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• During an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on May 25, 2016, Trump said that he would be willing to debate Bernie Sanders for charity. Sanders tweeted in response, “Game on. I look forward to debating Donald Trump in California before the June 7 primary.”

• Trump reiterated on May 26, 2016, that he was interested in debating Bernie Sanders. He said he would like to raise $10 million or more for a women’s health charity in the process if he were to commit. "It should be in a big arena somewhere, and we can have a lot of fun with it,” he said.
• Trump released a statement on May 27, 2016, to formally decline the offer to debate Bernie Sanders in California. “Based on the fact that the Democratic nominating process is totally rigged and Crooked Hillary Clinton and Deborah Wasserman Schultz will not allow Bernie Sanders to win, and now that I am the presumptive Republican nominee, it seems inappropriate that I would debate the second place finisher,” he wrote.

• Trump issued several personal attacks against Ted Cruz and John Kasich on April 25, 2016, after reports of their alliance to block him from receiving delegates was announced. Trump criticized Kasich for eating in “a disgusting fashion” and called him “1 for 41,” referring to his sole primary win in Ohio. Discussing Cruz, he said, “He doesn’t know anything about the economy. He doesn’t know anything about jobs. He was a failed senator; he couldn’t get anything passed.” Commenting on their alliance, he added, “You know, if you collude in business or if you collude in the stock market, they put you in jail. But in politics — because it’s a rigged system, because it’s a corrupt enterprise — in politics, you’re allowed to collude.”

• Shortly after the Cruz and Kasich campaigns announced they would focus on different states to limit the number of delegates that Donald Trump could receive in upcoming primaries, Trump tweeted, “Wow, just announced that Lyin' Ted and Kasich are going to collude in order to keep me from getting the Republican nomination. DESPERATION!” He continued in another tweet, “Lyin' Ted and Kasich are mathematically dead and totally desperate. Their donors & special interest groups are not happy with them. Sad!”

• Following his near-sweep of New York’s delegates, Donald Trump tweeted on April 20, 2016, “Ted Cruz is mathematically out of winning the race. Now all he can do is be a spoiler, never a nice thing to do. I will beat Hillary!” In response, Cruz said, "The reason why he has so many of his media surrogates repeating the mantra that the race has got to be over now is because he knows he cannot earn a majority of the delegates in Cleveland.” He added that Trump was “a fringe and marginal candidate.”

• Remarking on the Democratic presidential candidates’ dispute over qualifications, Donald Trump tweeted on April 9, 2016, “Bernie Sanders says that Hillary Clinton is unqualified to be president. Based on her decision making ability, I can go along with that!"

• On April 3, 2016, Trump again called on John Kasich to drop out of the presidential race because it is impossible for him to win the nomination. “Kasich shouldn't be allowed to continue and the RNC shouldn't allow him to continue,” he said. Trump added that he had raised this issue with the RNC directly and was frustrated that Kasich was “taking my votes.”

Presidential scorecards for Donald Trump
Organization	Logo	Grade
Crowdpac		5.1C
LPA		F 59%

• On February 16, 2016, Donald Trump told Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo that Ted Cruz has “a mental problem.” He said, “Seriously, he’s got a mental problem. There’s never been any politician — or almost anybody in my life — that I’ve seen that lies so much. … He will say I’m against the Second Amendment. He will say I’m terribly in favor of ObamaCare, which is ridiculous. These are things that are staples of what I'm about I’m totally in favor of the Second Amendment. ... I want the Second Amendment — I’d strengthen it if anything. … By the way, I’m not the only that said it. Marco Rubio called him a liar during the debate."

• In an interview on February 16, 2016, Trump confirmed that he was “very seriously” considering suing Cruz. "I think he's a very unstable person. I have never had somebody take something you believe in and say the exact opposite,” he said.

• Trump released a statement on February 15, 2016, that accused Cruz of being “the single biggest liar I’ve ever come across, in politics or otherwise” and threatening a lawsuit against him. Trump wrote, “One of the ways I can fight back is to bring a lawsuit against him relative to the fact that he was born in Canada and therefore cannot be President. If he doesn’t take down his false ads and retract his lies, I will do so immediately. Additionally, the RNC should intervene and if they don’t they are in default of their pledge to me.”

• During the ninth Republican presidential primary debate on February 13, 2016, Donald Trump argued with Jeb Bush over Trump's opinion that George W. Bush failed to keep America safe: “How did he keep us safe when the World Trade Center -- the World -- excuse me. I lost hundreds of friends. The World Trade Center came down during the reign of George Bush. He kept us safe? That is not safe. That is not safe, Marco. That is not safe. And George Bush-- by the way, George Bush had the chance, also, and he didn't listen to the advice of his CIA.””

