Carly Fiorina addressed comments made last week by Donald Trump -- "Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?" -- saying that "women all over the country heard what Donald Trump said."
Moderator Jake Tapper asked her about his response -- that he wasn't talking about her face, but her "persona" -- and what she thought of his "persona." She replied that just as Trump had "heard...very clearly" disparaging statements by Jeb Bush, so too had potential female voters heard what Trump said.
As if to prove that he doesn't understand that one of his central problems is his incessant objectification of women, Trump leaned over the mic, leered at her and said, "I think she's got a beautiful face, and that she's a very beautiful woman."
At that point, a very uncomfortable Jake Tapper immediately threw to commercial.
Later in the debate, Jeb Bush directly confronted Trump about his treatment of women -- in particular, remarks he made about Bush's wife and concomitant "soft spot for Mexico."
"To subject my wife into the middle of a raucous political conversation was completely inappropriate and I hope you apologize for that," Bush said.
"I have to tell you, I hear phenomenal things," Trump replied. "I hear your wife is a lovely woman."
"She's absolutely the love of my life and right here and why don't you apologize to her right now," Bush said.
"I won't do that because I said nothing wrong, but I do hear she's a lovely woman," Trump said, deflecting once again.
Watch the exchange here:
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