On Wednesday, eight presidential candidates faced off in the Republican debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The first debate of the 2024 US election cycle focused on immigration, the economy, climate change, and abortion. Despite Donald Trump’s absence, his misconduct stole the spotlight in the discussion.
Eight Republican presidential candidates sparred Wednesday over immigration, the economy, and abortion in the first debate of the 2024 US election cycle. However, Donald Trump still stole the spotlight, even as he boycotted the showdown.
Trump’s snubbing of the two-hour Milwaukee event deprived a chasing pack of rivals, whom he leads by massive margins in polls, of the opportunity to direct shots at him live on stage.
Instead, he gave a recorded interview with former Fox News star Tucker Carlson that was posted online minutes before the debate got underway.
But Trump loomed over the debate, with his multiple prosecutions the subject of questions from the Fox News hosts moderating the event.
Candidates were asked to signal if they would support Trump as the party’s nominee even if he is convicted in one of the criminal cases he is facing.
Every candidate raised their hand except Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who waved his finger.
“Here’s the bottom line. Someone’s got to stop normalizing this conduct, OK?” Christie said, drawing loud boos from the audience.
“Whether or not you believe that the criminal charges are right or wrong, the conduct is beneath the office of President of the United States,” he added.
Hutchinson earned more jeers when he said: “Obviously, I’m not going to support somebody who’s been convicted of a serious felony.”
Trump will surrender to authorities in Atlanta on Thursday over his fourth indictment of the year for an alleged criminal conspiracy to steal the 2020 election that he lost to Joe Biden.
The debate moderators opened with a question on the hit song “Rich Men North of Richmond” about working-class alienation, prompting Trump’s closest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, to warn that the country is “in decline.”
With a seismic shift needed to dethrone Trump, the debate offered a showcase for candidates angling to be Trump’s running mate.
The candidates equivocated on climate change, railed against street crime, and supported curbs on abortion access, an issue that polarizes America. Pence rebuked former UN ambassador Nikki Haley over her call for “consensus”.
Before the debate, the Biden campaign bought expensive ad slots on Fox News and its website, while the president said he would watch as much of the event “as I can.”
Miroslava Salazar, with AFP
