Republican Party debate live updates: 8 GOP candidates face off without Trump
2024 Republican presidential primary debate
Nikki Hayley, Ron DeSantis impressing in first debate
The first 2024 Republican presidential primary debate is now done and there were a few surprises through the night. While the evening started off with vocal suport for Vivek Ramaswamy by the audience, as the event wore on it became increasingly clear that he has no real belief system behind him.
Essentially a mini-me clone of Donald Trump, Vivek certainly will have his supporters, but there is little substance to his message. It feels as if he took notes from Trump and is simply saying things that he feels will garner a response. At one point, he was referred to by Governor Christie as a candidate who sounds like ChatGPT, spouting off things that sound intelligent on the surface but are essentially meaningless.
While every candidate had their moments, and the best speakers were arguably Governor Chris Christie and Vice President Mike Pence, but the two candidates who came away perhaps winning the night were Nikki Hayley and Governor Ron DeSantis. This is not to say that it is at all clear that there was a "winner" per se, but these two will raise eyebrows and get voters to take a second look at them.
Nikki Hayley was the more moderate of the two candidates, advocating consensus rather than simply over ruling the Democrats, a position that she was called out on by DeSantis.
DeSantis warmed into the evening as he increasing gained points with his blue collar and military background and pointing out the conservative policy that he has managed to implement in Florida.
Tim Scott made a notable showing in the evening as well, saying some things which resonated with the crowd and while he, like Asa Hutchison and Doug Burgum, were on message and likeable, they simply didn't grab the crowd in an emotional way like Vivek or get heavily involved in the rebuttal like Pence, Christie, DeSantis, and Hayley.
At the end of the day, no matter which of these candidates you like, and to be clear, they all have a solid conservative message behind them, but they are essentially battling it out for second place. The Republican faithful still overwhelmingly support Donald Trump for the nomination.
This race is only beginning and it can go in any direction from here.
Goodbye
That is going to be it from our coverage of the first 2024 Republican presidential primary debate. We hope that you enjoyed it and found it informative. Join us for ongoing coverage of the primary and presidential race coverage here with Diario AS.
Governor Desantis calls on his military service, his working class background, and his experience in Florida as proof of where he stands.
Vivek Ramaswamy offers the prospect of a torch-passing between the generations, listing the conservative values that he espouses and referring to the election of 2024 as the new American Revolution.
Mike Pence attacks Joe Biden, saying that he offers proven leadership at the national level, evoking the American people to keep faith with him.
Nikki Hayley says that the military is being sent to foreign lands to protect America, but that it isn't enough and that we must protect America here at home.
Governor Christie says that everybody wants to be president, but to do that then they must beat a Democrat incumbent, and that he is the only one who has ever done that is him.
Tim Scott says that the American dream is alive and well and he is the living embodiment of that.
Asa Hutchinson focuses on bringing out the best of America, evoking Ronald Reagan and saying that what we need is not four more years.
Proud to be an American
Doug Burgum winds up with pointing out his small-town bona fides, working class background, and how he will secure the border.
Governor Christie gets a question about UFOs, which he laughingly laments, before answering it by saying that the president has to be honest with the people. He closes by pointing out that he agrees with Scott about teachers unions and saying that in New Jersey he has managed to beat them down to an all time low.
Governor Desantis says that military service should remain voluntary rather than an institution of mandatory service.
Tim Scott says that he would "break the backs of teachers unions" who are "standing in the way."
Mike Pence says that we don't need a presdent who is too old or too young, implying that he is this Goldilocks president, the one who is just right.
Nikki Hayley points out that reading and comprehension is the key to education, advocating vocational classes in high schools and says that she will fight for girls always, because strong girls become strong women and strong women become strong leaders.
Governor Burgum says that education differs by state, and that it is impossible to make a single policy that is useful for both urban and rural populations, again saying that he would get rid of the DOE and give block grants to schools based on innovation.
Vivek Ramaswamy also says that the Department of Education should be shut down. His focus is on the family, suggesting that the government pays single mothers more money not to have a man in the house and that this must be reversed.
Education
Governor Desantis said that he would eliminate the Department of Education as president. "We need education, not indoctrination." He promises to elevate the study of civics and eliminate race and gender education.
Governor Christie now takes the oportunity to divert the conversation back to China, and he does so by saying that the fentanyl which is swamping the United States, is coming not only from Mexico, but from China.
