While Donald Trump had pledged to be “very nice” during the Fox News Republican debate, the gloves are off now that the debate is over. Donald Trump and his campaign are going on the attack against some of his top Republican rivals, Carly Fiorina, Jeb Bush, and Rand Paul.
Trump went after Fiorina on Twitter and his tweet criticizing her voice came after she appeared on several Sunday morning shows. Fiorina’s debate performance has been widely praised and polling shows her receiving a post-debate bump.
I just realized that if you listen to Carly Fiorina for more than ten minutes straight, you develop a massive headache. She has zero chance!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 9, 2015
Donald Trump also went after Senator Rand Paul. Paul had two tweets from the Donald directed at him, one criticizing him and his debate performance and the other asking about Senator Paul’s back-up plan. Trump is also not alone in criticizing Paul’s debate performance, a NBC poll found similar results.
Truly weird Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky reminds me of a spoiled brat without a properly functioning brain. He was terrible at DEBATE! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 11, 2015
Why is @RandPaul allowed to take advantage of the people of Kentucky by running for Senator and Pres. Why should Kentucky be back up plan?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 11, 2015
While Senator Paul has filed to run for re-election in the state while also running for President, that is against state law which prohibits double appearances. Paul has attempted in the past to change the law, but those attempts have not borne fruit. It is unknown how Paul plans on running for both, although the main hurdle would come should he win the nomination. However, Trump’s harshest attack was reserved for former Governor Jeb Bush and Instagram. Trump posted a short political ad on the social media site that pokes fun at the Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, in addition to Jeb.
Enough is Enough- no more Bushes! #MakeAmericaGreatAgain A video posted by Donald J. Trump (@realdonaldtrump) on
Dan Pfeiffer, who previously served as Senior Advisor to President Obama, called the ad “devastating” on Twitter. At the time of publication, the post had over 7,000 likes.
I am little late to this but the Trump Instagram ad hitting Bush is a pretty devastating hit
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) August 10, 2015
Continuing their campaign bromance, he did single Ted Cruz out for praise. While the two candidates are relatively close, the strategy is interesting for Trump as polling indicates that Cruz could be making inroads against him.
.@SenTedCruz had a very good debate, far better than Rand Paul. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 11, 2015
TKNN reached out to the Trump campaign for comment on their new, aggressive strategy, but did not hear back. TKNN will update the article if there is a response.