Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, 7 other GOP candidates take, sling barbs during first debate
MILWAUKEE -- The first debate between eight Republican candidates running for president in 2024 who qualified and chose to attend covered topic that ranged from six-week abortion bans and foreign policy to inflation.
Still, talk of former President Donald Trump, who leads polls, stirred up candidates and the crowds watching inside the Fiserv Forum.
Fox News aired the debate Wednesday night. Moderators asked the eight candidates to raise their hands if they would support Trump as the party's nominee if the former president is convicted on any of the four federal indictments pending against Trump.
That brought some push back.
"Is that what we're going to be focusing on, the re-hashing of this?" Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said when asked about Trump and the former president's administration handling of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. "I'll tell you the Democrats would love that. They will win if we let them get away with that."
"I'm not going to support somebody whose been convicted of a serious felony or who is disqualified under our constitution and that is consistent with RNC rules," Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said. "I hope everybody will agree."
"We should be asking ourselves a bigger question about the weaponization of the Department of Justice," U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina said. "When I'm president the first thing I'll do is fire (U.S. Attorney General) Merrick Garland. The second thing I'll do: fire (FBI Director) Christopher Wray because we need lady justice to wear a blindfold."
"Someone's got to stop normalizing this conduct," Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said. "Whether or not you believe that the criminal charges are right or wrong, the conduct is beneath the office of President of the United States."
"President Trump, I believe, was the best president of the 21st Century," Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur said. "It's a fact. Chris Christie, honest to God, your claim that Donald Trump is motivated by vengeance and grievance would be a lot more credible if your entire campaign was not based on vengeance and grievance against one man."
Several times Vice President Mike Pence, Christie, and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley had heated exchanges with Ramaswamy over ways to manage inflation, abortion and foreign policy.
When talk turned to crime, candidates debated how to improve public safety across the country. Gov. DeSantis defended his record in Florida.
"Crime is at a 50-year low in Florida," DeSantis said. "We're happy with that."
When challenged by a moderator who said "not in Miami," DeSantis pushed back.
"Statewide it's a 50-year low," he said.
The entire debate lasted two hours. The next Republican debate will be next month in California