 REUTERS/Brian SnyderMILWAUKEE, Wis. — Freed from the shadow of Donald Trump at least a bit, the eight Republican candidates at the Fox News debate in Milwaukee made the most of their time in the national spotlight. Here’s what leapt out to our team. They’re ambivalent about Trump. Let’s get the moment, pictured above, out of the way at the start: Asked to raise their hands if they’d support Trump if he’s convicted of crimes, everyone but Asa Hutchinson did. That included Chris Christie, who later said it was a dismissive gesture, as well as Mike Pence and Ron DeSantis, both a little slower than the rest. “Someone’s got to stop normalizing this conduct, okay?” Christie said in an extended answer afterwards that drew boos and cheers. Few mentioned the frontrunner at all unless pressed. DeSantis seemed more uncomfortable with Trump than any other topic: “This election is not about January 6 of 2021, it’s about January 20 of 2025,” he said. Pressed on whether Pence did the right thing in certifying the election, he eventually responded: “Mike did his duty, I’ve got no beef with him.” Abortion is a real problem. There were real differences between the candidates here, but the overall picture was a party that’s still deeply uneasy with its position. Neither of the two South Carolinians took a clear position on the news that their state’s 6-week abortion ban was upheld that day by the state Supreme Court. Nikki Haley said that Republicans should minimize discussion of a federal ban that was unlikely to pass. DeSantis dodged on whether he’d sign a federal version of Florida’s 6-week ban, a moment Democrats undoubtedly were happy to clip and save. Pence and Tim Scott came out clearly for a federal 15-week limit, Burgum clearly for letting states sort it out. Everyone hates Vivek. No one disguised their irritation at Vivek Ramaswamy, who laughed out loud when attacked and patronized his rivals as “bought off” and “career politicians.” He took more incoming fire than any other contender, by far. There was a strategy there — Ramaswamy had been rising in the polls, but is only starting to get scrutiny over his changing positions, like his stance on Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021. But it also seemed personal: Christie, Pence, Haley, and everyone else with governing experience looked fed up with a swaggering 38-year-old who assumed the presidency would be easy. After Ramaswamy accused the field of using “memorized prepared slogans,” a bemused Pence responded: “Is that one of yours?” DeSantis is still in limbo. DeSantis came in hot and stayed that way, delivering fired-up versions of his campaign applause lines that often lit up the in-person audience. But after his own campaign predicted he’d be the “center of attacks” in a Trumpless debate, he faced more neglect than abuse, which left him in the background sometimes. He also was the slipperiest of any candidate, shooting down a simple question on climate change along with the tougher ones on abortion and Trump. Other candidates have struggled with similar topics on the trail, but seemed to settle on a more confident answer — and really, core brand — by the time of the debate. Trump was not the winner of this debate. “You watch what happens in the polls,” Donald Trump, Jr. told reporters after the debate, as he and other Trump campaign surrogates roamed the media room. “Over the coming weeks, he’s gonna have even a larger lead.” Maybe, maybe not. Trump’s logic for skipping the debate seemed perfectly sound: He’s ahead, why risk it? But the candidates also showed up energized and each one got a relatively clean chance to deliver their core pitch and provide at least an implicit contrast. It was the first time a national audience got a real look at what a party without Trump might feel like. There are risks there as well. — David Weigel, Shelby Talcott, Benjy Sarlin To share this story, click here. |
