The party of Reagan reconsidered

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Thursday, the 28th of September, 2023. Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. First up on The World and Everything in It: the second RNC debate.

Last night, seven Republican presidential candidates met on stage at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

SOUND: [Clapping, host welcoming folks to the debate]

REICHARD: Debate organizers raised the bar for candidates to qualify for this second debate. Former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson was the only one from the last round unable to return. That left Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, and North Dakota governor Doug Burgum.

BROWN: As expected, former President Donald Trump skipped the debate, leaving his competitors to make their case to the Americans who tuned in.

WORLD politics reporter Leo Briceno stayed up late to watch the debate, and he brings us the highlights.

LEO BRICENO, REPORTER: Standing on a stage underneath Ronald Reagan’s Air Force One jet, the seven candidates came to the second RNC debate looking to build on their previous performance. Over two hours, three moderators rifled through 20 distinct topics, drawing out the candidates’ stances.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was more active in this debate. He’s previously veered away from attacking former president Donald Trump, but this time he criticized Trump’s absence.

RON DESANTIS: Donald Trump is missing in 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…

Governor Doug Burgum, injected several moments of substance into the debate when talking about big-picture questions like what’s behind the auto union strikes in Detroit.

DOUG BURGUM: The reason why people are striking in Detroit is because Joe Biden's interference with capital markets and with free markets. The subsidies, we’re subsidizing the automakers and we're subsidizing the cars and a particular kind of car, not every car. We're particularly, we're subsidizing electric vehicles…

Compared to the last debate in August, the candidates covered a few more topics; Crime in the United States came up in a number of different forms, and so did immigration. Ukraine was again a large focus. A few notable moments there:

Ron DeSantis questioned the motivation behind prolonged fighting in Ukraine.

RON DESANTIS: We don't even have control of our own territory. We have got to defend the American people before we even worry about all these other things. And I watch these guys in Washington DC, and they don't care about the American people….

Senator Tim Scott countered that America was making an investment in Ukraine, part of which would get paid back.

TIM SCOTT: By degrading the Russian military, we actually keep our homeland safer. We keep our troops at home. And we all understand article five of NATO….

And Vivek Ramaswamy came to verbal blows with former Vice President Mike Pence over foreign policy priorities.

RAMASWAMY: China is the real enemy. And we're driving Russia further into China's arms. We need a reasonable peace plan to end this. Especially this is a country whose president just last week was [Pence interrupts].

PENCE: Vivek, if you let Putin have Ukraine, that's a green light to China to take Taiwan. Peace comes through strength.

Elsewhere in the debate, Ramaswamy also doubled down on his proposal to remove the guarantee of citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants.

RAMASWAMY: Now, the Left will howl about the Constitution in the 14th Amendment. The difference between me and them is I've actually read the 14th amendment. What it says is that all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the laws and jurisdiction thereof, are citizens. So nobody believes that the kid of a Mexican diplomat in this country enjoys birthright citizenship, not a judge or legal scholar in this country will disagree with me on that. Well, if the kid of a Mexican diplomat doesn't enjoy birthright citizenship, then neither does the kid have an illegal migrant who broke the law to come here.

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley told audiences she would back law enforcement by following up police work with prosecutorial power.

HALEY: We have to start taking care of law enforcement. But it's not just taking care of them with words. It's making sure that you also follow through on what they do right now we have a lot of stolen guns on the street. Well, these law enforcement officers, they arrest these people, and then they go and they’re let out the very next day. So law enforcement feels like they don't no one has their back. We have to start prosecuting according to the law.

While the topic of abortion received the spotlight only briefly, Governor Ron DeSantis issued a strong support for life in the womb when he was asked if he believed Republicans could make a pro-life stance into a winning one.

DESANTIS: And I reject this idea that pro-lifers are to blame for midterm defeats. I think there's other reasons for that. The former president, you know, he's missing in action tonight. He's had a lot to say about that. He should be here explaining his comments, to try to say that pro-life protections are somehow a terrible thing. I want him to look into the eyes and tell people who've been fighting this fight for a long time.

Former Governor Chris Christie also touched on the subject, but in contrast to DeSantis, suggested that the issue was primarily a question for the states to answer.

CHRISTIE: Because I believe in life, but I also believe in states’ rights. And I think we fought hard against Roe v. Wade for decades to say that states should make these decisions. So we're going to have those fights in the States. But what you need is a leader who could talk to people and make them understand that if you're pro life, you have to be pro life for the entire life, not just the nine months in the womb.

The night was also marked by a series of misfires. Chris Christie tried calling out Trump in a way that didn’t stick the landing with the Reagan Library crowd:

CHRISTIE: You keep doing that, no one up here is gonna call you Donald Trump anymore. We're gonna call you, Donald Duck.

And Mike Pence miscalculated when he sidestepped a question about the DACA program to talk about punishing mass shooters.

PENCE: We have to mete out justice and send a message to these would-be killers that you are not going to live out your days behind bars. You're gonna meet justice in this system.

MODERATOR: Does that mean Obamacare is here to stay? [laughter and clapping]

And a number of candidates found themselves playing tug-of-war with the moderators.

RAMASWAMY: These these are good people who are tainted by a broken system, and it's not the fault of anybody who's hated. [talking over Tim Scott] Thank you for speaking while I'm interrupting.

MODERATOR Both sides, gentlemen, you'll have your turn.

RAMASWAMY: One of the challenges we have.

[Several talking over each other]

MODERATOR: If you speak at the same time no one can understand you.

RAMASWAMY: Exactly. So if I may, I agree with Ron DeSantis…

In terms of time, DeSantis enjoyed the most limelight with 12 and a half minutes of speaking time. Scott and Christie, at the middle of the pack, got roughly 10 minutes and thirty seconds apiece. Burgam, at the bottom, closed the night with just seven.

Candidates will take the stage again on November 8th in Miami.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Leo Briceno.

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