• Trump took to Twitter February 12, 2016, to criticize Cruz over negative adds. "If @TedCruz doesn't clean up his act, stop cheating, & doing negative ads, I have standing to sue him for not being a natural born citizen," he tweeted. Trump also tweeted, "How can Ted Cruz be an Evangelical Christian when he lies so much and is so dishonest?" and "Lying Cruz put out a statement, 'Trump & Rubio are w/Obama on gay marriage.' Cruz is the worst liar, crazy or very dishonest. Perhaps all 3?" Trump said. In response, Cruz said "There is more than a little irony in Donald accusing anyone of being nasty given the amazing torrent of insults and obscenities and vulgarities that come out of his mouth," Cruz told reporters in Greenville, South Carolina. "Being attacked by Donald, it is always colorful. I will give him this: he's not boring."

• During a rally on February 8, 2016, in New Hampshire, an attendee screamed out that Ted Cruz was a “p****.” After asking her to say it again, Trump said, "Okay, you're not allowed to say and I never expect to hear that from you again. She said – I never expect to hear that from you again! – she said: 'He's a p****.' That's terrible." As the crowd laughed and cheered, Trump seemed to jokingly scold her but said she was permitted to stay. “For the press, this is a serious reprimand," Trump added.

• Trump criticized Bush in an exchange on Twitter February 8, 2016. Trump struck first when he tweeted "Jeb Bush has zero communication skills so he spent a fortune of special interest money on a Super Bowl ad. He is a weak candidate!" Bush responded with ".@realDonaldTrump, you aren’t just a loser, you are a liar and a whiner. John McCain is a hero. Over and out." Trump replied with two tweets: "Jeb Bush is desperate - strongly in favor of #CommonCore and very weak on illegal immigration" and "Everybody is laughing at Jeb Bush-spent $100 million and is at bottom of pack. A pathetic figure!"

• On February 3, 2016, Trump said that Cruz was responsible for the United States Supreme Court’s decision to uphold provisions of the Affordable Care Act, twice. He said, "If it weren't for Ted Cruz — he's the one that got Justice Roberts onto the United States Supreme Court. He pushed him. He approved him. And Justice Roberts approved Obamacare twice when it should have been rejected. His vote got it over the top. Ted Cruz did that. Ted Cruz gave us Obamacare, believe me." According to Business Insider, “Trump overstated Cruz's role in Roberts' appointment to the high court in 2005. Cruz, who was Texas' solicitor general at the time, repeatedly praised Roberts' credentials. Cruz wouldn't enter the Senate, which debates and approves Supreme Court nominees, until 2013.” Cruz's campaign spokesman responded by saying, "Trump's claim is ridiculous, especially considering that he has advocated and supported a single-payer healthcare system along with many other social-liberal policies."

• On February 3, 2016, Donald Trump posted several tweets accusing Cruz of stealing the Iowa caucuses. When asked on Boston Herald Radio if he would sue Cruz during an interview, Trump said, “I probably will; what he did is unthinkable. He said the man has left the race and he said it during the caucus. And then when the clarification was put out by Ben Carson saying it’s untrue, they got the statement and they didn’t put it out.”

• Two days after coming in second in the Republican Iowa caucuses, Trump accused Cruz of stealing his victory. "Ted Cruz didn't win Iowa, he stole it. That is why all of the polls were so wrong and why he got far more votes than anticipated. Bad!" Trump tweeted February 3, 2016. Trump argued in subsequent tweets that Cruz won the election due to questionable mailers his campaign sent out before the caucuses. The mailers accused voters of a “voting violation” for not turning out in past elections. The cards, which say “official public record,” include a grade and the names of voters and suggested they should have turned out for Cruz in order to improve their voting record in the state. The Iowa Secretary of State’s office also criticized the mailers. Trump also took issue with the Cruz campaign for telling caucus voters that Carson was planning to drop out and should instead support Cruz. Cruz has apologized to Carson and said that his staff mistook a CNN report about Carson taking some time off of the trail as a sign that he was dropping out. Trump's final tweet of the series said, "Based on the fraud committed by Senator Ted Cruz during the Iowa Caucus, either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified."

• While discussing Cruz and his citizenship on January 29, 2016, Trump called him “an anchor baby.” He said, “Ted Cruz may not be a U.S. citizen, right? But he's an anchor baby. No, he's an anchor baby – Ted Cruz is an anchor baby in Canada.” Cruz’s campaign responded, “The only anchor here is the one being dragged behind the SS New York Values, causing Donald Trump's campaign to stall out as voters learn about his affinity for Hillary Clinton and his previous statements supporting abortion.”

• Trump’s campaign responded to Cruz’s two-man-debate invitation on January 27, 2016, saying, "If he's the last man standing and it comes down to a two-person race Donald Trump will be happy to debate him."

• During a press conference on Capitol Hill on January 21, 2016, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) railed against the Republican frontrunners, saying, “Donald Trump I think is the most unprepared person I've ever met to be commander in chief. And when it comes to Sen. Cruz, he's exhibited behavior in his time in the Senate that make it impossible for me to believe that he could bring this country together.” When asked to choose between the two, Graham said, “It's like being shot or poisoned. What does it really matter?"

