A Fox News focus group of 26 South Carolina Republicans were near unanimous in their view that Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won Thursday's GOP presidential debate on Fox Business Network.
They were most impressed over the exchange between Cruz and Donald Trump over Cruz's "birthright citizenship" issue. Trump says Cruz may not be qualified to serve because he was born in Canada, though Cruz says it is a "non-issue" because his mother is a citizen.
Cruz "handled" Trump on the issue one woman told pollster Frank Luntz. "It was really evident that he was capable of taking the hit and handling it and turning Donald around on himself."
Another man described Cruz as "eloquent" and "level-headed."
When asked participants to raise their hands if they thought Cruz won the exchange every single hand was raised.
Cruz also scored well when he talked about Iran detaining 10 American sailors earlier this week.
As president, Cruz said, any nation who captures U.S. service members "will feel the full force and fury of the United States of America."