The second 2024 Republican presidential debate is here. Seven candidates, including a cadre of governors and former governors, are facing off for the second time at a debate moderated by Fox News hosts Stuart Varney and Dana Perino alongside UNIVISION’s Ilia Calderón. The debate is being held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Candidates participating in the debate include Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum. Former President Donald Trump, the current GOP frontrunner, will not participate, choosing to appear in Michigan to give a speech to striking autoworkers. Follow The Daily Wire’s Republican presidential debate live blog here: Refresh for updates.
Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom attends debate as surrogate for Biden
Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) was spotted at the Reagan Presidential Library, entering the spin zone, where he will be a surrogate for President Joe Biden. Newsom declared the president the “clear” winner of the debate before it even started.
“The winner of tonight’s debate is clear, it’s Joe Biden. It’s the Biden presidency and the extraordinary job he’s done over the years,” Newsom said. “It’s been a masterclass, the success of the Biden-Harris administration.”
Tim Scott: Biden shouldn’t be on the picket line but on the southern border
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) called out President Joe Biden for joining striking autoworkers in Michigan earlier this week. “Joe Biden should not be on the picket line; he should be on the southern border working to close our southern border because it is unsafe, wide open, and insecure.”
If you don’t control your back door, it's not your house. And if we don't control our border, it’s not our country.
Every single American deserves safe streets, drug-free neighborhoods, and secure borders. And when I’m in the White House, they’ll get them. pic.twitter.com/4c4Iue7X2v
— Tim Scott (@votetimscott) September 28, 2023
Ramaswamy doesn’t have patience for union bosses but does have sympathy for the workers
The tech entrepreneur said that workers should “go picket in front of the White House in Washington, D.C. That’s really where the protest needs to be.” Ramaswamy added that the Biden administration’s policies have been a disaster and that federal regulations are hampering the economy.
Chris Christie calls out Trump for adding to the national debt
Former Trump ally and Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie criticized the Trump administration for adding trillions of dollars to the national debt during the former president’s four years in office and called on him to defend his record on the debate stage.
“We don’t get any answers because Joe Biden hides in his basement and won’t answer as to why he’s raising the debt the way he’s done, and Donald Trump hides behind the walls of his golf clubs and won’t show up … he put $7 trillion on the debt. He should be here in this room to answer those questions.”
DeSantis calls out Trump for not being at the debate, criticizes the former president for signing large spending bills
“You know who else is missing in action? Donald Trump is missing in action,” the Florida governor said. “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 that set the stage for the inflation that we have.” DeSantis said he will veto bloated spending bills.
Where is Joe Biden? He’s missing in action.
You know who else is missing in action? Donald Trump.
DC politicians are shutting down the American Dream with their reckless spending.
As your President, when they send me a bloated spending bill, I will take out my pen and veto it. pic.twitter.com/FzhRJZco19
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) September 28, 2023
Christie says that America wants more immigrants to come legally
“If you come here illegally, we will apprehend you and send you back across the border from whence you came.”
DeSantis tries to steer debate back to issues after Scott and Ramaswamy trade barbs
After Sen. Tim Scott called out Vivek Ramaswamy for criticizing his GOP opponents in the last debate and calling them “bought and paid for,” Gov. DeSantis tried to get the participants to “get back to the issues that matter.”
“Let’s focus on holding Joe Biden accountable,” DeSantis said. “That’s who we need to be focusing on.”
Pence asked about supporting a pathway for illegal immigrants allowed to stay in America under Obama and Biden’s DACA program, which was recently ruled illegal
The former vice president pointed to the Trump administration’s actions to secure the border and said he has negotiated change in Congress before.
DeSantis says that crime is a sign of “decaying” American culture, lays out his plan to go after Soros-backed DAs
The Florida governor pointed to his removal of two woke prosecutors in Florida and said that he will authorize the Department of Justice to bring civil rights cases against George Soros-backed prosecutors who are weak on prosecuting crime.
Pence calls for “expedited death penalty” for mass shooters
“I’m someone that believes that justice delayed is justice denied, and as a father of three, as a grandfather of three beautiful little girls, I am sick and tired of these mass shootings happening in the United States of America, and if I’m president of the United States, I will go to the Congress of the United States, and we’re going to pass a federal expedited death penalty for anyone involved in a mass shooting so they will meet their fate in months, not years.”
Ramaswamy says that part of dealing with the fentanyl crisis is cracking down on demand in the country
Ramaswamy said that the country needs to turn to faith-based mental health solutions and crack down on addictive social media platforms.
Haley addresses the broken health care system
Nikki Haley said that, as president, she will break down the American healthcare system as it currently stands and will bring competition and transparency to the industry.
When I am president we will make health care costs transparent. We will put the patient in the driver seat and costs will go down.
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) September 28, 2023
Burgum blames the federal government for rising medical costs
When asked about how he would address the rising costs of health care, Doug Burgum pinned the blame on the federal government. He said that whenever the government gets involved, it picks winners and losers, which doesn’t work out well.
