Candidates took the stage for the second Republican presidential debate Sept. 28, hosted by Fox News. The candidates hoped to properly platform themselves and send an impactful message to the American people — but many fell flat.
The overall flow of the night was disappointing to watch, as it felt like we were all witnessing a scene quite similar to the embarrassing debates that took place between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden back in 2020.
Candidates Gov. Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, former ambassador Nikki Haley, former Gov. Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tim Scott and Gov. Doug Burgum all participated in what ended up becoming a disorganized shouting match. Moderators Dana Perino, Stuart Varney, and Llia Calderón failed to maintain a civil debate at many points during the lengthy two-hour segment.
Only 30 minutes into the debate, Scott started attacking Ramaswamy. Other candidates, including DeSantis, quickly jumped in. For almost 30 seconds straight, no individual candidate could be heard clearly until one of the moderators eventually stepped in, long after they actually should have.
If one thing is certain, Fox News should never allow those individuals to moderate a debate again.
While all candidates could be seen acting like children, the clear winner of the night was Ramaswamy. Ramaswamy delivered clear and concise messaging throughout most of the debate and demonstrated once again that he can articulate his words and opinions better than anyone else on stage.
The young and hungry candidate made his stances very clear, such as vowing to make parental consent required when it comes to transgender surgery for minors and denying citizenship to children of undocumented immigrants.
Ramaswamy also received attacks from many other candidates throughout the night. This clearly showed who everybody on stage perceived the real threat to be.
While many people anticipated DeSantis to be the center of attention, Ramaswamy blew him out of the water and took the spotlight — just as he did in the first debate. Whether it was his alleged business deals with China, or his TikToks with Jake Paul, candidates almost always found a way to verbally attack and degrade Ramaswamy.
Debate night ultimately meant a lot of things to a lot of people, but for Desantis, it was another slept-on opportunity. If there’s one thing the governor of Florida lacks in this presidential race, it’s the ability to be aggressive and memorable to the other candidates.
While Ramaswamy was flagged with accusations and verbal attacks, Desantis avoided flack from almost everyone on stage. Although that may sound like a good thing, having other candidates talk about the Florida governor in either a positive or negative light would certainly have made him more relevant on stage.
Desantis did get attention from fellow candidate Haley. Haley grilled Ron and critiqued his actions and policies as governor of Florida. Desantis firmly denied these accusations with a smile on his face and persevered through Haley’s rather vicious attacks.
However, Desantis failed to keep the same energy as his opposition, Ramaswamy. For someone who is viewed as one of the only Republican frontrunners, aside from Trump, Desantis seemed rather invisible in this debate, just as he did in the first. While his resume speaks for itself, Desantis is going to have to find a way to gain traction, and fast.
Missing from the showdown was none other than the candidate consistently ahead in the polls: Trump. This was the second consecutive debate that the former president has elected to miss.
When originally asked why he was not at the first debate in August, Trump claimed that he was doing all too well in the polls. Therefore, appearing in the primary debates with the rest of the candidates seemed unnecessary to him. Regardless, votes need to be earned and Trump should have been at the debate to do just that.
Rather than show up to the second debate, Trump held his own rally in Clinton, Michigan, simultaneously with the debate. Trump’s failure to attend and debate speaks to his attitude toward next year’s election. It’s clear that Trump believes he owns the Republican vote regardless of who shows up on that debate stage. While Trump has immense support from an overwhelming fanbase, he’s done and said nothing impactful for the average blue-collar citizens in America. If Trump keeps choosing to not participate, then he may have the same fate he did in 2020.
While Trump didn’t take part in the debate, Christie certainly kept his spirit alive during the two hours. Christie took many jabs at the former president and even got to the point to where he was speaking to Trump directly through the camera.
While Christie was right to call out Trump for missing yet another primary debate, it sure is hard to trust a man who has flip-flopped on the Trump bandwagon numerous times since 2016. The inconsistency with Christie’s statements speaks very well to where his priorities lie. It has become apparent that rather than a friend or foe, Christie views Trump as a pawn that he utilizes accordingly.
Overall, it’s still too early to make a call on who could win the nomination. With that said, all candidates, including Trump, clearly possess communication skills superior to those of current Biden. Biden will have quite a difficult time if he decides to take part in debates once the election draws closer. Hopefully, the primary debates going forward will host fewer candidates, making it easier for everyone to be heard clearly.
Until then, the race continues and hardly anyone has the desire to call it quits just yet.
