HOUSTON — After Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, and Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio left the debate stage well past 9:30 p.m. at Moores Opera House at the University of Houston, the Republican presidential candidates filled the Yeoman Field House where hundreds of journalists lined up to ask post-show questions.
Despite the fact that both Cruz and Rubio teamed up against competitor Trump at last night’s debate, the pair did not stay around long to answer questions regarding their performances.
Conversely, Kasich quickly made his way down the aisle to weigh in on what he thought about the heated exchanges between Rubio, Cruz and Trump.
“At some point, I was like, ‘Can somebody get control of this thing?’” Kasich said. “It was, again, almost like a demolition derby.”
Carson, who appeared to still be recovering from the debate, stopped by to talk to the press who were barricaded behind the CNN post-debate discussion stage. He also took the time to take a picture with University of Houston President Renu Khator.
Trump differed in his approach to handling the press and opted to go straight for the stage to talk to CNN anchor, Anderson Cooper. Eventually, Trump moved toward the crowd to address Rubio’s claim on winning the Florida primary.
“Only a fool guarantees,” Trump said.
Referring to how he felt about the multiple attacks aimed at him during the event, Trump seemed unfazed by what occurred during the debate.
“I was very happy with it,” Trump said. “I expected it, I expected it.”
Besides the candidates, other notable figures also attended the post-debate media event such as Former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who weighed in on the issues by the White House hopefuls.
“I think voters at home have the right to know who’s the next president going to appoint to the Supreme Court to replace the late justice Scalia,” said Jindal, a former Republican presidential candidate himself last year. “And I think from Donald Trump we got no clear answer. Is it going to be Judge Judy? Is it going to be his sister? Who’s it gonna be?”
Jindal also took the time to express how he thinks Rubio, his official endorsement for the presidential ticket, performed.
“I think he did a great job getting under Trump’s skin and exposing the fact that Trump has no policies,” Jindal said. “The way I put it is that Trump is bald on policy and he can’t come over that fact. The reality is that he had a bad night and Marco had a great night.”
Although Cruz is confident he will win Tuesday’s primary in his home state of Texas, it is only one of the 12 primaries happening that day that the candidate will have to worry about.
The next Republican Presidential debate will be on March 3 in Detroit, Michigan.
