Eight Republican presidential primary candidates clashed over politics and policies Wednesday night at their first debate, a prime-time event that was skipped by the GOP frontrunner, former President Donald Trump.
Former Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie each took aim at 38-year-old tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy over his inexperience, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis promoted his record running the Sunshine State and accused the Trump administration of allowing lockdowns and mandates during the Covid pandemic.
“A major reason we are in this mess is because of how this federal government handled COVID-19 by locking down this economy,” Mr. DeSantis said. “It was a mistake. It should have never happened.”
The debate took place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a key battleground state that will host the GOP national convention next year.
Mr. Trump chose to appear instead in a recorded interview with Tucker Carlson opposite the debate on X, formerly Twitter. He called the people pushing criminal cases against him “savages” and warned about “a level of hatred I’ve never seen” in the country.
He also said he expects opponents will try to steal the 2024 election from him.
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Mr. Trump unloaded on his GOP rivals. He called Mr. DeSantis, who is in second in the polls, “a lost cause.”
He said Mr. Christie didn’t get a job in the Trump administration because he wasn’t trustworthy.
Mr. Ramaswamy promoted himself as “the only person on the stage who isn’t bought and paid for,” and outlined his agenda for resuscitating the economy by opening up energy production and cutting spending and regulations.
But Mr. Christie compared Mr. Ramaswamy to then-Sen. Barack Obama when he ran for president with little experience in 2007.
“I’m afraid we are dealing with the same type of amateur,” Mr. Christie said.
Mr. Ramaswamy responded by asking Mr. Christie for a hug, in reference to Mr. Christie’s warm greeting of then-President Obama in New Jersey following a major storm and just weeks before the critical 2012 presidential election in which Mr. Obama won a second term.
Mr. Pence dismissed Mr. Ramaswamy as a “rookie.”
The debate did not initially mention Mr. Trump, who leads the pack by double digits in polls. He was a no-show at the debate and instead tried to upstage the Republican Party event with his sit-down interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson on the social media site X.
Without Mr. Trump’s outsized presence at the debate, the top contenders sparred with each other over the economy, U.S. involvement in the war in Ukraine, and the fate of the former president who is now facing 91 criminal charges in four separate cases.
Mr. DeSantis shared the center of the stage with Mr. Ramaswamy. The two are the leading second-tier contenders in polling but trail Mr. Trump significantly.
In addition to Mr. Pence and Mr. Christie, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former U.N. ambassador and ex-South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson also participated.
While Mr. Trump holds a commanding lead, some polls that some Republicans prefer an alternative but are undecided on who it should be.
The GOP candidates on the debate stage are vying for breakout performances in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, which could propel any of them forward in the primary, especially if voters become wary of Mr. Trump’s legal entanglements.
Mr. Trump loomed large over the debate in spite of his absence. His interview with Mr. Carlson was scheduled to air at the same time as the debate, and the former president promoted the event on his social media site, promising “sparks will fly.”
Mr. Trump has signaled he doesn’t plan to participate in future debates, citing his commanding lead in polls. He also has said he will not sign the RNC pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee if he falls short.
The Trump campaign claimed victory hours before the debate kicked off.
“President Trump has already won this evening’s debate because everything is going to be about him,” said Chris LaCivita, a senior strategist for the Trump campaign. “In fact, tonight’s Republican undercard event really shouldn’t even be called a debate, but rather an audition to be a part of President Trump’s team in his second term.”
Mr. Trump has maintained - and in some cases expanded - his polling dominance despite getting hit with a series of indictments that have pulled his attention away from the campaign trail, and threaten to land him in prison for the rest of his life.
The limelight will be back on Mr. Trump on Thursday.
The 77-year-old plans to surrender to the authorities in Atlanta after he was indicted on sprawling charges related to his efforts to interfere in the results of Georgia’s 2020 election.
Mr. Trump’s debate absence created an opportunity for some of the lesser-known contenders to introduce themselves to a national audience, share their vision for the future of the Republican Party and the nation, and present themselves as the best alternative to Mr. Trump.
To win a spot on the debate stage, the candidates needed to have at least 1% in three national polls or in a mix of national and early-state polls and rake in 40,000 individual donors to their campaigns from at least 200 unique donors per state in 20 or more states.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, businessman Perry Johnson, conservative commentator and former California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder, and former Rep Will Hurd of Texas failed to qualify. Their longshot campaigns are now on death watch.
Mr. Trump holds a 26-point lead in Iowa, and a 31-point lead in New Hampshire, according to the latest Real Clear Politics average of polls.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.