Republican debate highlights and analysis: Candidates squabble in Simi Valley
2024 hopefuls argued over education, spending and border security.
The second Republican debate of the 2024 presidential primary, taking place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, has just come to an end.
The affair was more raucous than the first debate, which took place over a month ago. Candidates interrupted one another much more regularly and several — most notably former Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — have directly criticized front-runner Donald Trump, who elected not to show up tonight. The two candidates from South Carolina, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott, went after one another for their records on spending, and seemingly everyone who had the chance to take a shot at entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy did so.
Read below for highlights, excerpts and key moments.
Latest headlines:
- South Carolina on South Carolina: Nikki Haley and Tim Scott spar several times on stage
- Brief debate answers on Ukraine reveal a rift among Republicans over the issue
- Survivor, GOP primary edition?
- Pence seems to be playing out the string
- Ramaswamy and Scott's debate over birthright citizenship devolves into chaotic exchange
Burgum interrupts to get a word in
The moderators just tried to move on, but Burgum interrupted to make sure he got a word in. He must have read my post at the beginning of the debate that he needs to get more words in edgewise!
—Analysis by Nathaniel Rakich of 538
Americans Support Unions Generally
We're hearing a lot of anti-union talk from candidates on stage tonight, but that's not a position that a majority of Americans take. As Cooper mentioned, a majority of Americans support the current UAW strikes. More than that, support for American unions are at highs not seen in decades. When Biden visited striking workers in Michigan this week, he was visiting a state that was the first since 1965 to repeal the anti-union right-to-work laws.
-- Analysis by Monica Potts of 538
Likely Republican primary voters are not very interested in economic inequality
In our pre-debate 538/Washington Post/Ipsos poll, we asked likely Republican primary voters to select up to three issues that were most important in determining who they will vote for in the primaries. Economic inequality ranked 17 out of 20 issues, with only 3 percent selecting it.
—Analysis by Holly Fuong of 538
Fact-checking Tim Scott’s claim that ‘open borders’ led to the deaths of 70,000 Americans in the last 12 months
Scott’s claim is misleading. Deaths from fentanyl jumped 23 percent in Biden’s first year in office to more than 70,000, but they’ve been increasing since 2014 and also rose during Trump’s administration.
Although immigration encounters at the southern U.S. border have spiked under Biden’s watch, experts say most of the fentanyl coming into the U.S. from Mexico is coming through legal ports of entry. The vast majority of people sentenced for fentanyl trafficking are U.S. citizens, data shows.
-Analysis by Aaron Sharockman, PolitiFact
DeSantis, Christie blame both Biden and Trump for increased spending in Washington, say he should be on the debate stage
When debate moderators asked the 2024 GOP candidates about the impending government shutdown, some – including Trump’s closest opponent DeSantis – pivoted to blame the former president and current President Biden for the logjam.
Both men also called out Trump for his absence on stage, noting that he should be answering for himself as the shutdown looms.
"People in Washington are shutting down the American dream with their reckless behavior,” DeSantis said.
“And you know who else is missing an action? Donald Trump is missing an action. He should be on this stage tonight. He owes it to you to defend his record where they added 7.8 trillion to the debt that set the stage for the inflation that we have.”
Chris Christie – one of Trump’s staunchest critics – also admonished the former president.
“If the government shuts down, should voters blame populace Republicans? Very simply everybody who's in Washington, D.C.,” said Christie.
“And let's be honest about this with the voters. You know, during the Trump administration, they added $7 trillion — $7 trillion in national debt. And now the Biden administration has put another 5 trillion on and counting.”
“Donald Trump– he hides behind the walls of his golf clubs, and won't show up here to answer questions like all the rest of us are up here. He puts 7 trillion on the debt. He should be in this room to answer those questions for the people you talk about who are suffering,” Christie said.
–ABC News’ Isabella Murray