America's Talking - Trailing Trump, Republican Candidates Talk Entitlement Reform

Episode Date: November 11, 2023

Five Republican candidates trailing former President Donald Trump in the polls took to the debate stage to talk about foreign and domestic policy while trading barbs Wednesday in the third GOP debate. Trump skipped the debate Wednesday in Miami as he did the first two debates. The candidates on the stage – former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina – had plenty to discuss without Trump. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/america-in-focus/support Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to America in Focus powered by the Center Square. I'm Dan McAulb, Vice President of News and Content at the Franklin News Foundation, publisher of the Center Square Newswire Service. Joining me again today, as he does each and every week, is the Center Square's Washington, D.C. Bureau Chief Casey Harper. Another interesting week in the nation's capital, or should I say in Miami, Florida, where the GOP contenders for the presidential nomination took the stage for the third time, I should say many of the GOP challengers for the presidential nomination took the stage because

the frontrunner, former President Donald Trump himself, again, skipped the event. But I do have to say I watched the debate. I watched all three of these debates, Casey. And this was, should I say, the most entertaining? You could say that. You know, a lot of people said the most substantive also. They gave candidates longer amounts of time to answer questions, which I did appreciate. I think it's kind of silly how we say, how would you solve this major, highly complex problem in America that so far no lawmakers have been able to solve.

You have 30 seconds. I think that's kind of silly. I don't like that we do that. It seemed like they gave them, I think, a minute and a half or they're about to answer a lot of these questions. I do think that's a good thing because you actually get to make a couple of substantive points, although it's still not that long. And the other thing I like about it is when you don't really have anything to say, a minute and a half, it shows. You can BS for 30 seconds usually and, you know, Dan, we do it every day. You can VS for 30 seconds on a topic, but a minute and a half, it's like, I don't think this guy really knows what he's talking about.

So that's a good thing about it. The other thing, they didn't really allow much interrupting at all and talking over each other and trying to get their points in. And they made a point going into the debate that just because your name is mentioned does not mean you get to talk, which is a big difference from previous debates because, you know, they'd ask a question about education. one candidate would be like, well, unlike Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, and Ron DeSantis, here's what I think. You know, and they all say, my name was mentioned, my name was mentioned, I get to talk. And so it created chaos. I think also the fact that- Or even when you say something personal about another candidate, like Vivek Rameswamy did yesterday with Nikki Haley and her shoes, essentially saying she's a Dick Cheney with three-inch heels.

Yeah, that was definitely a fiery moment. I mean, Vivek came out swinging. I mean, he, if you're watching the beginning of the debate, R&C chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, came up and she said a few words. And then she left. And then the candidates come on, you know, they do the whole pomp and circumstance. And Vivek gets up there and he says, Rona McDaniel, who is just on stage, you know, and is in the room, she invited her to resign. And in fact, to come up on stage and to resign publicly in front of everyone, he says, because ever since she took over in 2017, Republicans, have been losing, losing, losing. So, 2018, they lost, 2020. They lost.

2020. There was this hope for red waves that never came. And then, you know, we wrote a lot at the Senator Square.com about the elections this week, a lot of which centered around abortion, but Republicans, you know, were pretty handily defeated this week. And so the vet came out there and said, hey, I'm tired of losing. Ronnie, you need to resign. And by the way, why are we doing an NBC debate? These are, these guys are not our friends. You know, the Democrats would never have Fox News host a debate. And he called out the moderator, Kristen Wilker, and said, you know, do you basically retract your support for the Russian collusion story, which you pushed on this network for years and was

later largely debunk? So he came out swinging and, yeah, he went after Nikki Haley. It was pretty explosive. And I guess, as you said, entertaining at the least. Yeah. Well, I do think it was entertaining. But I'm glad they also, you know, got to the issues. And as you said at the front, many people consider it.

at the most substantive debate when it comes to the issues. What, like, pick an issue, Casey, that they talked. Of course, they obviously talked about a wide range of issues. We don't have time to talk about all. And pick one or two issues that stood out the most to you. And what are the differences? I mean, I think the one of the most obvious picks is foreign policy. Because usually foreign policy is not a top issue in an election.

