The dialogue during the Republican presidential debate on Saturday evening got heated. So heated, in fact, that it devolved into an entirely different language, giving everyone in the audience a fun glimpse at the Spanish skills of the candidates who want to expel many of this country’s Spanish-speaking residents.

It began when Sen. Marco Rubio challenged Sen. Ted Cruz, saying, “I don’t know how he [Cruz] knows what I said on Univision because he doesn’t speak Spanish.” Out spewed a torrent of lilted syllables from the mouth-hole of Cruz, triggering a chain reaction from the other candidates, a herd of geese squawking into the wind.

[There was a video here]

Naturally, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, hungry as ever for a chance to get in on the fray, weighed in on Twitter:


Contact the author at melissa.cronin@gawker.com.