Ted Cruz dropped the mic by slamming CNBC for their 'cage match' questions

Presidential candidate and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) delivered perhaps the biggest applause line of Wednesday's Republican presidential debate when he slammed CNBC's moderators for asking "cage match" questions.

CNBC moderator Carl Quintanilla asked Cruz about his hard-line voting record in the US Senate, questioning him about whether he was a problem-solver.

But Cruz pointed to what he deemed unfair questions during the first hour of the debate.

"Let me say something at the outset: The questions that have been asked so far in this debate illustrate why the American people don't trust the media," Cruz said.

"This is not a cage match. And you look at the questions: 'Donald Trump, are you a comic-book villain? Ben Carson, can you do math? John Kasich, will you insult two people over here? Marco Rubio, why don't you resign? Jeb Bush, why have your numbers fallen?' How about talking about the substantive issues."

The audience roared in approval.