‘I could shoot somebody and not lose votes’
US Republican front-runner Donald Trump says he could stand in New York’s Fifth Avenue “and shoot somebody” and not lose voters.
Mr Trump and his chief rival in Iowa, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, held competing rallies across the state in the lead up to the February 1 caucuses.
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The New York billionaire and former reality TV star, who has been virtually impervious to attacks from his opponents, pushed the limits of his political rhetoric again in Sioux Centre.
“The people, my people, are so smart and you know what else they say about my people the polls, they say I have the most loyal people…. I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters,” he said making a gun pose.
“It’s, like, incredible.”
The comments come a day after 22 conservatives united in a full-blown attack of Mr Trump in conservative magazine National Review, denouncing him as “crazy” and a “glib egomaniac”.
Meanwhile, Senator Cruz has picked up the endorsement of conservative firebrand commentator Glenn Beck, a counterweight of sorts to Mr Trump’s endorsement by Sarah Palin, the 2008 vice presidential nominee.
Beck quickly went on the attack during a 45-minute speech at the Cruz event in Ankeny.
“If Donald Trump wins [Iowa], it’s going to be a snowball to hell,” Beck said.
Shortly after the rallies the Des Moines Register — Iowa’s largest and most influential newspaper — gave its coveted endorsement to Republican senator Marco Rubio and Democrat frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
The potential for more chaos in what has been a turbulent race on both the Republican and Democratic sides emerged on Saturday (local time) with the news that former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg may launch an independent run for president.
A source said part of Bloomberg’s concern was the problems that Mrs Clinton is having in defeating Sanders.
Trumps comments sign of deep insecurity and weakness: Bush
The latest Reuters-Ipsos tracking poll had Mr Trump pulling in 40.6 per cent support of Republican voters nationally.
A CNN/ORC poll has Mr Trump up in Iowa with 37 per cent to 26 per cent for Senator Cruz, who has led in some other Iowa polls.
At a First In The Nation forum for candidates in Nashua, New Hampshire, former Florida governor Jeb Bush was notably withering in his criticism of Mr Trump, calling him a fake conservative with a liberal past and a tendency to insult people.
He also reminded voters of Mr Trump’s dismissal of senator and 2008 Republican nominee John McCain as not a hero because he got captured during the Vietnam War.
“It is not strong to insult women. It is not a sign of strength when you insult Hispanics. It is not a sign of strength when you say that a POW was a loser because they got caught,” Mr Bush said.
“John McCain is a hero. It is not a sign of strength disparaging the disabled in this country. It is not.
“It is a sign of deep insecurity and weakness.”
Reuters
