donald Trump: “Not using profanity is very easy.”
3. Ted Cruz on Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s legacy: “Justice Scalia was a legal giant. He was somebody that I knew for 20 years. He was a brilliant man, he was faithful to the Constitution. He changed the arc of American legal history.”
4. Ben Carson after being asked a second question: “Two questions already, this is great.”
5. Trump on Jeb Bush’s early answers about the Iraq War: “It took Jeb Bush five days before his people told him what to say, and he ultimately said it was a mistake.”
6. Trump on Bush’s assertion that his brother, former President George W. Bush, kept the U.S. safe: “The World Trade Center came down when your brother was President.”
7. Trump: “Maybe she should be running,” he shot back after Bush said, “my mother was the strongest person I know.”
8. Rubio: “I don’t know how (Cruz) knows what I said on Univision because he doesn’t speak Spanish.” (Cruz responded briefly in Spanish.)
9. Trump: “Two days ago [Bush] said he would take his pants off and moon everybody.”
10. CBS moderator John Dickerson as Trump and Cruz fought: “Gentleman, I’m going to turn this car around.”