News / Politics

Republican candidates slam CNBC’s debate operation

Thursday, 29 October 2015 11:12 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 29 October 2015 11:23 AM ]

Presidential candidates Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Donald Trump, Ben Carson, and Carly Fiorina look on during the CNBC Republican presidential debate at University of Colorados Coors Events Center on October 28, 2015. (AFP photo)

US Republican candidates have become united in denouncing the US mainstream media, in particular CNBC, saying the network was encouraging conflict among the candidates rather than focusing on serious issues during the third Republican debate.

GOP candidate Ted Cruz accused the CNBC, which was hosting the debate on Wednesday night, of pitting the candidates against each other in order to promote a “cage match.”

“The questions that have been asked so far in this debate illustrate why the American people don't trust the media," said Cruz. "This is not a cage match. How about talking about the substantive issues?"

Presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks during the debate. (AFP photo)

Senator Marco Rubio also slammed CNBC for asking a question about his bookkeeping skills and that whether he had the “maturity” to be president.

“You just listed a litany of discredited attacks from Democrats and my political opponents, and I’m not going to waste 60 seconds detailing them all,” Rubio said during the debate.

The Florida senator also denounced the mainstream media as a super-PAC for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, saying, "I'm running for president because there is no way we can elect Clinton to continue the policies of Barack Obama."

“We can't afford another four years of that [the Obama Administration]. Which is what we're going to get if we elect a big government liberal like Hillary Clinton to the White House," Rubio added.

Presidential candidates Sen. Marco Rubio speaks while Jeb Bush looks on during the debate. (AFP photo)

Clinton, however, said in a statement that she would win the presidential elections.

"We're not going to let them demean women, deport immigrants, and destabilize our economy. We're going to fight for our families and our country - and if we do our jobs right, we're going to win this election," she argued.

Last week, during an 11-hour-long hearing before the House Select Committee on Benghazi, Clinton tried to deflect Republican criticism of her handling of the deadly attack on the US consulate in the Libyan city in 2012.