Trump was on the grill at Thursday night's Republican presidential debate.
Marco Rubio and his fellow Republican presidential candidates attacked Trump at the CNN debate in what turned out to be the biggest “Blame-Trump” debate yet.
Rubio and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas each went on the attack against Trump over several issues including taxes, immigration, Trump's history as a reality-television host, and his business career.
The repeated clashing came as both Cruz and Rubio are staring far up at Trump in the race for the Republican nomination. Early in the debate, Cruz filleted Trump with a quip about his reality-television career.
"In 2013, when I was leading the fight against the Gang of Eight amnesty bill, where was Donald?" Cruz said, referring to a Senate immigration bill sponsored by Rubio and seven other senators. "He was firing Dennis Rodman on 'Celebrity Apprentice.'" Cruz also accused Trump of funding the Gang of Eight bill; he said Trump had donated more than $50,000 to three Democrats and two Republicans in the group.
"When you're funding open-border politicians, you shouldn't be surprised when they fight for open borders," Cruz said.
Cruz also hit Trump over his alleged history of hiring immigrants living in the country unlawfully. Critics have long accused Trump of exploiting Polish immigrants who entered the US illegally to help build Trump Tower. "Anyone who really cared about illegal immigration wouldn't be hiring illegal immigrants," Cruz said.
Rubio later piled on, attacking Trump over his inheritance and implying he wouldn't have been a successful businessman without it.
Responding to a Trump attack about his relationship with lobbyists, Rubio said: "Here's a guy who inherited $200 million. If he hadn't inherited $200 million, you know where Donald Trump would be? He would be selling watches in Manhattan."
Rubio also attacked Trump over healthcare. Rubio said Trump's understanding of healthcare was based only around eliminating the artificial "lines" between states. "You many not be aware of this, Donald, because you don't follow this stuff very closely," Rubio said.
"What is your plan? What is your plan on healthcare? ... Your only thing is to get rid of the lines around the state," he continued.
For his part, Trump shot back at both candidates. He highlighted Rubio's recent stumble in which he repeated the same talking points during a debate. Rubio was mercilessly mocked by the media and his rivals for the repetition.
"I watched him melt down two weeks ago with Chris Christie," Trump said. After Trump went on to again tout his plan to get rid of the "lines" between states, Rubio accused Trump of his own repetition.
"Now he's repeating himself," Rubio said. "I don't repeat myself. I don't repeat myself," Trump said, talking through Rubio's applause. After Trump fought back, Rubio said, "I saw you repeat yourself five times five seconds ago."
And the candidates also tangled over tax returns, an issue on which Trump has been targeted by former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and others over the past two days. Romney suggested Wednesday that there could be a "bombshell" in Trump's returns, and he urged all the candidates to release their tax returns.
In response to a debate question about why he hadn't released his tax returns from previous years, Trump said it was because he's being audited. "As soon as the audit is done, I love it," Trump said.
Rubio said he expected his campaign would release his most recent return Friday or Saturday. He implicitly criticized Trump for his audit. "Luckily, I'm not being audited this year," Rubio said. "Or last year, for that matter."
Cruz joined in on the assault. After he was asked about why he hadn't released his tax returns from 2012 to 2014, he pivoted to attack Trump.
"I would note that … Donald says he's being audited," Cruz said. "I would think that would underscore the need to release those returns. If he has said something that was false and that an audit is going to find was fraudulent, the voters need to know.