• On January 16, 2016, Donald Trump was booed at the South Carolina Tea Party Coalition Convention for attacking Cruz. Trump said, "You give a campaign contribution to Ted Cruz, you get whatever the hell you want. Say whatever you want, it's okay, he didn't report his bank loans. He's got bank loans from Goldman Sachs, he's got bank loans from Citibank, folks, and then he acts like Robin Hood?"

• During the sixth Republican presidential primary debate, on January 14, 2016, Donald Trump continued to raise concerns about Canadian-born Cruz's eligibility to be president and urged him to preemptively settle the issue in court. He said, “The fact is, there is a big overhang. There's a big question mark on your head. And you can't do that to the party. You really can't. You can't do that to the party. You have to have certainty. Even if it was a one percent chance, and it's far greater than one percent because I mean, you have great constitutional lawyers that say you can't run. If there was a -- and you know I'm not bringing a suit. I promise. But the Democrats are going to bring a lawsuit, and you have to have certainty. You can't have a question. I can agree with you or not, but you can't have a question over your head.”

• On January 13, 2016, Trump responded to Cruz's criticism of his “New York values,” saying, “You know, when the World Trade Center got hit, we rebuilt that World Trade Center and we got through. Very few places in this world could have gotten through what we went through. I was so proud of New York."

• On January 4, Trump questioned whether Cruz, who was born in Canada and whose mother is an American citizen, is eligible to run for president. Trump said, “Republicans are going to have to ask themselves the question: ‘Do we want a candidate who could be tied up in court for two years?’ That’d be a big problem. It’d be a very precarious one for Republicans because he’d be running and the courts may take a long time to make a decision. You don’t want to be running and have that kind of thing over your head. I’d hate to see something like that get in his way. But a lot of people are talking about it and I know that even some states are looking at it very strongly, the fact that he was born in Canada and he has had a double passport.”

• A video featuring Trump, thought to be created by the al Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab, was released January 3, 2016, to recruit followers. The video encouraged Muslims to turn against America, claiming the U.S. has a long history of racism and discrimination that will cause Muslims to receive unfair treatment. A clip of Trump calling for the banning of Muslims from America is used in the footage, along with other Trump audio clips accompanied by Malcolm X footage and clips of previous statements by the deceased terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki. Trump responded in an interview on CBS' Face the Nation. He said, “They use other people, too. What am I going to do? I have to say what I have to say. And you (know) what I have to say? There's a problem. We have to find out what is a problem. And we have to solve that problem." He also sent out two tweets directed against Hillary Clinton’s previous comment that at the third Democratic primary debate that ”[Trump] is becoming ISIS’s best recruiter.” The tweets read: “Hillary Clinton lied last week when she said ISIS made a D.T. video. The video that ISIS made was about her husband being a degenerate” and “Al-Shabbab, not ISIS, just made a video on me - they all will as front-runner & if I speak out against them, which I must. Hillary lied!”

• On December 29, 2015, BuzzFeed reported that in 2008 Trump wrote in a blog post that Clinton would make a good president or vice president. The post read: “Hillary Clinton said she’d consider naming Barack Obama as her vice-president when she gets the nomination, but she’s nowhere near a shoo-in. For his part, Obama said he’s just focused on winning the nomination, although at least one member of his team said Clinton would make a good vice-president. (I know Hillary and I think she’d make a great president or vice-president.)”

• On December 29, 2015, in response to a question about whether reporters and other candidates would be able to talk about his past personal “indiscretions,” Trump said, "Yes, they would be." Trump also commented on his most recent feud with the Clintons, saying, "Frankly, Hillary brought up the whole thing with ‘sexist,’ and all I did was reverse it on her because she's got a major problem, happens to be right in her house. So, if she wants to do that, we're going to go right after the president, the ex-president. We'll see how it all comes out, and I feel very confident that it'll come out very well for us."

• Trump took to Twitter to criticize Bush’s immigration stance on Christmas Day 2015. He wrote, “Remember when failed candidate @JebBush said that illegals came across the border as AN ACT OF LOVE? He's spent $59 million and is at 3%.” The previous day, Trump attacked several journalists for being “very dishonest” and in the “Hillary circle of bias.”

• On December 20, 2015, Trump responded to Bush calling him a “jerk,” saying, “Jeb is an embarrassment to himself and his family, and the Republican Party has essentially -- they're not even listening to Jeb.

• During a campaign rally in Mesa, Arizona on December 16, 2015, Trump criticized the debate moderators for the fifth GOP debate, saying, "I think it is very sad that CNN leads Jeb Bush, Governor Bush, down a road by starting off virtually all the questions by ‘Mr. Trump this, Mr. Trump that.'" Trump also discussed his opinion of Bush, saying, "You know, I don't care if a guy like Jeb Bush never endorses me. It wouldn't bother me at all. I think it's a negative."

