Rick Santorum says one of Ronald Reagan's most sacred rules — that Republicans should never attack fellow Republicans — was repeatedly broken during Wednesday's GOP debate.
"I thought they were standing there in the Reagan Library violating the Reagan '11th Commandment.' I didn't think it served either of them, any of the candidates, very well," the former Pennsylvania senator said Thursday on "The Steve Malzberg Show."
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"The ones who got into the personal attacks by and large did not improve their standings. Even some who may have done a little bit of that in the long run — it's not going to be to their benefit."
Among those who got personal during the three-hour CNN debate were Donald Trump, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina.
Santorum — who is also running for president but whose low polling numbers delegated him to CNN's earlier, second-tier debate — said Trump dominated the second debate.
"Just like in the first debate everyone was asked the question about what Donald Trump said about [them]. And so in some respects you couldn't help but engage in [personal remarks]," Santorum said.
"I feel like anybody that gets in that mud in the long term, all you're doing is helping the opposition."
"I would say that probably half the field there last night, in one way or another, got involved in that."
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