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Washington: Donald Trump is so dominant in the polls that he opted not to show up for a Republican debate for the second time in a month.
His decision left seven presidential hopefuls to battle it out among themselves while the twice-impeached, four-times-indicted ex-president headed to Michigan to woo blue-collar voters in the midst of an autoworkers’ strike.
Republican presidential candidates, from left: Doug Burgum, Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Tim Scott, and Mike Pence, before the start of the second Republican presidential primary debate.Credit: AP
Following are some highlights from a scrappy debate in what is a volatile field of candidates straining to match Trump’s polling.
Ron DeSantis
After refusing to tackle Trump head-on for months, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis took a markedly different approach, accusing the Republican frontrunner of being “missing in action”.
“He should be on this stage tonight. He owes it to you, to defend his record, where they added $US7.8 trillion [$12 trillion] to the debt. That set the stage for the inflation that we have now,” said DeSantis, whose campaign has struggled to take off despite his success at last year’s midterm elections.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks.Credit: AP
“As Reagan said in his day: this is our time for choosing. We are not getting [a second chance] on the 2024 election. Republicans have lost three straight elections in a row. We were supposed to have a red wave… but it crashed and burned. Not in Florida, it didn’t. We delivered it in Florida.”
Nikki Haley
Trump’s former UN ambassador Nikki Haley also went on the attack, assailing her ex-boss for not being tough enough on China.
“This is where president Trump went wrong: he focused on trade with China but he didn’t focus on the fact that they were buying up our farmland. He didn’t focus on the fact that they were killing Americans [by producing fentanyl]. He didn’t focus on the fact that they were stealing $US600 billion in intellectual property,” she said.
Former US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley speaks during the second Republican presidential primary debate. Credit: AP
“We need to start focusing on what keeps Americans safe. That hasn’t happened in a long time. As your president, I will make sure every American is safe and we’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.”
Vivek Ramaswamy
After standing out at last month’s debate in Wisconsin, 38-year-old biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy became a target this time.
Haley, Senator Tim Scott and former vice president Mike Pence all took swipes at the brash newcomer, who has campaigned as a political outsider with populist positions in the mould of Trump.
Vivek Ramaswamy speaks during a Republican presidential primary.Credit: AP
Ramaswamy has been particularly controversial over the war in Ukraine, making it clear he does not support continuing to give US aid to the country. He doubled down, calling for a “reasonable peace plan” to end the war and declaring that “just because Putin is an evil dictator does not mean that Ukraine is good”.
Tim Scott
The Republican senator for South Carolina, Tim Scott, who struggled to capture attention in the first debate, was given the opening question of the night about controversial comments he previously made suggesting workers who go on strike ought to be fired.
The question emerged a day after Joe Biden became the first sitting president in US history to join a picket line, standing in solidarity with union workers as they pushed for better pay, shorter work weeks and assurances from America’s top automakers that new electric vehicle jobs will be unionised.
Senator Tim Scott.Credit: AP
Asked if he stood by his comments, Scott appeared to walk them back, saying: “Obviously the president of the United States cannot fire anybody in the private sector.“
But he also criticised Biden, adding that: “Joe Biden should not be on the picket line – he should be on the southern border working to close our southern border because it is unsafe, wide open and insecure.”
Mike Pence
Former vice president Mike Pence has had to walk a fine line when it comes to attacking his former boss, given the key role Pence played in the Trump administration. However, he used part of his time on the stage to accuse the former president of having a plan to “consolidate more power in Washington DC” rather than make government smaller.
Former vice president Mike Pence.Credit: AP
“If I’m president of the United States, it’s my intention to make the federal government smaller by returning to the states those resources and programs that are rightfully theirs,” he said.
“That means all Obamacare funding, all housing funding, all HHS (Department of Human Health and Services) funding – all of it goes back to the States.
“We’re going to revive federalism in America and states are going to help bring America back.”
Chris Christie
Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie has been one of the few Republicans willing to hit out at Trump, and tonight was no exception. He lashed out at the former president for failing to meet his 2016 election promise to build a wall at the US-Mexico border and for refusing to show up to the debate.
Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie.Credit: AP
“Donald, I know you’re watching – you can’t help yourself,” Christie added, staring into the camera. “You’re not here tonight because you’re afraid of being on the stage and defending your record.
“You’re ducking these things. And let me tell you what’s going to happen: if you keep doing that, no one up here is going to call your Donald Trump anymore. We’re gonna call you Donald Duck.”
The attacks represent an escalation of rhetoric against Trump by some of his top primary race rivals as they struggle to build the momentum they need to overtake the former president for the GOP’s presidential nomination, which will be decided next year ahead of November’s election.
Attendees hold signs supporting former US President Donald Trump during a campaign event at Drake Enterprises in Clinton Township, MichiganCredit: Bloomberg
Except for former governors Christie and Asa Hutchinson (of Arkansas, who failed to qualify for the second debate) very few of candidates have fought Trump aggressively, fearing it could alienate his loyal base.
But this has proven to be an unviable strategy, with Trump continuing to soar in the polls, despite his myriad legal woes.
The latest FiveThirtyEight poll has Trump at 54 per cent compared to DeSantis, his next closest rival, at 13.8 per cent.
Haley and biotech entrepreneur Ramaswamy are polling at 6.3 per cent each, followed by Pence at 4.6 per cent. Christie, Scott, and North Dakota governor Doug Burgum, who was also at the debate, are all longshot chances, with less than three per cent each.
From left to right, Republican presidential candidates Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., prepare to debate during a Republican presidential primary debate hosted by FOX Business Network and Univision, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023Credit: AP
Like the second debate which Trump skipped, this time, he headed to Michigan – a state he won in 2016 but lost to Biden in 2020 – hoping to woo working-class voters amid a United Auto Workers strike in Detroit.
With Biden actually on the picket line a day earlier (Trump appeared at a non-union business), the duelling appearances gave a glimpse of what is increasingly looking like a rematch between Trump and the incumbent president – unless one of the other candidates somehow manages to break through.
President Joe Biden with UAW strikers on a picket line earlier this week.Credit: AP
However, legal peril couldn’t challenge Trump’s path back to the White House.On the stage in California, candidates faced off on issues the economy, America’s immigration crisis, crime and parent’s rights.
Not one question was asked in relation to Trump’s four separate criminal charges.
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