Seven out of eight Republican presidential candidates in the United States met last night for a debate. It is the second debate the Republicans have before the primary election. Again, former President Donald Trump shone with his absence. Here are six points that summarize the debate at the Ronald Reagan Library in California: 1. Trump still owns The Republican Party Donald Trump had 57 percent approval in an average of the polls just before the debate, according to the website Real Clear Politics. The seven candidates on stage had a combined 36 per cent. If one of them is to beat Trump, several of the others must disappear. Elimination should begin as soon as possible. It’s not long until the nomination battle begins in Iowa on January 15. But none of the seven on stage had the big breakthrough last night. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is seen as Trump’s only real challenger. Photo: MIKE BLAKE / Reuters Criticism of Trump was stronger than last time, but it subsided after a short time and was primarily about Trump’s public spending when he was president. Ron DeSantis opened his first post in the debate with such criticism of his rival. – He should have been here and defended that he increased the debt by 7.8 trillion when he was president, DeSantis said. It is easy to criticize Trump for spending too much money when he was in the White House during the corona pandemic. But it is only Chris Christie who dares to criticize Trump for having divided the American people: – All the rest of us show respect for Republican voters. But Trump has not only divided the party, he has divided friends and families. “People can’t talk to each other anymore because of him,” said the former Trump friend and New Jersey governor. He dubbed Donald Trump “Donald Duck” because he constantly evades attacks and responsibility. Chris Christie dubbed Donald Trump “Donald Duck” during the last debate. Photo: MIKE BLAKE / Reuters But Christie has 2.7 percent support, and Trump thus has 57 percent. There is little indication that it will change much after the debate. Donald Trump has a lot to worry about, but the opposing candidates are not at the top of the list. The party is still Donald Trump’s. 2. Haley is doing well again, and can beat Biden Nikki Haley, Trump’s former UN ambassador, posed in a red silk suit, but without gloves. As last, she was an effective debater. She was also clear when she criticized her party colleagues in Washington who are ruling against shutting down the federal government on Sunday. – If they can’t pass a budget, they shouldn’t get paid themselves either, said Haley. I met Haley at a rally in Iowa last week, where she promised the crowd that she would always tell the truth and that she is not afraid of tough questions. The debate panel had to do without former President Donald Trump. Photo: Mark Terrill / AP Haley was honest that she both agrees and disagrees with Donald Trump. She disagrees, among other things, when it comes to continued support for Ukraine, which she believes is absolutely necessary for the security of the United States. This clarity may appeal to voters in the middle of American politics. Because Haley would have beaten Joe Biden by 4.3 percentage points if there were an election today, according to the latest average survey by Real Clear Politics. Haley has so far been in third place behind Trump and Ron DeSantis, but she must multiply her current support of ten percent if she is to challenge Trump. The debate last night hardly ensured that. 3. TikTok won The fear and indifference towards China became a recurring theme in the debate, and here the youngest of the candidates, the energetic Vivek Ramaswamy, was exposed. Ramaswamy is a businessman and actively uses TikTok in the election campaign. When he was asked why he is on TikTok at the same time as he is reaching out to China, he got into a mouthful with Nikki Haley. – I want us to win the election. We can only free ourselves from China if we win. I’m the only one in the party who talks about reaching young people, and they’re on TikTok, 38-year-old Ramaswamy said – before vowing to stop using TikTok if the Republicans win the election. Nikki Haley felt stupid when she heard Vivek Ramaswamy talk about reaching young voters through TikTok. Photo: JUSTIN SULLIVAN / AFP The comment made Nikki Haley sigh: – I feel stupider every time I’ve heard something you say, she said patronizingly. And when the debate went to commercial break soon after, Fox News showed an advertisement for precisely Chinese-owned TikTok. 4. Ron DeSantis better, but no star Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has failed to live up to expectations of becoming a clear alternative to Trump. That was the hope of many moneyed interests in the party after he won the by-election last year so it sang. He did better in the night’s debate than in the previous one, but hardly well enough to move away from the rest of the field, according to several commentators. DeSantis is under tremendous pressure and has bet $50 million in Iowa, where he probably has to win the nomination meeting that starts the process on January 15. But even though De Santis was eventually active and ready in the night’s debate, he prefers to talk about how he has done things in Florida. He still prefers to talk about how things are done in his home state. He is also subjected to daily attacks by the Trump campaign. Donald Trump attacks his competitors through his own campaign, not at the debate. Photo: Mike Mulholland / AP 5. Together against Washington, which may soon be closed All the candidates have two favorite themes: Securing the border with Mexico The large public spending in Washington It was around this last theme that Trump received the most criticism from party members. All the candidates believe that the high interest rates and the high price increase are due to massive public consumption. It is President Biden who gets most of the blame for it, but also his predecessor. If you travel around the US and talk to ordinary people, wasting money in Washington is one of the things they are most concerned about. Donald Trump’s project to fire bureaucrats and “drain the swamp” in the capital is one of the main topics for the Republican Party now, and one that got a lot of space in the debate. It gathers voters, and cuts deep. Tim Scott was more forward in the last debate than he was in the previous one. He believes that welfare schemes do more damage to ethnic minorities in the US than what capitalism does. Photo: MARIO TAMA / AFP The African-American senator Tim Scott was one of those who spoke about how public spending can be counterproductive. He believes that welfare schemes have destroyed more for ethnic minorities in the US than capitalism has. Scott was also far more active in tonight’s debate than in the previous one. 7. Chaotic debate leadership The debate outside Los Angeles was led by three presenters from Fox Business. They are criticized in many American media for the work they did. The questioning was chaotic, and the candidates interrupted and talked at each other’s mouths without the presenters being able to stop them. The candidates also several times completely failed to answer what they were asked about. When they were finally asked to write the name of an opposing candidate they think should be voted out, only one did as he was asked. It was Chris Christie, and he wrote Donald Trump on his note. The candidates interrupted each other during the debate, but Nikki Haley and Doug Burgum treated each other to a handshake. Photo: ROBYN BECK / AFP But there is no indication that Trump will be voted out by his own people. If this is a season of Survivor, and the contestants are to be voted off the island, then Trump will not be sent home as it stands now. – Donald Trump is basically the island itself, said commentator David Axelrod on CNN dryly after the debate. Despite four criminal indictments and a fraud case that could deprive him of the opportunity to do business in New York, Donald Trump still owns the Republican Party.
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Six conclusions after tonight’s Republican debate in the USA – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
