By Nicole Trinkl
Staff Writer
The first Republican primary debate for the 2024 Presidential election was aired on Fox News Network on Aug. 24 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Eight GOP candidates with different backgrounds were asked about a variety of political issues facing the U.S. and were given the space to address what they would do if they were to be elected into office.
Those present at the debate include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Gov. of South Carolina and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former Vice President Mike Pence and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. In light of the several recent indictments and charges, former president Donald Trump was the only candidate absent from the debate.
According to AP, Trump announced that he would not be participating in the debate via his social media platform Truth Social, writing, “The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had … I will therefore not be doing the debates.”
Instead, Tucker Carlson, Former Fox News Commentator, interviewed Trump on the night of the GOP debate and posted the interview to X (formerly Twitter). In the interview, Trump said that for various reasons, including his lead in the polls, he did not feel the need to participate in the debate.
“I’m leading by 50 and 60 points,” Trump said. “Do I sit there for an hour or 2 hours … and get harassed by people that shouldn’t even be running for president … and a network that isn’t particularly friendly to me?”
Each GOP candidate on stage in Milwaukee was asked on issues including government spending, inflation, climate change, abortion rights, homelessness, crime, drugs, gun control, the Russia-Ukraine war, immigration, education and more. Several different impactful moments came out of the debate, making clear the different viewpoints of each candidate.
When the candidates were asked their views on climate change, Desantis made clear how he had addressed previous climate disasters in Florida by being active, present and helpful. Ramaswamy expressed how he believes the climate change agenda to be a hoax.
Haley, on the other hand, expressed how she believes climate change is real and believes in taking action to have clean air and clean water. She also expressed the importance of telling China and India to also lower their emissions.
When the candidates were asked their views on abortion, almost all identified themselves as pro-life, but each had different views on when they believed abortion should be banned.
Haley expressed how instead of passing legislation regarding abortion in which the majority do not agree, she advocates for creating legislation that would take 60 Senate votes and the majority of the House. She talked about creating consensus in things like banning late term abortions, encouraging adoptions, having access to contraception and not putting women in jail or giving them the death penalty for getting an abortion.
Desantis, who signed a six-week abortion state ban in Florida, did not deny if he was elected president he would sign a six week ban federally. Pence along with Scott called for having a 15-week abortion ban in every state. Bergum expressed that he believes that there should not be a federal abortion ban.
In addition to abortion, candidates were asked about their views on the Russia-Ukraine war. When asked if any candidate would support an increase in funding to support Ukraine, Ramaswamy said that he would not. Ramaswamy expressed that he would use that funding to instead secure the U.S. southern border. Christie, having visited Ukraine, expressed the importance of standing up to Russia and Putin. Haley also stressed the importance of supporting Ukraine and preventing world war.
Ramaswamy, being the youngest candidate on stage and having a background in business, was the target of many candidates. Pence and Haley both pointed out his lack of experience with Pence calling him a rookie and Haley commenting on his lack of foreign policy experience. Despite their attacks, Ramaswamy had the second highest performance rating in the debate after Desantis, according to a poll conducted by The Washington Post, FiveThirtyEight and Ipsos asking potential Republican primary and caucus voters who they thought performed best in the debate.
According to The Wall Street Journal, despite Trump not showing up to the GOP debate, he “has drawn at least 50% support in aggregated polls of GOP voters nationally every day,” since early April.
When all the GOP candidates on stage were all asked if they would still support Trump if he were to be convicted in a court of law for the crimes he committed, the majority of the candidates raised their hands, except for Hutchinson and Christie, who hesitated to raise his hand fully.
With Trump getting higher voter and majority candidate support, who is likely to become the Republican nominee is still unclear. With this being the first debate to kick off the 2024 presidential election, the public got the opportunity to get to know each candidate and form their own opinions on who they support.
