5 BIG moments from the first Republican presidential primary debate

The 2024 primary season officially kicked off with the first Republican presidential debate at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum on Wednesday night and there were plenty of memorable moments even without the presence of frontrunner Donald J. Trump.

With the former president choosing to sit this one out in favor of a Twitter/X interview with Tucker Carlson, the remaining GOP hopefuls got a chance to make their case to the American people on why they deserve to be in the White House.

Fox News moderator Martha MacCallum opened the two-hour debate with the song that has struck a chord with millions of Americans in these historically troubled times, Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” which served as the basis for her first question that was addressed to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

“Why is this song striking such a nerve in this country right now? What do you think it means?” MacCallum asked.

“Our country is in decline,” DeSantis answered. “This decline is not inevitable. It’s a choice. We need to send Joe Biden back to his basement and reverse American decline. And it starts with understanding we must reverse Bidenomics so that middle-class families have a chance to succeed again. We cannot succeed as a country if you are working hard and cannot afford groceries, a car, or a new home while Hunter Biden can make hundreds of thousands of dollars on lousy paintings. That is wrong.”

“We also cannot succeed when Congress spends trillions and trillions of dollars. Those rich men north of Richmond have put us in this situation. Finally, we need to lower gas prices. We need to open up all energy production. We will be energy dominant again in this country. I showed it could be done in the state of Florida. I pledged to you as your president we will get the job done and I will not let you down,” he added.

In an an epic exchange, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie who was spoiling for the onstage attack on Trump that he has based his entire campaign on, mixed it up with political newcomer Vivek Ramaswamy who called him out for his obsession with exacting vengeance on the former president.

“Let’s just speak the truth ok? President Trump, I believe was the best president of the 21st century, it’s a fact,” Ramaswamy said to cheers. “And 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 were not based on vengeance and grievance against one man,” jabbing the television pundit by suggesting that he was running for president of MSNBC.

The audience was clearly on the side of Trump and the young biotech entrepreneur and, at one point, moderator Bret Baier felt compelled to turn and scold the people in the seats for their booing of Christie, who it turns out isn’t as popular with the public as he is with the media.

Ramaswamy also shredded Christie after the blustering former governor likened him to Barack Obama, reminding him of the famous hug that he gave to the former president when he paid a visit to New Jersey after it was hit by Hurricane Sandy during the 2012 election cycle.

In another of the night’s memorable moments, former South Carolina governor and US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley chopped up the sexual mutilators and their transgender indoctrination of vulnerable children.

Haley’s fellow South Carolinian, Senator Tim Scott vowed to cut the rot out of the heart of the politicized federal justice system.

“When I’m president, the first thing I’ll do is fire Merrick Garland,” he pledged. “Second thing I’ll do, fire Christopher Wray, because we need Lady Justice to wear a blindfold. Without that, no one has confidence in our justice system.

Former Vice President Mike Pence who made the big stage, was upstaged by Ramaswamy when he tried to play the veep card.

“Unlock American energy. Drill, frack, burn coal, embrace nuclear. Put people back to work by no longer paying them more to stay at home,” he said in response to Trump’s former second banana.

Ramaswamy, dubbed the “CEO of Anti-Woke Inc.,” also went there when he kicked over the tables of the Green New Deal moneychangers.

“I’m the only person on the stage who isn’t bought and paid for, so I can say this. The climate change agenda is a hoax,” he proclaimed, a statement that unbelievably drew loud booing from the Republican audience.

 

Despite Trump’s absence, the first GOP debate didn’t disappoint and future debates will only become more lively as no-hope candidates are weeded out.

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Chris Donaldson

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