But this time around with what I think many Americans feel like we could be on some kind of verge of a World War III equivalent because we have the war, Russia's invading Ukraine, and we are seemingly on the edge of getting involved in that. And if Russia manages to push past Ukraine and into an adjacent nation, then all of NATO can be evolved. And then we have a war in the Middle East, and countries like Iran and others possibly wanting to get involved in that war. And then China any day now could invade Taiwan. And that's been something that was warned about before even Russia invaded Ukraine. So it's like, wait a minute, we're about to potentially have this three front war, three continent war. Is that something we want to be involved in? Why are we sending all this

money? So it's a unique moment in American politics where that's such a big issue. And there's very strong divide. And that's really, you know, your Dick Cheney in three inch heels, you know, that comment Vivek made, it was all about foreign policy. And Viveig's point, and he really went after Nikki Haley on this, was that, you know, a lot of people died. The U.S. went trailing. of dollars in debt. And some of the people who are involved in pushing for those wars have made a lot of money in the aftermath. And that's kind of what he alleged about Nikki Haley that her and her family have since gotten kind of rich off of some kind of military contracting. Of course, I think that the Dick Cheney, you know, his potential benefits from the Iraq war is pretty well

known at this point. So that was his argument. And then Nikki Haley pushed back and said, hey, we need friends around the world. We're not, we can't do this alone. After 9-11, we had a broad coalition of nations that were helping us. We need nations like Taiwan. We need Israel to be a foothold. And she called Israel the tip of the spear in the Middle East. And, you know, we need Ukraine as a buffer between us and NATO. And so these are mutually beneficial relationships. And if we show weakness, we could encourage countries, especially China. If we show weakness in Israel and Ukraine, then that's going to send a message to China that they can go ahead and take Taiwan. So those are the two sides that's kind of, hey, we need to maintain strength, project strength, stay involved in these

conflicts versus Vivek, who's really pushing what I think a lot of has become, even with Tucker Carlson, who's larger than life in the Republican Party right now, but this saying, hey, why are we going involved in these wars? We need to pull back the money and focus on American interests. And that is an issue really dividing the party right now. And I'm not sure which way we're going to go. It's really going to depend on which candidate ends up representing the party, I think. Right. And also on that front, you know, we're relatively early in this, um, um, um, the war between Israel and the Hamas-controlled territory in Gaza. And, I mean, there seems like there's new developments every day there.

So, you know, who knows where that's going to lead and how the U.S. is going to get more and more involved in that. Final question for you, Casey, who was the winner? Who lost? Do you see anything on either side? I think Trump was a winner. I think I said this last time, until somebody does something to really separate themselves, they're all fighting for second place. I think the losers are probably Tim Scott and Chris Christie, who didn't do enough to separate themselves and keep themselves in this race. I think...

And are among the lowest polling candidates. Right, 2%. Our poll has them at 2%. You know, I think they're probably going to drop off now. DeSantis is probably kind of a loser because he has steadily declined in polling over the last year. Actually, since those indictments hit Trump, his support has just dwindled. And he hasn't been able to reclaim it. I think he looks kind of awkward on stage, honestly. He kind of grimaces. The smile is forced. There's an awkward. like lip-licking thing that happens. So he just doesn't look great on TV as successful as he has been in Florida.

You know, I think Vivek riles up a certain part of the Trump base, but I think he offends and just grosses out certain people too. And so, yeah. Do you think he's running more now for vice president as opposed to president? He said a lot of things that you would maybe anticipate Trump saying. It's on going out after the RNC chairwoman, going after NBC, and the host for the Russian collusion story, which obviously occurred in 2016 when Trump was running for president.

I mean, that's what I got from him anyway. Yeah, I mean, it's an interesting question. I think Christie is running to redeem his name for being so supportive of Trump early. Now he regrets that. I think Tim Scott is the one running for vice president personally. I think he could be a choice that Trump should consider. I think Vivek is too similar to Trump to be a good choice. choice for Trump, actually. I think Trump wants to pick someone who would be a little different

than him, get a different demographic, and I think Trump and Vivek overlap too much. I think Vivek is running for 2028. That's what his mind is. I think he's thinking in the future. He's very young. I think he wants to be the heir to Trump. He wants to be what Ron DeSantis probably could have been if he sat this race out, which is the heir apparent, the prince to inherit the throne of King Trump, basically. Because before all this, DeSantis was seen as the heir. to Trump, but I think that's gone now. So Vivate could take that spot. And then I think Haley and DeSantis are running for real. And they're hoping to do really well in Iowa to build momentum and become the anti-Trump candidate and win some of these early states. But it's an uphill battle for sure.

Well, the primaries are just about two months away from starting. The Iowa caucuses, of course, are first in January, followed by the New Hampshire primaries. And then it's sort of gangbusters after that, Super Tuesday and March, etc. But anyway, Thank you, Casey, for your insight into this, but we are out of time. Listeners can keep up with this story and more at the centersquor.com. For Casey Harper, I'm Dan McAulb. Please subscribe. Thank you for listening.