Five takeaways from the GOP debate: DeSantis’ not-so-big night, Trump’s absence

WASHINGTON —  Eight Republican presidential candidates faced off Wednesday night in Milwaukee at the first primary debate, which was hosted by Fox News.

Former President Trump, the overwhelming front-runner, did not attend, opting instead to release a counter-programmed interview with Tucker Carlson.

Here are some takeaways:

Trump, the ‘elephant not in the room’

The eight candidates and Fox News moderators said little about Trump for most of the first hour. Then, in a second-hour tease, the moderators showed video of the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, where Trump is expected to be booked Thursday on charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. They asked Trump’s rivals to raise their hands if they would support Trump if he wins the nomination, even if he is convicted.

Everyone but former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who barely registers in most polls, raised their hands. Hutchinson drew boos from Republicans in the room when he said Trump was “morally disqualified.”

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Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, also struggling in the polls, raised his hand grudgingly but attacked Trump, as he has on the campaign trail.

“Here’s the bottom line: Someone’s got to stop normalizing this conduct,” he said.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley made the electability argument, pointing to polls that show the vast majority of Americans do not want a rematch between Trump and President Biden. But she sidestepped direct criticism of Trump’s conduct: “We have to face the fact that Trump is the most disliked politician in America. We can’t win a general election that way.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump’s closest challenger, wanted to move on.

“It’s not about Jan. 6 of 2021,” he said, arguing that discussing the insurrection is bowing to the Democrats’ agenda. “They want to talk about all these other issues. We’ve got to focus on your future.”

A divide over foreign policy

One of the biggest clashes of the night came over the Biden administration’s support for Ukraine as it defends itself from Russia’s invasion. The Republican Party used to be uniformly hawkish and anti-Russia. But polls show a shift, something candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has tried to exploit, noting that “the U.S.S.R. does not exist anymore,” and arguing that the money would be better spent at home.

It’s one of several reasons Ramaswamy, a little-known businessman, has been gaining strength in polls.

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Haley, a former U.N. ambassador who has positioned herself as a traditional foreign policy conservative in the mold of former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, shot back that a president needs “moral clarity” and chided Ramaswamy as an inexperienced lightweight.

DeSantis, who has gone back and forth on Ukraine, tried to pick up some populist steam without picking a side.

“I’m not going to send troops to Ukraine but I am going to send them to our southern border” with Mexico, he said.

The foreign policy shift began after much of the country soured on former President George W. Bush’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Trump picked up on the growing frustration. The primary could well decide where the GOP goes from here.

DeSantis needed a big night. He didn’t have one

DeSantis, once ahead of Trump in polls, has fought to salvage his sagging campaign. But he did little to stand out Wednesday, leaving the big moments to lower-polling candidates such as Haley, Ramaswamy and Christie.

DeSantis made his name as a culture warrior, leading the “anti-woke” revolution in his state. But the candidates didn’t spend much time on culture war topics, which have waned in recent months as polls show Republican voters focusing more on immigration, crime and other issues.

Fox loses control

The Republican Party has been feasting on the media for years, reaching a zenith during the Trump administration. Fox News hosts have largely cheered along, casting the network as the lone voice of sanity in a liberal media sphere.

But Wednesday’s debate showed Fox is not immune. Trump, of course, skipped the network’s showcase debate, believing he would not pay a price with voters.

His rivals took turns speaking over the moderators and ignoring questions in an attempt to show strength. DeSantis, who built his brand on attacking the media, went out of his way to derail a question asking candidates to raise their hand if they believed climate change is caused by human activity.

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“One of the reasons for our country’s decline is because of the way the corporate media treats Republicans versus Democrats,” DeSantis said, pointing to a recent spate of natural disasters.

“Biden was on the beach while those people were suffering,” he said of victims of the recent wildfires in Hawaii. “He was asked about it. He said, ‘No comment.’ Are you kidding me?”

Christie interrupted to take shots at some of his opponents. Others followed suit throughout the night.

If Trump should falter...

Trump’s absence gave the other eight candidates room to define themselves. His string of indictments and the fact that he tried to overturn an election make him an extremely risky candidate in a general election.

Haley and Ramaswamy made the most of the opportunity, speaking forcefully as they attempted to attract new support. But Wednesday’s muddled clash made clear that none of the candidates has yet made the case that they are the clear alternative to Trump.