1 year ago
Donald Trump is a coward. He’s a big spender. He wants a bloated federal government. He can't fight foreign foes. And he doesn’t even respect his voters enough to even show up to debate — or at least that’s what his critics in the Republican presidential field said on stage Wednesday at the second Republican presidential debate.
And it just so happens that his detractors used to be some of his closest allies: his former vice president (Mike Pence), his former attack dog and transition leader (Chris Christie), a former foreign policy hand (Nikki Haley) and someone he pegged a rising star in the party (Ron DeSantis).
Now, they all seem to detest him — and Trump isn’t afraid to show that the feeling is mutual.
But even as those four Republicans threw barbs out at the former president, who was halfway across the country on Wednesday night attempting to boost his record on labor in Michigan, they were a minority of the field. In fact, they were the only ones on the stage to even mention the former president for the bulk of the debate.
By contrast, President Joe Biden was a bigger target. He is still “hiding” in the basement, apparently — or a “hollowed-out husk,” if you ask Vivek Ramaswamy.
Christie was first out of the gate with his Trump attack, taking a shot during the first chance he had to speak.
“Donald Trump hides behind the walls of his golf clubs and won't show up here to answer questions like all the rest of us are up here to answer,” the former New Jersey governor said. “He put $7 trillion on the debt.”
DeSantis said almost the same thing right after, calling Trump “missing in action.” The former president, for his part, hasn’t shown much interest in the debates — considering that he can draw more eyes to the events he plans that feature only him.
Haley took a slightly different tack than the others, choosing to criticize Trump for his policy approach to China, Republicans' current favorite foreign foe.
"This is where President Trump went wrong," Trump's former ambassador to the U.N. said. "He focused on trade with China. He didn't focus on the fact that they were buying up our farmland. He didn't focus on the fact that they were killing Americans. He didn't focus on the fact that they were stealing $600 billion in intellectual property."
Christie attacked Trump a couple more times throughout the night, including a comment that he would have to call the former president “Donald Duck” if he continued to “duck” events in the race. For what it’s worth: Christie’s X account posted a GIF of Donald Duck later in the night.
In a more muted slight at his former partner in the White House, Pence took a traditionally conservative policy line. He hit Trump for a plan he views as consolidating “more power in the executive branch.”
English (US)