Donald Trump’s downward spiral continued Tuesday, Nov. 10 during the fourth Republican presidential debate when he interrupted Carly Fiorina to ask his fellow candidates why she kept “interrupting everybody?”
Trump’s words have gotten him in trouble prior to this debate, but this time he garnered loud and pronounced boos from the crowd.
Fox Business Network and the Wall Street Journal hosted this GOP debate held in Milwaukee. Like the previous debates, the night was split into two debates.
The primetime debate showcased eight presidential hopefuls: businessman Donald Trump, neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Fla. Sen. Marco Rubio, former Fla. governor Jeb Bush, former tech executive Carly Fiorina, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, N.J. governor Chris Christie, Ohio governor John Kasich, and Ky. Sen. Rand Paul.
Trump’s interruption comments came after he answered a question regarding foreign policy. He said that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin have a good relationship after both being on 60 Minutes. He stressed that if Putin would like to attack ISIS, he is in full support.
Fiorina, in her normal fiery fashion, responded with a blow to Trump’s foreign policy experience – or lack thereof.
She stated that she has met Putin as well, “not in a green room for a show, but in a private meeting.” The audience reacted with a combination of laughter and applause. Fiorina continued discussing her stance on foreign policy as she fought with Paul to have her voice heard.
The onstage debacle was brought to a halt when Trump interjected with, “Why does she keep interrupting everybody?”
For college women watching, this struck a chord.
“At that point, I knew he was done,” said junior government and politics major Maddie Darbie. “He has lost his wow factor. You can tell he is just trying to get people to be distracted by his lack of political understanding.”
His comments in the past about women have also cost him some popularity.
On a clip featured on “Last Week Tonight,” Trump explains to a female reporter that, “I mean, we could say politically correct that look doesn’t matter, but the look obviously matters. Like you wouldn’t have your job if you weren’t beautiful.”
During the first debate, moderator Megyn Kelly called him out for making derogatory comments about women, calling them things such as “fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals.” Trump responded, saying that his comments were only about Rosie O’Donnell, adding, “And honestly Megyn, if you don’t like it, I’m sorry. I’ve been very nice to you, although I could probably maybe not be, based on the way you have treated me. But I wouldn’t do that.”
During an interview with Rolling Stone, he commented on Fiorina’s face and appearance.
“Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?!” he said.
When asked about his comments during the second debate, Trump responded with, “I think she’s got a beautiful face and I think she’s a beautiful woman.”
“His ‘apology’ if you can even call it that, was ill-mannered and was not helpful to the discussion at all,” said sophomore communications and government and politics major Annie Scott. “Honestly, the fact that he is unable to censor himself on national television so that he does not sound sexist is sad.”