Trump, who has led opinion polls in the Republican race for months, has come under fire from Democrats and Hispanic activists for proposing an immigration plan that would build a wall on the border with Mexico and round up and deport undocumented immigrants
Two leading Republican US presidential contenders attacked Donald Trump's plan to deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants, accusing him during a debate on Tuesday of making impractical proposals that would help Democrats win the White House.
Trump, who has led opinion polls in the Republican race for months, has come under fire from Democrats and Hispanic activists for proposing an immigration plan that would build a wall on the border with Mexico and round up and deport undocumented immigrants. Ohio Governor John Kasich and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush both criticised Trump's plan, which many Republicans fear will alienate Hispanic voters who are vital to winning the November 2016 election.
"That's the problem with this. We need to win the presidency, and the way you win the presidency is to have practical plans," Bush said, adding Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton's staff was "high-fiving" over the proposal.
A Clinton campaign spokesman, Brian Fallon, tweeted during the debate that "we actually are doing high-fives right now." Trump and Kasich also clashed after Kasich told the flamboyant billionaire that "False little things, sir, they really don't work when it comes to the truth."
Trump replied that he had built a company worth billions of dollars. "I don't have to hear from this man, believe me," he said of Kasich, drawing boos from the crowd. The debate comes at a critical time in the race for the Republican nomination, with retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Trump fighting to hold their spot atop polls and Florida Senator Marco Rubio trying to build on the momentum of his last strong debate performance.
Carson has faced a rough week of scrutiny about whether he embellished key aspects of his biography, while Rubio, 44, is under pressure to show he can fight off recent criticism of his inexperience as he tries to unseat fellow Floridian Bush as a favorite of the party's mainstream. Carson lashed out at his critics and said he did not like being "lied about." Carson has faced a series of reports in the past week casting doubt on his stories about his violent outbursts as a youth and a scholarship he said he was offered to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
"I have no problem with being vetted," Carson said. "What I do have a problem with is being lied about and having that put out there as true." Carson, questioned why Clinton had not been subjected to a similar level of media scrutiny. "We have to start treating people the same and finding out what they really think," he said. "People who know me know I'm an honest person."
He spoke during a debate among leading Republican presidential candidates about economic policy. Several agreed they would oppose raising the federal minimum wage, saying it would hurt small businesses and reduce jobs.
With income inequality looming as an election issue, thousands of protesters took to the streets across the United States earlier in the day to demand a $15-an-hour minimum wage for fast food workers. "Every time we raise the minimum wage, the number of jobless people increases," Carson said. "I'm interested in making sure that people can enter the job market." All of the Democratic presidential candidates including Clinton, 68, have called for an increase in the minimum wage. The federal minimum wage is now $7.25.
In an earlier debate on Tuesday involving four lower-polling Republican candidates, several accused the Federal Reserve of keeping U.S. interest rates low for political reasons and one called for replacing Fed chair Janet Yellen. "The Fed should be audited and the Fed should stop playing politics with our money supply," New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal tried to distinguish himself by repeatedly attacking Christie and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee for failing to cut government spending during their tenures as governors.
Christie declined to take the bait, turning the debate back again and again to the need for Republicans to rally around a nominee who can defeat Clinton.
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