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 Under questioning by Fox News Channel moderators on Thursday, U.S.
Senators Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio
Governor John Kasich made the promise despite efforts by party
elders to build an anti-Trump coalition of Republican voters to pick
someone other than the incendiary New York billionaire.
Hours earlier 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney in a speech
blasted Trump, a former reality TV show host, as an unelectable
fraud whose nomination would ensure victory for Democratic
front-runner Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 election to succeed
Democratic President Barack Obama.
Tempers escalated quickly at the two-hour debate and, as in previous
encounters, the battle descended into schoolyard taunts between
Trump, Rubio and Cruz with accusations of lying and even a reference
to male genitalia.
While Trump's three rivals followed party dogma, insisting they
would set aside their concerns and rally around the ultimate
nominee, they said they did so reluctantly if Trump were to emerge
as the candidate for the general election.
 "Sometimes he makes it a little bit hard," said Kasich, 63.
Trump, asked if he would support the Republican nominee if it was
someone other than him, seemed startled by the question given the
momentum behind him, but eventually said, "Yes I will." Trump, 69,
defended himself from Romney's blistering rebuke and called Romney a
failed candidate.
SHIFTING POSITIONS
With the Florida and Ohio primary votes looming on March 15 as
make-or-break for the anti-Trump forces, Trump provided some
ammunition to his critics.
Trump shrugged when presented with videotaped evidence from the
moderators that he had shifted positions on the Iraq war,
immigration and whether to admit refugees from the Syrian civil war.
"You have to show a degree of flexibility," he said.
Both Rubio and Cruz pounced.
"I hope we don’t see yoga on this stage," Cruz said. Replied Rubio:
"Well, he's very flexible so you never know."
It remained to be seen whether the debate would prove to be damaging
to Trump. The runaway front-runner to date has been immune from
criticism that other politicians normally face, for instance, over
flip-flopping on issues.
While Trump saw the greatest number of overall mentions on social
media site Twitter, an analysis showed that 63 percent of the tweets
expressing an opinion on him were negative, according to social
media analytics firm Brandwatch which separated objective tweets
from opinionated tweets in its analysis.
The rating marks a decline in positive sentiment for Trump. In the
last two Republican debates, Trump broke even in terms of positive
and negative mentions, according to the firm's analysis, while he
enjoyed a 62.5 percent positive sentiment rating during the
Republican debate before that.
IMMIGRATION, FOREIGN WORKERS
Rubio, 44, and Cruz, 45, questioned Trump's immigration policy and
his use of foreign workers at his exclusive Mar-a-Lago resort in
Palm Beach, Florida.
Cruz demanded Trump release an audiotape of an off-the-record
session he had with New York Times editorial writers on Jan. 5.
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Cruz and others have suggested that in the session Trump might have
been more flexible on immigration than in public statements
insisting he would build a wall between the United States and Mexico
and deport 11 million illegal immigrants.
Trump refused to release the tape but said he would be flexible, for
instance, on the height of the wall. He also abruptly changed his
position on foreign workers, saying more of them who are highly
skilled should be allowed to remain in the United States.
Rubio pressed Trump on the foreign workers he has imported to work
at his Palm Beach resort, jobs he said could go to Americans. Trump
said the workers were for a short November-to-March season.
"People don’t want a short-term job," Trump said. "So we bring
people in and we send people out."
'GIVE ME A BREAK'
Rubio asked Trump why he does not bring his clothing-making
operations to the United States from China and Mexico if he is so
interested in bringing jobs home, a central tenet of his
unconventional campaign.
"This little guy has lied so much about my record," Trump said in
response to Rubio, adding that he had begun bringing some clothing
operations home from overseas.
But Rubio persisted: "The answer is he’s not going to do it ... The
reason he makes it in China and Mexico is because he can make more
money on it."
Fox News moderator Megyn Kelly, who famously clashed with Trump at
the first Republican debate last August, generated a fresh exchange
in pressing Trump to explain his involvement with Trump University,
a now-defunct online education company that has faced lawsuits from
people who feel they paid out money for Trump U and got nothing in
return.
"Give me a break," said Trump. "Let's see what happens in court."
Rubio accused Trump of fleecing everyday Americans for personal
gain.
"He's trying to do to the American voter what he did to the people
who signed up for this course," Rubio said.
The debate went down a negative path early on when Trump responded
to Rubio's contention last month that Trump had "small hands."
"Look at these hands," Trump said, flashing his two hands to the
crowd. He dismissed any suggestion he might be small elsewhere,
Trump said: "I guarantee you there is no problem."
(Reporting by Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Ginger Gibson,
Emily Stephenson and Amy Tennery; Editing by Howard Goller)
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