Mike Pence points out all of the accomplishments that he has under his belt in dealing with Mexico in the past and says that he can bring Mexico to the table through economic pressure.
Desantis says that he will "on day one" send American special forces into Mexico to find and kill cartel members. The crowd loves it, although the idea of advocating an invasion of another country would make us no better than Putin and Russia.
Asa Hutchinson points out that the cartels on the border are a problem for Mexico as well, and advocates cooperation with Mexico as the key to this problem, downplaying the military as an option.
Tim Scott dismisses China entirely, spending his time talking about Mexico instead. He promotes the Trump wall as the answer to all our problems. I am not sure if he misunderstood the question, but he certainly didn't answer it.
China
Doug Burgum says that the best deterrent against China is by positioning missiles on Taiwan. He takes a long time to get there and the crowd's response is understandably muted.
Desantis responds to criticism over his use of the phrase "border dispute" in relation to Ukraine by deflecting the question to the Mexican border.
Nikki Hayley says that Ukraine is the first line of defense, pointing out that Putin has says that once Ukraine is dealt with, Poland and the Baltic states are next. Vivek interjects and Hayley refuses to back down. She has won the crowd, and they are vociferous in their support.
The crowd has begun to turn on Ramaswamy, booing loudly when he is handed the floor.
Mike Pence says that we can be both the greatest country on earth AND defend Ukraine at the same time, telling Vivek that he doesn't know what he is talking about. "Putin is a dictator and a murderer, and he must be dealth with."
Ukraine
Another divisive issue, Ramaswany says that he would not spend any money defending Ukraine, while Governor Christie says that is insane. He points out the wide array of Russian atrocities committed in the invasion of their neighbor as needing a response.
Vivek Ramaswany asks Mike Pence to make a commitment to pardoning Trump on day one in office. "I am the only candidate willing to say that." Ramaswany is revealed more and more as nothing more than a Trump stooge. It would be surprising if this showing doesn't see him out of the race quickly.
Asa Hutchinson was one of the two who did not raise his hand when asked if he would support Trump. He points out that Trump is morally disqualified from the presidency by his actions, regardless of his conviction or not. The crowd loudly boos this idea.
Tim Scott says that justice must be blind, and the police is being used to attack conservatism.
Governor Christie tells Vivek that he has had enough of listening to the nonsense falling out of his mouth. "We have all done it, as prosecutor, as governor, you have done nothing for this country."
Ramaswany jumps in as a Trump defender, saying that he was the best president ever, and that if you don't believe that then you should "just go to MSNBC now."
Trump
"The elephant not in the room" is how the subject was raised. Asked by a show of hands to say if they would support a *convicted* Trump as Republican candidate. Six of the eight said yes. Chris Christie points out that the conduct, whether convicted or not, is beneath the office of president.
Asa Hutchinson points out that it is all well and good to stop the drugs coming up from Mexico, but that drug abuse programs, rehabilitation, and counselling must be part of the conversation. He finishes up by pointedly referring to Trump as "currently under indictment" and having "done a lot of damage."
Doug Burgam extols a return to small-town values as the answer to the drug and crime problem. Neighbors helping neighbors.
Ron Desantis points out that crime in Florida is at a 50-year low, and says that it is because he removed prosecutors who refused to prosecute from their post.
Vivek Ramaswamy speaks about the mental health epidemic as being rooted in a national identity crisis, saying that crime and drug use is because of "lack of patriotism."
Shootings
Governor Christie points back to his term as prosecutor saying that much of the shooting is a result of local prosecutors refusing to do their jobs. He then spins it to Hunter Biden (somehow) in the end saying nothing.
Homelessness
When pointed out that much of the homelessness began in the Trump administration, under covid restrictions, Mike Pence immediately pointed the finger at Biden, saying that the real culprit is defunding the police.
Tim Scott says that there must be a federal law, because no state should be allowed to have abortion available, calling it "immoral."
Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson takes issue with that position, saying that it is far too important to be left alone. He points out that the state governments are elected representatives, but so is congress.
Doug Burgam goes on the record as opposing a federal abortion ban, based on the 10th Amendment. In an appeal to libertarianism, he says that the issue should be reserved for the states only.
Mike Pence points to his Christian faith as his bona fides on the issue, taking issue with Nikki Hayley, saying that "consensus is the opposite of leadership."
Governor Desantis addresses the issue by pointing out that he presided over the institution of anti abortion laws in Florida, but stops short of saying that he will support a national bill on the issue.
Abortion
She goes on to say that she is pro-life but that the abortion laws need to be taken out of the hands of lawmakers and stop demonizing the issue.
Amongst the diatribe thrown around between Ramaswany and Pence, Nikki Hayley quotes Margaret Thatcher, saying that "when you want something said, ask a man. When you want something done, ask a woman."
Tim Scott responds by saying that debates need to be more than just childish name calling. Perhaps the most intelligent statement all night.
Vivek Ramaswany once again jumps feet first into controversy when he responds to a climate change question with the phrase "I'm the only one on the stage who isn't bought and paid for." Every candidate loudly shouts him down and even the crowd turn on him. The response is that Governor De Santis says that he has had enough of Vivek, equating him with ChatGPT and calling him a mini Barack Obama.
While all other candidates adress the questions put to them, Vivek Ramaswany has ignored them all, going instead for the emotional response and sounding for all the world like the salesman that he is. It is perhaps no coincidence that he is the sole candidate who is 100% a Trump believer.
Ramaswany asks the crowd, "Do you want incremental reform, which is what we are talking about, or do you want revolution?" The crowd eats it up. "I stand on the side of the American Revolution."
The crowd turns on Pence when he tries to rebut Vivek, and go wild when Ramaswany mentions the "deep state" and how covid lockdowns were the biggest culprits in the problems that have been identified.
"Drill, frack, burn coal, go nuclear." Vivek Ramaswany pointedly barbs with Mike Pence. "It is simple! Put people back to work."
Nikki Hayley gets perhaps the biggest applause so far when she points out that it isn't Biden who has made the American people poorer, but the Republican congress who have voted in bigger spending packages and even worse deals for the working classes than the Biden White House have proposed. "It is time we had an accountant in the White House."
Vivek Ramaswamy comes to the stage as a virtual unknown. A first-generation American entrepreneur, he dives straight in with a heavy sales pitch, ignoring the question put to him and going directly for the "close the deal" moment. The crowd loves it.
South Carolina Senator Tim Scott picks up the baton and runs with it. Lowered spending power for average American and how it can be rectified is the subject. He highlights that he has been effectively a goalkeeper, slapping down bill after bill in Washington that would raise taxes on normal families.
The crowd is enthusiastically behind Florida governor De Santis, while New Jersey governor Christie says substantially the same thing but to muted applause.
Beginning of debate
As the debate gets underway, the running theme seems to unite all candidates. Biden is a punchiing bag as expected, but each of the candidates in turn discuss high gas prices, sluggish economic growth and an over riding feeling that Joe Biden and his son Hunter have gotten away with something that normal Americans couldn't.
There are eight candidates at the debate tonight with Donald Trump absent. They have a job to catch up with him.
Vivek Ramaswamy
The bar is very low for Vivek Ramaswamy, the entrepreneur who has no previous political experience to his name, and virtually zero name recognition.
The Harvard- and Yale-educated son of Indian immigrants, he made millions in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries and is unabashedly pro-Trump.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum injured
One turn of events is that North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum was injured in a pickup basketball game on Tuesday night, but says he'll still take part in GOP debate, although he may have to remain seated.
President Biden to watch ‘as much as I can’ of Republican debate
President Joe Biden is among the millions of Americans expected to tune in to tonight’s Republican primary debate.
“I’m going to try to see — get as much as I can, yes,” Biden, who is vacationing in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, told reporters when asked if he plans to watch the debate.
Asked about his expectations, Biden smiled and laughed. “I have none,” he said.
While Republican frontrunner Donald Trump skips out on the debate in Milwaukee, Biden’s reelection campaign is going on the offensive during the event.
The Biden campaign launched a $25 million television ad blitz to coincide with the first Republican debate and dispatched surrogates to Milwaukee as Democrats seek to paint the eight Republicans on the debate stage as part of an extreme “MAGA” Republican Party.
Joey Garrison, USA Today
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Welcome to Diario AS USA’s live coverage of the first 2024 Republican presidential primary debate from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Eight candidates will be on stage:
1. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
2. entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy
3. former Vice President Mike Pence
4. former South Carolina governor and US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley
5. former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
6. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott
7. former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson
8. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum
Notably missing is former President Donald Trump, a man whose shadow looms large over these proceedings. While half of the Republican faithful are ready to turn the page, candidates who go against the prevailing Trump-established policies of the GOP do so at their own peril.