• In an interview on December 9, 2015, Trump said he believed Clinton would be his one competitor but criticized her for not having sufficient “strength” or “stamina.” He said, “I don’t think I have a competitor because I’m leading by so much. Look, I guess Hillary is going to be. She shouldn’t be allowed to run because of what happened with email. She shouldn’t even be allowed to run. What she did was totally illegal. I assume she’s my biggest candidate. … She doesn’t have the strength or the stamina. She’s got a name and people stupidly will vote for her.”

• Trump lashed out at Ben Carson in a 95-minute speech during a rally in Iowa on November 12, 2015, stating Carson’s “pathological temper” was incurable like “child molesting.” He said, “You don't cure these people. You don't cure a child molester. There's no cure for it. Pathological, there's no cure for that." Trump also mocked Carson over the story in his autobiography that he stabbed someone during a violent period in his youth, but the knife hit the victim's belt buckle preventing injury. Trump said, "He hit the belt buckle. Anybody have a knife? Want to try it on me? Believe me, it ain't gonna work. You're going to be successful, but he took the knife and went like this and he plunged it into the belt and, amazing, the belt stayed totally flat and the knife broke. … How stupid are the people of Iowa? How stupid are the people of the country to believe this crap?"

• Trump took to Twitter on the evening of November 5, 2015, to question Carson's narrative of his own upbringing and childhood. “The Carson story is either a total fabrication or, if true, even worse-trying to hit mother over the head with a hammer or stabbing friend!” Trump tweeted.

• Trump retweeted a message November 3, 2015, that read: "ADIOS, JEB aka JOSÉ." The tweet was accompanied by more than a dozen images seeming to attack his rival Bush and his family, and one of those graphics featured a swastika next to Bush's face. One of the other pictures showed Bush standing next to cactus plants wearing a sombrero. Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said in a statement to CNN that Trump retweeted the tweet in question "like hundreds of others," confirming that the candidate himself had personally sent out the retweet. "He did not see the accompanying image and the retweet has since been deleted," Hicks said.

• During a campaign rally on October 24, 2015, Trump questioned Carson’s faith, saying, “Nobody believes I'm Presbyterian. I'm Presbyterian. … Boy, that's down the middle of the road folks, in all fairness. I mean, Seventh-day Adventist, I don't know about. I just don't know about."

• On October 10, 2015, Trump said Clinton should not be permitted to run for president because of the investigation into her use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state. He said if a Republican had done the same, he “would be in jail 12 months ago.”

• In a radio interview on October 8, 2015, Cruz said he doubted Trump would be the Republican nominee and suggested “in time, the lion's share of his supporters end up with us.” He added, “I think his involvement has been tremendously helpful to my campaign because it has framed the central question of the primary as: Who will stand up to Washington?”

• Bobby Jindal wrote an op-ed for Fox News on October 1, 2015, critiquing Trump's proposal for “government controlled health care.” Jindal warned, “If we capitulate on this issue, we lose our rationale as a political force. This is conservatism’s last redoubt. Health care is our Alamo. It will either be the gateway through which the forces of corruption and socialism ride, or it will become emblematic of the conservative revolution which takes back our country.”

• Trump tweeted on September 29, 2015, “Prediction: Rand Paul has been driven out of the race by my statements about him-- he will announce soon. 1%!”

• Jindal's campaign released a video on September 28, 2015, likening Trump to the title character from Zoolander. The ad ends with the words, “It’s time to get serious.” On the same day, Jindal posted a statement on his campaign website regarding Trump’s healthcare policy. Jindal said, “Trump has of course endorsed socialized medicine in the past, but in the past he has also endorsed abortion, Clinton, the Democrat Party, and every other liberal thing you can think of. It was good of Trump to reaffirm his support for the government takeover of health care for Republican primary voters. This will likely accelerate Trump’s downward slide in the polls.”

• Although Lawrence Lessig praised Trump for highlighting the influence of money on politics, Lessig said in September 2015, “Donald Trump's solution to the problem he's identified is to elect billionaires. I think we fought a revolution about that and sent the aristocrats home.”

• On September 24, 2015, Trump defended his use of the word “shrill” to describe Clinton]. “I know men that are shrill and it's just an expression that I thought of as I was speaking. I thought it was a very accurate expression would call Rand Paul shrill. I think he's shrill. I don't think that's a term that applies exclusively to women at all,” said Trump.

• In response to Trump calling him a “lightweight," Marco Rubio said on September 24, 2015, “[Trump] had a really bad debate performance last week. He's not well informed on the issues. He really never talks about issues and can't have more than a 10-second sound bite on any key issue. I think he's kind of been exposed a little bit over the last seven days and he's a touchy and insecure guy. So that's how he reacts and people can see through it."

• In a September 2015 interview with People, Carly Fiorina said Trump “missed the point” when he called her “beautiful” at the second Republican presidential debate. “The point is, whether a man thinks you're homely or a man thinks you're beautiful, it's not a topic of conversation when a woman is trying to do a job – whether it's president of the United States or secretary or anything else,” she explained.

• On September 22, 2015, Trump tweeted, “Senator Marco ‘amnesty’ Rubio, who has worst voting record in Senate, just hit me on national security-but I said don't go into Iraq. VISION.”

• On September 21, 2015, Trump released a video on Instagram featuring Bush speaking about immigration and the war in Iraq before implying he was an active user of marijuana.

• At a town hall event for Trump on September 17, 2015, an audience member suggested President Obama was both a Muslim and foreigner. At first, Trump said, “We need this question. This is the first question." After the man asked Trump “when” the country could “get rid of” Muslims, Trump responded, “We're going to be looking at a lot of different things. You know, a lot of people are saying that and a lot of people are saying that bad things are happening. We're going to be looking at that and many other things."

• On September 18, 2015, Chris Christie said he would not have “permitted” the audience member’s allegations. “Listen, Donald Trump's got to decide, as we've seen, I've said this all along. He's got to decide how serious a candidate he wants to be and how he handles different problems like this are going to determine that in the eyes of the American people," Christie said.

• On September 17, 2015, Bush suggested Trump used “dog whistle terms” as he defended his wife in an interview on Fox News. “The simple fact is disparaging people’s family isn't going to get him elected President of the United States," Bush said. "I'm proud of my wife, she has been a great First Lady of the State of Florida. She focused on drug prevention, on domestic violence, on arts and education. She's a great American. And to have all these dog whistle terms that make it sound like one group of Americans is different than the other, that's not Reaganesque, that's not America, that's not good."

• Trump commented on Marco Rubio’s Senate voting record in the Republican debate on September 16, 2015. “I am not sitting in the United States Senate with, by the way, the worst voting record there is today. Number one. I am not sitting in the United States Senate. I’m a businessman doing business transactions,” said Trump. Rubio responded that he was leaving the Senate and running for president, "because in my years in the Senate, I’ve figured out very quickly that the political establishment in Washington, D.C. in both political parties is completely out of touch with the lives of our people."

• On September 13, 2015, George Pataki tweeted that his Republican competitors should “stand up and say [the Republican Party] cannot nominate” Trump. Trump immediately responded, tweeting, “Why is someone like George Pataki, who did a terrible job as Governor of N.Y. and registers ZERO in the polls, allowed on the debate stage?” Pataki answered, “Why is a serially bankrupt @RealDonaldTrump who insults Mexicans, Women, Blacks, Jews & POW's on #2016 debate stage? #TajMahal #TrumpCastle.”

• In an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on September 12, 2015, Paul said, “I think Trump’s a fake conservative. I also think he’s dangerous to the party and to the country, because I think someone who really has the swagger of a teenager is not someone you really want to be in charge of your nuclear weapons.” Trump had attacked Paul over Twitter that afternoon, writing, “Too many people on stage for debate. @RandPaul at 11th, with 2% in @RealClearNews, shouldn't be allowed to participate” and “I truly understood the appeal of Ron Paul, but his son, @RandPaul, didn't get the right gene.”

• Bush defended Carly Fiorina following remarks Trump made about her appearance. Bush said on September 10, 2015, “This disparaging of women is deeply troubling. It just doesn't make any sense to me. Carly Fiorina has made a good contribution already and will continue to make a contribution in this nomination process. She should be respected as a talented person and a viable candidate."

• Bobby Jindal launched an assault against Trump on September 10, 2015, in a speech before the National Press Club. "I want to say what everyone is thinking about Donald Trump but is afraid to say," Jindal said before calling Trump "unstable," "a narcissist," "unserious" and "a carnival act.”

• In a Rolling Stone interview published on September 9, 2015, Trump insulted Fiorina's appearance and suggested she should not be president because of it. "Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president? I mean, she's a woman, and I'm not [supposed to] say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?" Trump said.

• Fiorina responded to Trump’s comments in an interview with Fox News’ Megyn Kelly on September 9, 2015. She said, “Maybe, just maybe, I'm getting under his skin a little bit because I am climbing in the polls."

• In a Fox News interview on September 10, 2015, Trump said he wasn't referring to Fiorina's "look." He explained, “Probably I did say something like that about Carly. I’m talking about persona, I’m not talking about look." He added that the media doesn’t publicize when he gets criticized for his hair.

• In an interview with Glenn Beck on September 9, 2015, Paul said none of Trump's positions aligned with Tea Party values. “I think to me the most offensive of the positions that he’s taken isn’t that he was for Obamacare before he was against it, or that he’s for higher taxes or the government stimulus. It probably is this notion of private property. Most of his business deals have been predicated upon asking government to take land from other people,” Paul said.

• When Carson was asked what differentiated him from Trump on September 9, 2015, Carson responded, "I've realized where my success has come from, and I don't in any way deny my faith in God. And I think that is the big difference.” He added, “By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life and that's a very big part of who I am. I don't get that impression with (Trump.) Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't get that."

• On September 10, 2015, Trump responded to Carson's comments by saying Carson made “Bush look like the Energizer bunny.” He added that Carson’s shifting views on abortion were “horrendous” and the reason Trump was more successful in courting evangelical voters than Carson.

• Carson said on September 10, 2015, he was not going to allow the media to “goad” him “into gladiator fights” with other candidates. He clarified that his comments on Trump's religiosity were not intended to offend. Carson said, “I would like to say to him that the intention was not to talk to him but about what motivates me. If he took that as a personal attack on him, I apologize, it was certainly not the intent.”

• Trump released an Instagram video on September 8, 2015, comparing Bush to a sleeping medication after cameras caught an attendee sleeping at a Bush event during the first week of September 2015.

• After Trump announced he had signed the Republican National Committee’s loyalty pledge on September 3, 2015, Paul wrote three tweets stating, “In our first debate, @realDonaldTrump raised his hand in front of 25 million people to not run third party. I called him out for it. I spent the last few weeks making sure people knew it was not acceptable to potentially throw the next election to Hillary. I am glad to see @realDonaldTrump capitulated and changed course after our debate.”

• In an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on September 2, 2015, Lindsey Graham said he was not pursuing the voting bloc Trump had connected with. Graham said, “Well, he’s consolidated all Republicans who think Obama’s a Muslim … and that he was born in Kenya. So whatever bloc that is [is] what he’s got. And I’m going for the other crowd. I’m going for the crowd that says, OK, I think he’s a Christian, I believe he was born in Hawaii, but he’s a bad president and he’s been a very poor commander in chief."

• On September 2, 2015, Trump said Bush's campaign was partially paid for with special interest money. “Well, I think he had really no choice. He’s doing very poorly in the polls, he’s a very low-energy kind of guy, and he had to do something. So they’re spending a lot of money on ads, and you know, he has a lot of money from the hedge fund guys, from the special interests, from lobbyists — he raised over a hundred million dollars, so they control him totally,” Trump said.

• In an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America" on September 2, 2015, Trump attributed Carson’s rise in Iowa polls to the “tremendous amount of advertising money” his campaign spent in the state.

• Trump criticized Bush for speaking Spanish to press after a town hall in Miami on September 1, 2015. “I like Jeb; he’s a nice man. But he should really set the example by speaking English while in the United States,” Trump said. He also responded to Jeb Bush’s new offensive on September 1, 2015, that labeled him as a true liberal and false conservative. He said, “In New York City, everybody was a Democrat. There was almost no election because the Republicans hardly existed in New York City.”

• On September 3, 2015, Bush responded, “Taking this to the logical conclusion, I guess, no more French classes for public schools? 'German, no we can’t have that. You can only speak English.’ I mean English is the language of our country and people that come to this country need to learn English. That doesn’t mean they should stop speaking their native tongue. … I think this is pretty bizarre to be honest with you. And it sends a pretty ugly signal to people that somehow we’re creating a different standard for one group against the other.”

• On August 31, 2015, Rand Paul said the Republican Party would likely suffer its worst loss since 1964 if Trump won the GOP nomination. “There is a lot of bluster and anger on Trump’s part, but a lot of his solutions are big government solutions. I think eventually people are going to come to their senses and say ‘oh my God, I liked his angry vitriol, but I didn’t realize he was for gun control, Obamacare, increasing taxes, and taking private property,'" he said.

• On August 31, 2015, Former Rep. Anthony Weiner, husband of Clinton aide Huma Abedin called Trump's comments that Abedin may have shared state secrets with him “insulting” and "outrageous."

• Trump attacked Clinton’s longtime aide, Huma Abedin, for potentially sharing secrets with her husband and former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) on August 28, 2015. “Who is Huma married to? One of the great sleezebags of our time: Anthony Weiner. … So she's married to Anthony Weiner. Do you think there is even a 5 percent chance she is not telling Anthony Weiner — now of a public relations firm — what the hell is coming across?” Trump said. The following day, Trump maintained his criticism of Abedin and Weiner, saying, “I think it's a very fair statement that I made and a lot of people have congratulated me.”

• Jim Gilmore released a statement on August 28, 2015, saying he would challenge Trump to a debate on birthright citizenship. “His comments are irresponsible, offensive to Latinos and a threat to the U.S. Constitution,” Gilmore said.

• In response to a Monmouth University poll of South Carolina Republicans, Trump tweeted on August 25, 2015, “Congrats @LindseyGrahamSC. You just got 4 points in your home state of SC—far better than zero nationally. You're only 26 pts behind me.”

• Speaking of Trump's rejection of money from lobbyists and special interest groups, Lessig said in an August 2015 interview, "Donald Trump is the biggest gift to the movement for reform since the Supreme Court gave us Citizens United. What he’s saying is absolutely correct, the absolute truth. He has pulled back the curtain."

• At a fundraiser in South Carolina on August 24, 2015, Cruz complimented Trump for “shining a light” on immigration and border issues. “There have been an awful lot of Republican presidential candidates who have gone out of their way to take a stick to Donald Trump. I am not one of them,” Cruz noted.

