Thursday we witnessed some of the most artfully vicious and brutal rhetoric possibly ever seen at a presidential debate.

The Republican debate here at UH was Donald Trump versus Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio and all of them against Wolf Blitzer, who completely lost control of the candidates.

Blitzer can take some of the blame for losing control, but we saw Republicans unhinged.

Rubio had one goal: establish himself as the better alternative to Donald Trump. He showed that he can battle it out with Trump while leaving Ted Cruz to fend for himself against Trump’s attacks.

Cruz’s chances of being the Republican nominee suffered Thursday night.

Trump, once again, outright called Cruz a liar. Trump definitely weakened Cruz’s image by talking over him and not giving him the chance to defend himself, and when he did get time, he couldn’t deliver. He went back to calling Trump a liberal, a talking point that’s been used by other candidates but hasn’t been super effective.

Yes, Trump has given a lot of money to Democrats. Trump does not care, and neither do the people who support him. It is virtually impossible to insult Trump, but Rubio broke through his impenetrable composure and really rose to the occasion in defending himself.

Kasich once again showed his commitment to bringing people together, but Thursday was not the night to do this. Thursday night was about making a last-ditch effort to show you are willing to fight to be the Republican nominee for president. Kasich needed to show his brawn, and he failed.

Ben Carson again looked legitimately confused at many of the questions asked of him. He was more concerned about getting more speaking time, so much that he actually said, “Can somebody attack me, please?”

Trump literally told Maria Celeste Arraras “I don’t believe anything Telemundo says.” He appears to have proven his blatant disregard for anything involving Hispanics or Hispanic media. Then he went to talk about how Hispanics love him. It is unprecedented in modern history that a presidential candidate can be the front runner while using this kind of flagrant, disrespectful language.

Trump saying what he wants shows how he thinks. It doesn’t matter what he does or says: he will always come out of top, and he knows this.

Marco Rubio came out on top Thursday, however, and quite possibly succeeded in gaining the party nomination. If not, he has certainly gained some important ground in catching up to Ted Cruz in the polls.

Opinion editor Anthony Torres is a political science junior and may be reached at opinion@thedailycougar.com

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“The Republican party lost control of itself” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar