One month after he accused his fellow Republican presidential candidates of all being “bought and paid for,” entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy attempted a more conciliatory approach during Wednesday night’s GOP debate but found himself at the center of the attacks.
South Carolina Senator Tim Scott first took aim at Ramaswamy, accusing him of once being “in business with the Chinese Communist Party and the same people that funded Hunter Biden.” Ramaswamy called it “nonsense.”
Former vice president Mike Pence said he was “glad Vivek pulled out of his business deal in 2018 in China. That must have been about the time he decided to start voting in presidential elections.” Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador, blasted Ramaswamy for joining TikTok, which has ties to the Chinese government, calling it “infuriating,” and telling Ramaswamy that “every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber.”
Ramaswamy, in an about-face from his breakout and sometimes smarmy performance at the first Republican debate last month, attempted to brush it off, claiming he wanted to focus on policy, and commended his fellow candidates. “These are good people on this stage,” he said.
Wednesday’s debate in Simi Valley, Calif., at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, was generally more civil and issue-focused than last months’ debate in Milwaukee, Wis.
Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie called for setting a “law-and-order agenda” to combat illegal immigration, but also sending a new message to prospective citizens: “We want you here in this country to fill six million vacant jobs we have, but only if you come here to follow the law, and only if you come here legally.”
Haley called for defunding sanctuary cities, and making the country’s health care system more transparent and competitive. Ramaswamy argued against birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants, and for a greater focus on the nation’s “mental health epidemic.” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis vowed to use the U.S. military to go after Mexican drug cartels and to use the Justice Department to bring civil rights cases against radical left-wing prosecutors. Pence called for an end to Bidenomics, which, he said, “is good for Beijing and bad for Detroit.” North Dakota governor Doug Burgum, struggling for airtime, stood up for American farmers.
But it is not clear that the back-and-forth between the seven GOP candidates will do much to change the overall dynamics of the presidential race, which have been static for months.
Former president Donald Trump, who didn’t participate in the debate again, continues to hold a commanding lead in the polls — he has 56.6 percent support in the Real Clear Politics polling average, a more than 40-point advantage over DeSantis, his closest competitor. Trump, who is under four criminal indictments, doesn’t appear to have suffered in the polls after skipping the first debate in Milwaukee last month; his lead in the race has grown. He also doesn’t appear to have lost support for his recent accusations that liberal Jews have “voted to destroy America” and that General Mark Milley is guilty of treason, “an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH.”
Rather than debate, Trump delivered a prime-time speech to striking Detroit autoworkers.
DeSantis, who was once seen by many as the most likely to knock the former president off his perch atop the GOP, but whose campaign has floundered, was the first to go after Trump.
After accusing Biden of being missing in action in the leadup to an increasingly likely government shutdown, DeSantis said the same about Trump.
“He should be on this stage tonight,” DeSantis said. “He owes it to you to defend his record where they added $7.8 trillion to the debt. That set the stage for the inflation that we have.”
Christie, who entered the race seemingly intent on taking down Trump at a debate, looked into the camera to talk directly to the former president.
“Donald, I know you’re watching. You can’t help yourself,” he said. “And you’re not here tonight, not because of polls and not because of indictments. You’re not here tonight because you’re afraid of being on this stage and defending your record. You’re ducking these things.”
“You keep doing that, no one up here is going to call you Donald Trump anymore. We’re going to call you Donald Duck,” Christie said.
The non-Trump Republican candidates are each trying to emerge from the pack as Trump’s chief rival, and to eventually consolidate the support of anti-Trump Republican voters and voters who may grow skittish of a candidate who could be in prison on Election Day. But their opportunity to break away from the not-Trump logjam is growing short.
At the end of the debate, Fox News host and moderator Dana Perino said that Trump will win if all the other candidates split the vote. She then asked each of them to write down the name of one candidate on the stage who should be “voted off the island” – a Survivor reference.
DeSantis balked, calling it “disrespectful,” and saying that “polls don’t elect presidents.”
Christie said he had “respect for every man and woman on this stage” because they showed up to debate. He said he’d “vote Donald Trump off the island right now.”
With a debate more focused on policy and issues, the candidates mixed it up less than in last month’s debate, leading to fewer opportunities for the candidates to stand out. The moderators also attempted to keep the candidates in line, calling them out at times for dodging questions.
When asked by Perino if Obamacare was “here to stay,” Pence used his time to call for an expedited death penalty for people who engage in mass shootings, “so they will meet their fate in months, not years.” Perino told Pence she appreciated that, “but does that mean Obamacare is here to stay?”
Haley, whose poll number have risen after a strong debate last month, called for reform to the nation’s education system. “We’ve got to quit spending time on this DEI and CRT,” she said, “and instead focus on financial literacy, on digital literacy, and making sure our kids know what they need to do to have the jobs of the next generation.”
Asked about China’s growing influence in Latin America, DeSantis said he’s gone after Chinese cultural power in Florida. “We are going to choose strength, not surrender when it comes to the CCP,” he said, vowing that if elected “I’m going to reverse this country’s decline.”
Scott shot back. “America is not a country in decline,” he said. “Under Joe Biden, we are a country in retreat.”
There were few references to Reagan at a Republican debate held at the Republican icon’s library, a sign of how the party has changed in recent years. Scott at one point referenced Reagan, in an effort to pick up his mantle.
In an exchange over the teaching of slavery in Florida, Scott pivoted to champion the United States. “We are the greatest nation on Earth because we faced our demons,” he said, referring to slavery and Jim Crow discrimination. Black families, he said, “survived slavery, survived poll taxes and literacy tests.” To restore hope, he said, “you’ve got to restore the family.”
The country, he said, is headed in the right direction.
“It’s why I can say I’ve been discriminated against, but America is not a racist country,” Scott said. “Never, ever doubt who were are.”
“The city on a hill needs a new leader,” he said, alluding to Reagan, “and I’m asking for your vote.”
Former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, who qualified for the first debate, did not qualify for Wednesday’s debate, which had stiffer donor and polling requirements. None of the lower-polling Republicans who didn’t make the Milwaukee stage qualified for Wednesday’s debate.
The third Republican presidential debate is slated for November 8, in Miami.