Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney, aiming for a knockout blow in next week's Florida primary, tore into Newt Gingrich in a televised debate Thursday night and vigorously defended his personal wealth as an asset in his presidential campaign.
Romney was aggressive from the outset, starting with the issue of illegal immigration. Gingrich stood by a Spanish-language radio ad he had aired that said Romney was "anti-immigrant." Gingrich withdrew the ad after being admonished by Florida's popular Republican Sen. Marco Rubio.
Romney, noting that both his father and his wife's father were born outside the United States, said such language was "inexcusable."