• Paul wrote an op-ed in Breitbart to protest eminent domain and Trump's business practices on August 24, 2015. He argued, “Donald Trump cannot fix our problems because he is an integral part of the problem. From using government to seize property to enrich himself, to hiring lobbyists to get what he wanted, Donald Trump has bought access to government at all levels and exploited that access for personal gain,” Paul said.

• On August 21, 2015, Trump criticized Martin O'Malley for apologizing to Black Lives Matter activists. “He apologized like a little baby, like a disgusting, little, weak, pathetic baby, and that’s the problem with our country,” Trump said of the Democratic candidate.

• During an August 23, 2015, interview on ABC’s “This Week,” O'Malley addressed Trump's comments, saying, "I am not going to get into a name-calling debate with Mr. Trump. I did take great exception to the hateful language he uses with regards to whole groups of new American immigrants. And I also have a great deal of disagreement with the economic policies he espouses, which are good for billionaires but bad for working people."

• During a town hall on August 19, 2015, Bush attacked Trump for not being a dedicated Republican. “Mr. Trump doesn't have a proven conservative record. He was a Democrat longer in the last decade than he was a Republican. He's given more money to Democrats than he's given to Republicans,” Bush said.

• Trump held a town hall in New Hampshire on the same day to compete with Jeb Bush’s just 15 miles away. “I don’t see how he’s electable. Jeb Bush is a low energy person. For him to get things done is hard. He’s very low energy,” Trump said.

• After praising U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte on August 14, 2015, Trump said, “I think the concept of a woman as vice president is absolutely great.”

• Trump responded to an ad by Rand Paul suggesting Trump was more of a Democrat than a conservative on August 12, 2015. “Rand Paul is doing so poorly in the polls he has to revert to old footage of me discussing positions I no longer hold. As a world-class businessman, who built one of the great companies with some of the most iconic real estate assets in the world, it was my obligation to my family, my company, my employees and myself to maintain a strong relationship with all politicians whether Republican or Democrat. I did that and I did that well. Unless you are a piece of unyielding granite, over the years positions evolve as they have in my case. Ronald Reagan, as an example, was a Democrat with a liberal bent who became a conservative Republican. … I feel sorry for the great people of Kentucky who are being used as a back up to Senator Paul’s hopeless attempt to become President of the United States,” Trump's statement read, in part.

• On August 11, 2015, Trump criticized the way Bernie Sanders handled the interruption of his Seattle rally by two Black Lives Matter activists. “I would never give up my microphone. I thought that was disgusting. That showed such weakness, the way he was taken away by two young women – the microphone; they just took the whole place over. … That will never happen with me. I don't know if I'll do the fighting myself or if other people will, but that was a disgrace. I felt badly for him. But it showed that he's weak,” Trump said.

• During an interview on CNN on August 10, 2015, Graham questioned the impact Trump was having on the GOP’s outreach to certain voters. “I think Mr. Trump’s approach, with all due respect, is not helping our party with women, particularly young women. And his rhetoric about illegal immigration is so over the top. If I was a young woman or a Hispanic watching this debate I think I’d have been pretty turned off by Mr. Trump and the question is does it bleed over to all of us,” Graham said. He also noted he would grudgingly vote for Trump if he were to receive the Republican nomination, but expected “Hillary Clinton would beat him like a drum” in the general election.

• In an interview on Fox News on August 9, 2015, Rand Paul said of Trump’s rise in the polls, “Well, I don't think we should reward vulgarity. I don't think vulgarity equates to insight. And so, because you can shout and call people names and call someone stupid or call someone fat, is that really what we're going to make the decision on for who is going to be our nominee? … Well, the truth is, what is he for? I have no idea whether he's conservative. He really could be a liberal for all I'm concerned. I have no idea what his real philosophy is other than he's for promoting himself."

• The Washington Post reported on August 5, 2015, that Bill Clinton called Trump when he was finalizing his decision to run for president. According to The Post, “The tone of the call was informal, and Clinton never urged Trump to run, the four [Trump allies] said. Rather, they said, Clinton sounded curious about Trump’s moves toward a presidential bid and told Trump that he was striking a chord with frustrated conservatives and was a rising force on the right.”

• Carly Fiorina suggested Trump did not consistently hold conservative values at a Republican debate on August 6, 2015. “I didn't get a phone call from Bill Clinton before I jumped in the race. Did any of you get a phone call from Bill Clinton? I didn't. Maybe it's because I hadn't given money to the foundation or donated to his wife's Senate campaign. … I would also just say this. Since he has changed his mind on amnesty, on health care and on abortion, I would just ask, what are the principles by which he will govern?” Fiorina said.

