Republican debate highlights and analysis: Fiery faceoff on Trump, Ukraine and more
The 2024 hopefuls took the stage in Milwaukee on Wednesday night, without Trump.
The first Republican debate of the 2024 presidential primary was held in Milwaukee on Wednesday night.
Eight candidates qualified for a spot on the stage: North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former Vice President Mike Pence, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.
Missing from the event was the primary's early front-runner: former President Donald Trump, who declined to participate and instead released a pre-recorded interview with Tucker Carlson.
ABC News and FiveThirtyEight live-blogged every major moment and highlight from the debate, aired on Fox News, with FiveThirtyEight providing analysis and a closer look at the polling and data behind the politicians. PolitiFact made real-time fact checks of key statements.
Read deeper:
A potentially awkward moment for Pence
Christie is praising Pence for standing up to Trump after the 2020 election. But I don’t know if Pence wants an endorsement from the most-booed candidate of the night.
— Analysis by Leah Askarinam of FiveThirtyEight
Republicans remain unconvinced of former President Donald Trump’s guilt: According to an August poll from Premise, 77 percent of Republicans don’t believe Trump is guilty of trying to overturn the 2020 election. And in a CivicScience poll from August, 60 percent of Republicans said that Trump wasn’t guilty of any of the criminal charges he’s been indicted on across three different cases.
-Analysis by FiveThirtyEight
Hutchinson has been critical of Trump since entering the race, calling on him to drop out, especially after his indictments. He pushed back against the loyalty pledge to support the eventual nominee, and tonight did not raise his hand when asked if he would support the nominee. "Over a year ago I said Donald Trump was morally disqualified from being president," he said tonight, to boos from the audience.
-Analysis by Monica Potts of FiveThirtyEight
Fact-checking Scott’s claim that DOJ called parents 'domestic terrorists'
In talking about the weaponization of the Department of Justice, Scott trotted out a line he’s used before — that parents at school board meetings, “they’re called, under this DOJ, domestic terrorists.”
That’s False.
In 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memo directing the FBI to address violent threats against school board members. The memo never called concerned parents "domestic terrorists," and maintained that "spirited debate" surrounding school policy is protected by the U.S. Constitution. A lawsuit against Garland also found that parents’ rights had not been violated.
-Aaron Sharockman, PolitiFact
Fact-checking DeSantis’ claim: “We kept our state free and open”
DeSantis revels in his record of snubbing public health recommendations to curb the spread of COVID-19. But he largely omits the closures of schools and businesses that happened under his watch.
Seven states did not issue stay-at-home orders to their residents, but not Florida.
On April 1, 2020, DeSantis issued an executive order directing all Florida residents to "limit their movements and personal interactions outside of their home." The order expired April 30, 2020, and Florida began a phased reopening in May.
Though he carved out an exception for religious services and some recreational activities, DeSantis didn't exempt in-person classroom instruction. DeSantis' Department of Education issued a March 13 recommendation that Florida schools close their facilities for an extended spring break before lengthening the closure through the end of the school year in early June.
Schools reopened in person in August 2020.
-Aaron Sharockman, PolitiFact