CNN hosted the final GOP debate of 2015 in Las Vegas Tuesday night. Being the first debate since the Paris and San Bernardino terror attacks, foreign policy and national security issues dominated much of the conversation.
On radio Wednesday, Glenn asked his co-hosts what moment in the debate stood out the most to them. They all agreed it was when, as Pat put it, "Trump didn't know what the triad was."
So what happened exactly?
CNN moderator Wolf Blitzer asked Donald Trump what his priority would be among our aging nuclear triad (i.e. the three components of America's nuclear arsenal: strategic bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched missiles).
Trump's response indicated his complete ignorance of what the nuclear triad even was.
"Well, first of all," Trump said. "I think we need somebody absolutely that we can trust who is totally responsible who really knows what he or she is doing, that is so powerful and so important."
Glenn expressed his amazement at the absurdity of Trump's statement.
"What is that? That would be you, that would be the president of the United States," Glenn said.
Trump went on to talk about nuclear proliferation being "the biggest problem in this world today," to which Glenn said, "I think he's bluffing at this point. He's just trying to throw things out."
That wasn't the end of Trump's blundering. As Blitzer began changing gears to allow Marco Rubio to answer the same question, Trump made one final statement that fell completely flat.
"I think for me, nuclear is just --- the power, the devastation is very important to me," Trump said.
When Rubio was given a chance to reply, he started by explaining what the triad was.
"Maybe a lot of people haven't heard that terminology before," Rubio said.
Glenn called Rubio's response "expertly done."
"He immediately let everybody in the room know Donald Trump had no idea --- a pretty presidential trait is completely lost here and he doesn't know this information --- without saying it," Glenn said.
Glenn mused what might have happened had Rubio gone at Trump more openly rather than simply taking the "gentle win" at that moment.
"I think it would have been the moments of the night between them," Glenn said. "It would have been a massive win."
Listen to the audio from radio below for more.
Featured Image: (L to R) Republican presidential candidates Ben Carson, Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) look at their watches during the CNN Republican presidential debate on December 15, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is the last GOP debate of the year, with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) gaining in the polls in Iowa and other early voting states and Donald Trump rising in national polls. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
