Trump clashes with Rubio, Cruz, and Kasich on Social Security at GOP debate

Trump, Rubio, and Cruz spar.
(Image credit: Rhona Wise/Getty Images)

Republican candidates sparred over the nation's major retirement program at the debate in Miami. They divided into two camps: on the one side Donald Trump, and on the other Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and John Kasich. Trump noted that the Social Security funding stream is in fine shape for the next 20 years, promising that "it is my absolute intention to leave Social Security the way it is."

Cruz, Rubio, and Kasich all argued for some combination of benefit cuts, increases in the retirement age, and privatization, presenting it as a necessary response to a looming crisis. Anyone who argues that the system could be rescued in its current form is "lying," said Rubio.

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Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.