Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani says Sen. Marco Rubio's stiff performance in the last GOP presidential debate "hurt his momentum" ahead of the first-in-the-nation primary.
In a interview on
Fox News' "Fox & Friends" program Monday morning, the former 2008 Republican presidential contender said he sympathized with the Florida lawmaker for relying on scripted remarks — a penchant that rival candidate,
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, attacked during the Saturday night debate.
"Here's the point, particularly when you get down to the seventh and eighth [debates]," Giuliani said. "I did 11 or 12 [debates as a candidate]. Your big worry is you're going to say it different. They ask the same question all the time . . . because you're going to put a new adjective in and they're going to say, 'you changed your position. You used to be against it, now you're very much against it.'
"I'm sure there was a little bit of that . . . He wasn't picking up on it," Giuliani added.
The former mayor said, however, the approach will hurt Rubio, who had a strong third-place finish in Iowa caucuses Feb. 1.
"It hurt his momentum," Giuliani said. "Let's say Rubio had a great debate after the big Iowa win — he takes a three and makes it a one . . . and he had a great debate, I think tomorrow would be real close between him and Donald [Trump]. But I think now . . . Donald will have a maybe double digit."
Giuliani also said he thought former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush did well in the last debate "and gained somewhat" from his
strong attack on Trump's position on using eminent domain.
"I thought Bush had maybe the best debate he's had, and I thought Christie had a great debate," he said. "Although he'll take a little heat for being the guy who had to do the damage [on Rubio]."
"Because when you hit with a negative, there's a kind of a negative feeling against you, too," Giuliani said. "But it had to be one of the most effective points in a debate we've ever seen."
Christie's Rubio attack could even help the New Jersey executive "down the line," but added, "Don't think it's going to help in New Hampshire."
Giuliani predicted Trump would win the New Hampshire primary Tuesday.
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