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Primary Debates and Forums
Thursday, March 3, 2016 at Fox Theatre in Detroit, MI.
About
L-R: Rubio, Trump, Cruz, Kasich. FOX News
Thursday,
March
3,
2016
at
9:00 p.m. ET.
Post-Debate
|
video
|
transcript:
WaPo
| NYT
Sponsors: Fox News Channel,
partnering with Facebook.
Candidates: Ted Cruz, John Kasich,
Marco
Rubio, Donald Trump.
Moderators: Special Report anchor Bret Baier, The Kelly File anchor Megyn Kelly and FOX News Sunday host Chris Wallace.
Audience:
The Fox Theatre can seat a bit more than 5,000 people; the audience was
large and at times loud.
Format:
One
minute
to answer each question, and 30 seconds for followups or
rebuttals. 30-second closing
statements.
Overview:
Insults and cross talk. The reviews on this debate were
scathing. Frank Luntz suggested P.T. Barnum and Jerry Springer as
moderators; other commentators described it "embarrassing" and "bleak." The Washington Post's Ruth
Marcus penned a column headlined "The Detroit GOP debate was
presidential politics' worst day ever."
The ratings did well, however. Fox News reported that the "debate ranks as the fourth-highest primary debate in history," was "the second highest-rated telecast in FNC’s nearly 20 year history," and was "the most-watched primary event ever, via live stream," peaking at 1,489,937 concurrent streams.