So…the first Republican Primary Debate took place on August 23, 2023, and it is safe to say that this debate was a chaotic mess. Ranging from conversations concerning abortion to climate change, the eight candidates provided their interesting takes on each subject matter. The candidates for the first primary debate comprised of Ron DeSantis, Mike Pence, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, Chris Christie, Vivek Ramaswamy, Doug Burgum, and Asa Hutchinson. Now, you might be wondering where the big frontrunner fits in this puzzle. Trump, unsurprisingly, did not show up to the first debate and does not plan to attend the following ones either. He claims that “the people know who he is,” and it seems unnecessary for him to be present. Nonetheless, Trump is still polling higher (53.9%) than any other GOP candidate.
As for the debate itself, there were many controversial takes presented by the majority of the candidates. After Trump, Ron DeSantis, the current Governor of Florida has the second highest poll at 15.2%. DeSantis is previously known for his banning of AP African American Studies and AP Psychology courses in the state of Florida due to its “sensitive” and “inappropriate” course subjects. Evidently, DeSantis wants to get rid of the IRS, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Education. DeSantis dislikes everything and everyone ranging from Mickey Mouse to gay people.
Following DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy currently ranks third in the polling. He is named as a “venture capitalist” and has zero years in politics. Ramaswamy is an entrepreneur who founded a biopharmaceutical company in 2014. However, his lack of political experience is clear and evident during the debate. Nikki Haley called him out for his inexperience in foreign affairs. Chris Christie pinned him as a talking and walking Chat GPT. But, despite such comebacks, the crowd seemed to be in his favor. From that night, Ramaswamy is known for saying “climate change is a hoax!” He is persistent on burning, drilling, and the fracking of coal. He seems to believe that people are getting affected by bad policies, not climate change. Not only does this not make sense, but is also is untrue. We need to be weary of a man with such notions. As Mike Pence noted, this is not a classroom, this is the real world. This is not where we begin our training, and “we don’t need to bring in a rookie.”
Additionally, Mike Pence was on the podium for this first debate. Yes, he was the Former Vice President, and unlike Ramaswamy, he has a foundation in politics. Pence made little to no contributions and remarks during the debate and stood in the shadows, despite polling high in relativity to others. He also wants to eliminate the Department of Education, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and defund the IRS entirely. He is in support of a national 6-week abortion ban.
I feel the most notable part of this debate was when these eight candidates were questioned whether or not they would support Trump as their party’s choice in the case he got convicted in a court of law (he was convicted in a court of law). Nearly everybody raised their hand. This says a lot about these candidates and where their ethics lay.
Also, a recent news source provided a demographic showing the most debated topics to the least debated topics. With almost a minute above any other topic, abortion was the most debated matter. However, gun control got a total of 23 seconds in the spotlight. How can we put our lives in the hands of those who are more worried about defunding the Department of Education as opposed to saving our children and loved ones from yet another mass shooting? We have had an exponential spike in deaths from firearms in the past few years. With firearms being the number one cause of death for children in the United States, it is indicative that we must rally for change and push for gun control policies.
The American Times 