Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) were seen as the winners of the fourth Republican presidential debate on Tuesday, according to Politico.

The debate, which had the fewest number of candidates in any GOP debate so far, started at 9 p.m. EST and was hosted in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This debate had only eight candidates participate: Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Rubio, Cruz, Carly Fiorina, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).  FOX Business Network and The Wall Street Journal hosted the debate.

The earlier undercard portion of the debate featured New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum. Christie and Huckabee both failed to average 2.5 percent support in four of the most recent national polls, which is why they did not participate in the main debate, according to Vox.

Bush and Paul both stood out in Tuesday night’s debate. Previously prominent candidates, like Trump and Carson, were not seen as popular in this particular debate, according to The Washington Post.

Cruz and Rubio “showcased their mastery of the facts,” according to Politico.

The candidates mainly spoke about the topics of immigration, taxes, homeland security and fiscal conservatism.

About halfway through the debate, Paul and Rubio argued about Rubio’s tax plan, which turned into a debate about defense spending versus security.

Rubio proposed to significantly increase the child tax credit, but never suggested how to pay for it. Paul then called the senator out on this, asking him how it is conservative if he plans on spending large amounts of money.

“We can’t even have an economy if we’re not safe,” Rubio countered.

Published on November 11, 2015 at 12:09 am

Contact Sara: smswann@syr.edu | @saramswann