Trump, Cruz assert their standing atop Republican field

Republican presidential candidates, from left, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., businessman Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush take the stage before the Fox Business Network Republican presidential debate at the North Charleston Coliseum, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt) Republican presidential candidates, from left, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., businessman Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush take the stage before the Fox Business Network Republican presidential debate at the North Charleston Coliseum, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt)

By Associated Press January 15, 2016 1 min read

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) – Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz firmly asserted their standing atop the GOP race in Thursday night’s debate, overshadowing a crowded field of rivals still grappling for a way to overtake the fiery front-runners.

The debate underscored that the competition between Trump and Cruz will be rough-and-tumble in the days leading up to the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses. The candidates tangled over Cruz’s eligibility to serve as commander in chief and the real estate mogul’s “New York values,” with Trump besting his rival with an emotional recounting of his hometown’s response to the Sept. 11 attacks.

Trump also renewed his suggestion that Cruz may not be eligible to serve as commander in chief because he was born in Canada to an American mother.