The first debate for Republican contenders of the US 2024 election cycle took place late Wednesday, setting up the stage for the long race to Election Day.
The eight candidates on the stage included Florida Governor Ron DeSantis; businessman Vivek Ramaswamy; former US Vice President Mike Pence; US Senator Tim Scott; former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley; former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie; Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson; and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.
Early analysis of the highly-anticipated debate night has proved the debate standard stuck to protocol as candidates took to loudly sparing with one another on topics ranging from the potential convictions of former US President Donald Trump to the status of the US economy and continued Ukraine aid, among others.
Did Ramaswamy Steal the Spotlight?
With no Trump in sight, the focus of group's ire ultimately wound up falling on none other than Ramaswamy, who sat centerstage next to DeSantis as he's continued to creep up on national polling despite starting his own race at 0%.
The American billionaire entrepreneur proved to be enemy number one among his GOP rivals, who chastised him on all front from his lack of experience in politics to appearing as though he was simply regurgitating "pre-prepared slogans."
"Now is not the time for on the job training,” Pence said at one point during the night. “We don’t need to bring in a rookie.”
One of the most scorching hits came from Christie, saying he "had enough of a guy who stands up here who sounds like ChatGPT."
However, despite the piling on, Ramaswamy turned out to be the only candidate at the first Republican debate to not support providing additional funding to Ukraine, a stance that went on to only stir the hornet's even more.
"I would not and I think that this is disastrous that we are protecting against an invasion across somebody else's border when we should use those same military resources to prevent across the invasion of our own southern border here in the United States of America," Ramaswamy said Wednesday night.
Moments later, Haley struck at Ramaswamy and claimed a successfully White House bid by the businessman would mean a "less safe" US, doubling that his lack of political and foreign policy experience "shows."
To date, the US has spent more than $100 billion in aid to Ukraine, a figure that has more recently begun to prompt concern and condemnation from various congressional lawmakers looking to clamp down on the expense and turn funding inward - to domestic matters. Polling has additionally shown that a majority of Americans are in opposition to continued Ukraine aid packages.
Tackling Abortion
One of the hotly-debated topics of the night proved to be abortion rights, which the Republican candidates were more than willing to jump in and voice their opposition on the matter.
Where both Pence and Scott threw their backing to endorsing a ban on abortions at the minimum of 15 weeks of pregnancy - a time in which many women are not even aware of having become pregnant, Haley called for the demonization to stop.
“We need to stop demonizing this issue,” Haley, the only woman on the debate stage, said. “We aren’t going to put a woman in jail ... if she has an abortion.”
The former UN ambassador went on to note that a federal ban on abortion in all US states was unlikely to ever clear both chambers of Congress and be signed by the sitting US president, noting the matter should be left up to state governments.
Jumping on Haley's remark, Pence jabbed that leaving it up to the states was simply "the opposite of leadership," and stressed that “it’s not a states-only issue. It’s a moral issue."
However, Haley wasn't alone, Christie also chimed in that he believed it was a state issue. On a larger scale, every candidate voiced they were pro-life when it came down to which side of the topic they lean toward.
DeSantis' Battle With Cartels, Costly Gov't Spending
Ahead of debate night, DeSantis suggested he'd be the focus of the festivities but he ultimately found himself outshined by his contenders and not much closer to being on par with the GOP pack's top rival - Trump.
During the debate DeSantis mostly stuck to comments he's made in the past on how the nation is in a "decline" and how Biden needs to step aside - even taking a shot at Hunter Biden's dip in the art world at one point.
The Florida politician also indicated he supported using force against Mexican drug cartels and treating them as foreign terrorist organizations.
"As president, would I use force, would I treat them as foreign terrorist organizations? You're darn right I would," DeSantis said, going on to underscore that he would use all available powers as commander-in-chief to protect the United States, and that includes using lethal force against threats coming over the US-Mexico border.
The governor also vowed to pull back on excessive government spending, highlighting how the American economy will not be able to withstand the continued shelling out of trillions of dollars. "We also cannot succeed when the Congress spends trillions and trillions of dollars," DeSantis said.
Calling for Biden's current economic plan to be rescinded, DeSantis said the Untied States is on a decline by choice, and that it is not inevitable.
Most Candidates Vow to Back Trump if Convicted
With Trump absent from the debate stage, it wasn't until more than an hour into event that the Republican candidates addressed the elephant in the room. However, as they did, six of eight contenders said they would support the former president if he were to be convicted.
"These are politicized indictments, we have to call out the truth," Ramaswamy said. "Let's just speak the truth. Okay. President Trump, I believe was the best president of the 21st century."
All candidates appeared to raise their hand in support of Trump except for Hutchinson. Although he originally appeared to raise his hand, Christie said he was wagging his finger and explained why he would not support Trump.
"Someone's got to stop normalizing this conduct," 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."
Hutchinson later quipped that Trump was "morally disqualified from being president" because of the January 6 events.
As for Pence, he commented that he would be open to the possibility of "fair consideration" on the grounds of pardoning Trump.