The First Republican Debate: It Is All About Trump

On Wednesday, the first debate of the Republican candidates was hosted by Fox News in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (No surprise at all). Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier were the debate moderators of the night. Eight qualified candidates showed off their best interests, best plans for the country, best ways to lead this country and weighed on their former president, Donald Trump. They are North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. I used to call them a bunch of hypocrites, and after watching the whole debate, I firmly believe that they are still a bunch of hypocrites. But the true star of the night, Donald Trump, was not at the debate. Instead, he interviewed former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Come on, dude, the whole show needed you last night. Who could forget how Trump spiced up the Republican debate in 2015 when he used the platform to attack other candidates, and America saw who he was after that? I did expect Trump to join the debate even though he is facing many indictments, and the chance he may go to prison is higher than the chance he can return to the White House. I would like to see how Trump will roast those candidates who used to be his allies turned to be his rivals.

Source: Fox News

I will not focus on what those candidates said on stage. I want to focus on the elephant in the room. It is Trump. Before those GOP candidates announced their running in 2024, Trump was the most extensive math exercise they knew they had to solve. But they didn’t expect that Trump would be indicted with so many charges. It was out of their hands. They were confused and regretted backing Trump. I can guarantee that almost every one of the eight candidates was an election denier who refused to admit Trump lost the 2020 Presidential election. They also sympathized with those morons who stormed Capitol Hill on January 6th. I think the whole Republican party is behind Trump and afraid of them. They firmly believed that Trump would never be indicted because he could get away with two impeachments. The Republicans could have impeached Trump, but they were too scared. They knew those MAGA followers would not vote for them for another term or office if they didn’t support Trump. And they were successful. No doubt. Now, six Republican candidates announced that they would support Trump even if he goes to prison (and he will). It flipped the whole table. That is a declaration that Trump is winning this debate without showing up. Those six candidates didn’t realize it. Fox News had successfully lured them into this tricky question to force them to come to the light. This national debate helped the GOP decide who they could choose as the Republican nominee for the 2024 election. Haley, DeSantis, Ramaswamy, Pence, Scott, and Burgum were all there for Trump. They confessed on the national television. There is no turning back now.

Before they could say, they hated Trump. But now, all bets are off. The Trump card is still on the table. Like I said above, the 2024 election will only be about Trump. Four years in the White House of Trump was enough for him to create a significant impact on everything and the Republican party. His shadow is so big that none of the Republicans can escape it. Whoever runs for the office as a Republican will always have to mention Donald Trump in their campaign to win the election. If they go against Trump, the result will be like Christie’s. Boo and boo.

After watching the whole debate, I learned one valuable thing. The Republican Party is such a coward. Indeed, none of them dare to stand up for what is right. Trump committed crimes, but no one in the Republican Party is ready to speak up. Six of the eight candidates in the debate were not exceptions. It didn’t matter what they promised or what they said or what they could do for America; the Trump card would only be the main thing to decide their future in the White House later.

To summarize the whole debate, it is like a comedy sketch from Saturday Night Lives. Suitable for those GOP candidates because with the strike in Hollywood right now, they won’t be humiliated on every late-night show, The Daily Show, and Saturday Night Lives. Comedy always knows the way to make fun of them. I will see what the Republican circus will do in the next debate, and let’s see who wins the nomination.