The Republican presidential candidates vying to be the leading alternative to front-runner Donald Trump fought — sometimes bitterly — over abortion rights, U.S. support for Ukraine and the type of experience needed to manage an expansive federal government during the first debate of the 2024 campaign.
But when it came to, arguably, the most consequential choice facing the party, virtually everyone on the debate stage in Milwaukee on Wednesday night, lined up behind Trump, who declined to participate, citing his commanding lead.
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Most said they would support Trump as their nominee, even if he is convicted in a series of cases that range from his handling of classified documents to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and his role in making hush money payments to a porn actress and other women.
Tech entrepreneur, Vivek Ramaswamy, said Trump is the best president of the 21st century.
He added that in the face of such an unprecedented moment in American politics, that sentiment was a reminder of the power Trump continues to wield in the party and the reluctance of most GOP White House hopefuls to directly confront him or his norm-breaking activity.
It spoke to the struggle of any single candidate in the crowded field to emerge as a credible counter to Trump with less than five months until the Iowa caucuses formally jumpstart the GOP presidential nomination process.
That challenge was particularly acute for Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, who announced his campaign in May to great fanfare but has since struggled to gain traction.
He was sometimes eclipsed on Wednesday by lower-polling candidates, including former Vice President Mike Pence, a generally understated politician who demonstrated an aggressive side, as he positioned himself as the most experienced candidate on stage.
Pence, along with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie sparred frequently with Ramaswamy.
The goal for almost every candidate was to use the event hosted by Fox News to displace DeSantis from his distant second-place standing and introduce themselves to viewers who were just tuning into the race.
While the candidates repeatedly tangled — often talking over moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum — most refused to oppose Trump as the nominee, even if he becomes a convicted felon.
The question came nearly an hour into the debate, and a day before Trump is set to surrender in Georgia on charges of trying to overturn the state’s 2020 election.
The moderators appeared apologetic about even raising the issue of a potentially incarcerated nominee, saying they would spend just a “brief moment” discussing the man they called, “the elephant not in the room,” which drew boos from the audience.
(Editor: Ifeanyi Mark)