Every time the federal government gets involved in something, whether it’s education, energy or health care, things get more expensive and less efficient. #GOPDebate
— Doug Burgum (Text "DOUG" to 70177) (@DougBurgum) September 28, 2023
Haley says parents have to get involved with kids’ education, calls for transparency and an end to spending on DEI, CRT
Nikki Haley said parents need to get involved and public schools need to be more transparent with them. “We’ve got to make sure we catch our kids up … we need complete transparency in the classroom … we need school choice.”
“We’ve got to quit spending time on DEI and CRT,” Haley added.
"We've got to make sure we catch our kids up … we need complete transparency in the classroom … we need school choice."
"We've got to quit spending time on DEI and CRT." — Gov. Nikki Haley
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) September 28, 2023
Scott takes aim at Democrat welfare programs
Tim Scott said that black Americans survived all of the hardships of slavery, but were devastated by welfare programs in the 1960s. “What was hard to survive was Johnson’s Great Society where they decided to take the black father out of the household to get a check in the mail and you can now measure that in unemployment, crime, and devastation. If you want to restore hope, you need to restore the family,” he said.
Ramaswamy: Transgenderism is a mental health disorder
After being asked about parental notification laws for public schools, Vivek Ramaswamy said, “Transgenderism, especially in kids, is a mental health disorder,” adding that “it is not compassionate to confirm a child’s delusion.”
VIVEK: "Transgenderism, especially in kids, is a mental health disorder!" pic.twitter.com/GmweqbuyRk
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 28, 2023
DeSantis says the U.S. must defend the American people before worrying about Ukraine
When asked if it was in America’s best interest to fund Ukraine’s defense, Gov. Ron DeSantis said it is in America’s interest “to end” the war in Ukraine. “We are not going to have a blank check. We will not have U.S. troops [in Ukraine].”
“We have to defend the American people,” DeSantis added, saying the U.S. needs to focus on the southern border.
"It is in our interest to end this war," Gov. DeSantis says we will not send American troops to Ukraine.
"We have to defend the American people," DeSantis charges, stating that we need to focus on the southern border.
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) September 28, 2023
Tim Scott: Opposing Russia in Ukraine is in America’s best interest
When asked about continued assistance to Ukraine, which Scott has consistently voted in favor of, the senator said, “Our national interest is in degrading the Russian military.”
Haley and Ramaswamy squabble over TikTok
Ramaswamy said that he would ban TikTok for those under 16 before Haley jumped in to attack him over downloading the app himself. Haley said that TikTok was a security liability and would allow China access to American voting. Ramaswamy said that having TikTok was necessary to reach out to the next generation.
WATCH:
Vivek and Haley Clash Over TikTok/China – Haley says ‘We can’t trust you.’ pic.twitter.com/rC3zKs2Fqd
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 28, 2023
Burgum: “We’re in a Cold War with China”
Burgum called out Biden’s foreign policy approach, saying that Biden invited more kidnappings of Americans with recent negotiations that gave billions to Iran in exchange for imprisoned Americans. He added that Ukraine should not fall to Russia and Taiwan should not fall to China.
Haley goes after DeSantis on energy
Nikki Haley attacked Gov. Ron DeSantis for his record on fracking, accusing DeSantis of issuing executive orders after taking office banning fracking and offshore drilling in the state.
On his second day in office as governor, Ron issued executive orders BANNING fracking and offshore drilling in Florida—a page straight from Joe Biden’s playbook.
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) September 28, 2023
DeSantis responded to Haley, saying her claims are “not true” and pointed to a Florida constitutional amendment that bans offshore drilling.
“That’s just wrong,” the governor said of Haley’s attack. “And let’s just get real here: my plan will get the job done. We are going to be energy dominant.”
.@RonDeSantis pledges to champion "American energy dominance: We're going to choose Midland over Moscow, we're going to choose the Marcellas over the Mullahs, and we're going to choose Bakken over Beijing, and we're going to lower your gas prices." BAM #GOPDebate pic.twitter.com/87nzLXZw8y
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) September 28, 2023
DeSantis says being pro-life is not a liability for elections
“I reject this idea that pro-lifers are to blame for midterm defeats,” DeSantis said, adding that Trump should be at the debate to explain why he has been critical of pro-life activists. “We’re better off when everyone counts,” he added, saying Republicans should go after Democrats pushing extreme late-term abortion policies.
Candidates asked who they would vote “off the island”
Fox News host Dana Perino asked candidates to write down what candidate they would want to “vote off the island” but candidates refused with DeSantis calling the question disrespectful. Other candidates agreed and Perino moved on before Christie explained that he would want Trump “off the island.”
Ramaswamy: “America First agenda does not belong to one man”
With the final comment of the debate, Vivek Ramaswamy said he “respects” former President Trump’s “legacy,” but added that the America First agenda that Trump governed by “does not belong to one man.”
“It does not belong to Donald Trump. It doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to you, the people of this country. And the question is who is going to unite this country and take the America First agenda to the next level.”