Republicans debate and tear each other down while Trump is funny

A split screen is prime. Five Republican candidates want 2024 US Presidential Election Clashes — sometimes very few blows — were fired during a new tense televised debate on Wednesday. 20 km away, Donald Trump, who Ignores debates With his lead in the polls, the day after the local elections, he hit the ground running with a no-risk MAGA rally. Democrats scored points And from two months First Republican vote in Iowa.

An almost holy union against Trump begins

Primary polls of Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Tim Scott and Chris Christie showed them trailing by 45 to 50 points in early absences. “Donald Trump needs to give you an account,” the Florida governor began, loosely quoting “the wall that Mexico won’t pay for, the debt, the swamp that Donald Trump won’t drain (Washington lobbyists).” “I’m tired of Republicans losing,” DeSantis insisted, citing conservative losses in the 2022 midterm elections and several local elections this Tuesday.

“Anyone who spends the next year and a half trying to avoid jail and the courts cannot lead this party or the country,” said former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Even 38-year-old Vivek Ramasamy, who readily calls himself “Trump 2.0,” asserted that the time has come for a “new generation” to take over.

Collisions and low blows

But the union did not last. Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramasamy, who Already clashed during previous discussions, did it again. The young entrepreneur first described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “Nazi in cargo clothing.” Then Nikki Haley, an ardent supporter of Ukraine, refers to the former neoconservative vice president as “Dick Cheney in 7cm heels.” The former US ambassador to the UN’s response hit the mark: “Already they have 12 cm. It’s not for style, it’s for weapons. »

Criticized by Haley in an earlier debate for joining TikTok as a Trojan horse from Beijing, Ramasamy assured that her opponent’s daughter had “used the app for a long time,” forgetting one of the non-negotiable rules. Policy: We do not touch children. “Get my daughter out of your mouth!” » (Leave my daughter out of this), the former South Carolina governor fumed, repeating the phrase about Will Smith’s wife at the Oscars. Before ending with an insult: “You’re just scum” (halfway between “You’re just scum” and “a piece of shit”).

The debate was marked by tense exchanges between Haley and DeSantis, with the former accusing the latter of changing her position. “That’s not true,” DeSantis replied with a tight laugh.

Abortion weighs on Republicans

Supreme Court in Roe v. In June 2022, Republicans are being punished by voters, including in conservative states. On Tuesday, Ohio voted to add the right to abortion to the state constitution, its sixth consecutive victory in such a vote.

Not really comfortable with the issue, Ron DeSantis defended his “pro-life” positions and promised that Republicans would “do better in these polls.” Vivek Ramaswamy called for “more responsibility for fathers”. Nicky Haley was most warmly praised by the audience, advocating a measured approach. “I’m pro-life, but I don’t judge anyone as pro-choice (pro-abortion). The voters have the power.” Must stop”.

Donald Trump is freewheeling

Less than 20 kilometers away, Donald Trump almost took no chances in a political meeting at home and ended it by dancing. “What’s left, six or seven candidates? I think they’re in the debate tonight, but nobody’s watching,” he joked. Nikki Haley” joked.

He reserved most of his attacks for Joe Biden, “who is not too old, but too incompetent”. “Finding his way through the end of a speech” before imitating Biden. The next televised animosity was on December 6, usually without Donald Trump.

Philip Perry