CIRCLING THE DRAIN:

Donald J. Trump unleashed a torrent of insults on Thursday against his main rival, Ben Carson, comparing him to a child molester in a television interview and suggesting that the people of Iowa are "stupid" if they believe Mr. Carson's claim that he tried to stab a close relative during his childhood.

The twin tirades came two days after the fourth Republican presidential debate, and as Mr. Carson has moved ahead of Mr. Trump in recent polls of Republican voters in Iowa, and in some national polls as well.

In an appearance in Fort Dodge, Iowa, Mr. Trump repeatedly laced into Mr. Carson and ranted that he was the lone seer who could solve what was wrong in the country.

His plan for the Islamic State? Mr. Trump said he would aggressively bomb the region, using a barnyard epithet to describe just how aggressively he would act and getting some applause from the crowd. "I would just bomb those suckers."

It was a vastly different version of Mr. Trump than the one who seemed to be consciously trying to be more presidential on the debate stage. 

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