Republican presidential candidates Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz slammed the liberal media in Wednesday's debate at the University of Colorado-Boulder for applying double standards to conservatives and for not asking substantive questions.
"This is another example of the double standard that exists in this country, between the mainstream media and the conservatives," Rubio said in response to a question about an editorial from a Florida newspaper calling for him to resign because he has missed many votes in the Senate because of the campaign.
Rubio noted how such presidential candidates as Democrats John Kerry and Bob Graham — even then-Sen. Barack Obama — missed as many as 70 percent of their votes.
But the strongest exchange came between Cruz and CNBC anchor Carl Quintanilla over whether the debt ceiling should be raised.
"This is not a cage match," he began. "How about we talk about the substantive issues the American people care about?"
"Nobody believes the moderator will vote in the Republican primary. It shouldn't be about tearing into each other."
Leading up to the question, Cruz recounted some of the questions asked earlier in the debate: "Trump, are you a comic book villan?" … Jeb Bush, why are your [poll] numbers falling?"
He also noted that the moderators asked one candidate whether he could add.
"The questions that have been asked so far in this debate illustrate why the American people don't trust the media," Cruz said.
Cruz then contrasted the Republican debate to last week's Democratic debate in Las Vegas, saying that it "reflected a debate between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks" — referencing the 1917 Russian Revolution.
"The men and women on this stage have more ideas, more experience, more common sense than every participant in the Democratic debate."
"The Democratic debate, where every fawning question from the question was, 'Which of you is more handsome and wise?'"
"The questions shouldn't be trying to get us to tear into each other," Cruz said before he was cut off by another CNBC anchor, John Harwood, who said that he would now ask a question of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.
"You don't want to hear the answer?" Cruz asked repeatedly.
"You used your time on something else," Harwood responded each time before turning to Paul.
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