• On July 30, 2015, Graham said Trump was not an electable candidate during an interview on Newsmax TV. “I don't believe you're going to elect a man president of the United States who spent thousands of his own dollars, he claims, trying to find out if Obama was born in Kenya. I don't think you're going to elect a man president of the United States who's basically said most illegal immigrants are drug dealers and rapists, who slandered veterans like Sen. McCain. I just don't believe he's marketable. Why are all the major companies that he has endorsed products for firing him? Here's what I would say to the Republican Party. You're about to hire somebody that everybody else is firing,” Graham said.

• On July 28, 2015, John Kasich stated the media should move on from reporting about allegations that Trump had sexually assaulted his ex-wife several decades ago. “Just leave him alone,” Kasich said, before saying the political dialogue should evolve. “Maybe the nature of the beast ought to change a little bit. You know, there are limits here. I'm sure that it is extremely painful for him, for his former wife, for his kids, and that shouldn't be what we're doing in this business.”

• Although Chris Christie had previously said he would no longer discuss Trump, he suggested on July 28, 2015, that Trump wouldn’t be “an effective president.” Christie added, “It hurts the credibility of the presidency. You have to have some experience in [the] actual difficulty of governing … You need to understand how you have to work with other people, how if you disagree with someone, you can’t just fire them.”

• In a speech on July 25, 2015, Trump lumped Scott Walker, Bush and Clinton together as part of same “system” during a speech in Iowa. He suggested they would be controlled by lobbyists and special interest groups due to the large contributions each had received.

• Trump further attacked Walker and his legacy in Wisconsin. “Wisconsin's doing terribly. First of all, it's in turmoil. The roads are a disaster because they don't have any money to rebuild them. They're borrowing money like crazy. I wrote this stuff all down, although I don't need it because I have a really good memory — but they projected a $1 billion surplus and it turns out to be a deficit of $2.2 billion. And money all over the place. The schools are a disaster, and they're fighting like crazy because there's no money for the schools. The hospitals and education is a disaster," Trump said.

• During a July 22, 2015, CNN interview, Trump accused Bush of not having the proper temperament to be president. Trump said of Bush, “[H]e is a nice guy, but he doesn’t have the temperament. You know why? He’s too low-key. He’s too laid-back. Can you imagine Bush negotiating with China? You want to talk about temperament — I’ll introduce you to the Chinese. They have temperament.”

• After Trump claimed on July 21, 2015, that Rick Perry only “put on glasses so people will think he’s smart,” Perry's campaign re-tweeted several of Trump’s tweets from 2012 where he expressed support for Perry. Trump responded by posting a 2012 photo of him and Perry standing together with the caption, “In my office last cycle playing nice and begging for my support and money. Hypocrite!”

• After Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) accused Trump of having "fired up the crazies" over comments about immigration, Trump fired back. "He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured," Trump told attendees at an Iowa presidential candidate forum.

• On July 19, 2015, Marco Rubio said Trump's comments were “not just absurd” but also “offensive,” adding, “I do think it disqualifies someone for higher office.” George Pataki also said, “Trump has disqualified himself from leading this country."

• On July 15, 2015, Trump and Cruz met at Trump Tower in New York City. The meeting was postponed from a previous date set in June 2015. Cruz called Trump a "bold, brash voice" and said they will remain friends after the election.

• In a July 2015 interview with Katy Tur of "NBC News," Trump said, "Hillary Clinton was the worst secretary of state in the history of the United States. Hillary was the worst in the history of the United States, there’s never been a secretary of state so bad as Hillary. The world blew up around us. We lost everything, including all relationships." He added, "I think she’d be a terrible president."

• On July 4, 2015, Bush said regarding Trump's remarks on Mexican immigrants, "To make these extraordinarily ugly kind of comments is not reflective of the Republican Party." That evening, Trump tweeted that Bush "has to like the Mexican illegals because of his wife." Trump removed the tweet the following day.

• On July 8, 2015, Bush responded to Trump's tweet regarding his wife, saying, "You can love the Mexican culture and love your Mexican-American wife and also believe we need to control the border. This is a bizarre kind of idea that somehow you can have an affection for people in a different country and not think the rule of law should apply. This is ludicrous."

• On July 1, 2015, George Pataki (R) issued a letter to 14 declared and possible Republican presidential candidates to join with him in denouncing Trump's derogatory comments about Mexican immigrants. Trump responded on Twitter by saying Pataki "was a terrible governor of NY" and that he "couldn't be elected dog catcher if he ran again–so he didn't!"

• In an interview with Breitbart in June 2015, Trump said Marco Rubio (R) "is just not the guy" to win. Trump also elaborated on why he felt similarly about Bush, saying, he "is not my kind of person. He talks about how he cries, well that’s fine. Maybe he shouldn’t talk about crying. But he’s—I watched his performance, and the fact he didn’t wear a jacket and a tie when he’s announcing he’s running for president doesn’t bother me too much but perhaps you could put on a tie if you’re running for president. But most importantly he’s totally in favor of Common Core. He doesn’t want education to be local which is ridiculous and he’s weak on immigration. How could he win? So I would say I’m not a fan of either of those two guys."

See also

• Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016
• Presidential candidates, 2016

Footnotes

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