In first Republican debate, Vivek Ramaswamy emerges as centre of attention

WASHINGTON: “God is real. There are two genders. Human flourishing requires fossil fuels. Reverse racism is racism. An open border is no border. Parents determine the education of their children. The nuclear family is the greatest form of governance known to mankind. Capitalism lifts people up from poverty. There are three branches of the U.S. government, not four. The U.S. Constitution is the strongest guarantor of freedoms in history.”

As he concluded his first major political debate with other Republican presidential aspirants with these “ten truths” that have become the mainstay of his message late on Wednesday night (Eastern time), the 38-year-old Vivek Ramaswamy knew he had a good night. With these quick slogans, he aimed to strike a chord with the core beliefs of the Republican base on gender, the role of government, the discourse around racism and affirmative action, the concerns over the migration across the southern border and the economy.

The Indian-origin, Harvard-educated entrepreneur turned political candidate, whose ratings have surged in recent weeks, was on the stage with seven other veterans of the party.

They included Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis who was once considered a favourite for the ticket but has seen his ratings slump; former South Carolina governor and American ambassador to the United Nations, the Indian-origin Nikki Haley; former vice president Mike Pence who, with his decision to certify the 2020 election results on January 6, stood up for the Constitution but alienated the party’s base; former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson and current North Dakota governor Doug Burgum; and the only Black Senator from the Republican Party, and the only candidate from the community in the race, Tim Scott.

The one candidate who was missing on the stage, and chose instead to give a separate interview to Tucker Carlson broadcast on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), at the same time, was Donald Trump. Explaining his decision to skip the debate, Trump, who currently enjoys over a 35 percentage point lead over his closest rival DeSantis, told Carlson, “I am leading by 50-60 points. Some are at 1 point, 2 points. Why should I stand there and get harassed by them who shouldn’t be running for president in the first place on a network (Fox) that isn’t particularly friendly to me? They backed Ron DeSanctomonious, but he is a lost cause now.” In 2016 too, Trump claimed, Fox had fought him all the way till he became the candidate and then supported him after he won.

Ramaswamy’s stamp on debate

Ramaswamy stood out in the debate for multiple reasons. Speaking for 11 minutes and 47 seconds (only second to Pence, who spoke for 12 minutes and 37 seconds), the youngest candidate in the fray took the most controversial positions. He also faced the brunt of the criticism from the others in the fray, perhaps a sign of the worry that his candidacy and ratings have caused in the field. But the attacks only gave Ramaswamy more time and attention.

Ramaswamy was the first to raise his hand when asked if they would still support Trump if he was convicted (the former president faces four indictments and 91 counts of felony). He also stayed silent when asked if Pence had done the right thing by resisting Trump’s pressure and certifying the 2020 elections, while saying he would pardon Trump on Day 1 of his presidency. This was in contrast to Pence, who spoke about how he defended the Constitution over political and personal interest; Hutchinson, who warned that if convicted, Trump may well be ineligible to compete in the elections due to the 14th amendment which bars candidates involved in an “insurrection” against the US; and Christie, who spoke out against Trump’s conduct. DeSantis was careful, repeatedly seeking to evade the question by saying it was time to look ahead rather than at the past, while eventually saying he had “no beef with Mike”, who had done his duty. While raising her hand to indicate that she would support Trump if he got the nomination, Haley supported Pence’s decision on January 6, 2020.

Ramaswamy opposed American support to Ukraine, claiming that this had driven Russia to an alliance with China, terming the Russia-China alliance as the single biggest threat to the US, and claiming his priority would be to protect the homeland. But the strongest counter to him came from the other Indian-American in the race, Haley, who donned her ex-diplomat hat to showcase her foreign policy understanding. “The American president need to have moral clarity…You have a pro-American country invaded by a thug. Less than 3.5% of our defence budget has been given to Ukraine. A win for Russia is a win for China,” Haley said, alleging that Ramaswamy wanted Russia to invade Ukraine, China to invade Taiwan. “You don’t do that to friends…You have no foreign policy experience and it shows.” Pence and Christie too backed American support for Ukraine, while DeSantis hedged and said it was time for Europe to do more. The one foreign policy issue on which there was a consensus was China, with each candidate vying with the other to show how they would take on the threat from Beijing more aggressively.

Even as Christie expressed his exasperation at Ramaswamy, suggesting he sounded like ChatGPT and was an amateur, and Pence went after his young rival for inexperience contrasting it with his own record as governor of Indiana, a long-term Congressman, and VP, Ramaswamy hit back at his rivals for being “SuperPac puppets” and paid for and bought.

Ramaswamy also termed climate change a “hoax” and alleged, even as the country is reeling from climate disasters from wildfires in Hawaii to hurricanes in California, that climate change policies had killed more people than climate change itself. Once again, his strongest counter came from Haley who termed climate change as “real”, but then, in a clear move to deflect responsibility, said it was time for China and India to cut their emissions. After the debate, President Joe Biden posted on X, “Climate change is real, by the way”.

The candidates also debated the economy (particularly the question of debt where Haley pointed out that under Trump, the national debt had risen), crime (where they all promised tougher policies backing law enforcement), migration from across the southern border (which Ramaswamy termed as an “invasion”), education (where DeSantis went back to his record of keeping schools open during Covid, giving parents rights, and changing the pedagogy around race and gender in Florida), and role of government (where Ramaswamy has promised to disband the “administrative state” by abolishing a range of departments and agencies).

They also debated abortion, a top concern among voters after the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v Wade verdict, eliminating any national protection to abortion and leaving the decision to states. While all candidates touted their “pro-life credentials”, and many candidates backed a 15-week federal limit on abortion, Haley said it was time to be honest and this would require 60 votes in the Senate which the party didn’t have.

The Trump show

During his interview, Trump went after both Biden and his rivals in the Republican field.

The 77-year-old Trump focused on the President’s age; Biden will be 82 at the time of the next election, and this is a concern among voters. The 45th president claimed that the 46th President couldn’t talk, couldn’t walk, and expressed scepticism about whether he would make it.

“He is worse mentally than physically and physically he isn’t quite a triathlete.”Saying he would love to run against “crooked Biden”, for his record was “so bad”, Trump also hit out at VP Kamala Harris and claimed she spoke in rhymes and had moments that were as bad as the President. And he claimed that this was a dark moment for America with high inflation, high-interest rates and unsafe borders. “They are fascists and radical left lunatics,” Trump said about Democrats.

Trump hit out at Pence for legitimising a “rigged election” by not sending the slate of electors to state legislatures on January 6 for review. He patted himself on the back for holding up in the face of indictments (which he termed as “bullshit”) - Trump is scheduled to be arraigned in Georgia later on Thursday, the fourth time he will arraigned.

When asked what would be his top priority after taking over, Trump spoke about securing the southern border — which was among his key campaign genes back in 2016 when he promised to “build a wall”.

Asked whether the US was on the verge of a civil war, Trump defended what happened on January 6 as a “most beautiful day” marked by love, unity, spirit, passion, love and hatred for “what has been done to their country”. “There is a level of passion and hatred and that’s probably a bad combination,” Trump said, at a time when he has been seen as responsible for instigating the level of passion and hatred visible in American politics.

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