Donald Trump’s Republican rivals clashed at a chaotic presidential debate on Wednesday (September 27), leveling attacks at the absent former president, Democratic President Joe Biden and one another over issues from China to immigration to the economy.
As in the first debate in August, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy – a political neophyte whose campaign for the Republican presidential nomination is his first run for public office – repeatedly drew the ire of his more experienced opponents.
“Every time, I hear you, I feel a little dumber,” Nikki Haley, the former United Nations ambassador, told Ramaswamy after he defended joining TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media site that has raised security concerns among U.S. officials. Ramaswamy said he uses the app to connect with young voters.
But as the debate ended, none of the seven candidates on stage appeared to have secured the sort of breakout moment that would alter the dynamics of a primary contest that Trump has dominated for months, despite his four criminal indictments – which went virtually unmentioned during the two-hour broadcast.
Trump, who led his nearest rival for the nomination by 37 percentage points in the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, skipped the debate, as he did the first one in Wisconsin last month.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis used his first answer to call out Trump for being “missing in action” and for adding trillions of dollars to the national debt.
DeSantis, whose poll numbers have declined after he was widely seen as the leading Trump alternative, has been more willing to attack the frontrunner recently after months of avoiding direct confrontation.
Mike Pence, vice president under Trump from 2017-2021, offered a mild critique of Trump’s desire to centralize power in the federal government, vowing to give power back to the states. And former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley said Trump had taken the wrong approach on China by focusing exclusively on trade, rather than broader security issues.
Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for the November 2024 election, was also a frequent target for the Republican candidates, who castigated his handling of the economy and the southern border with Mexico.
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