Prowler newspaper attends GOP debate
This past Wednesday, Sept. 27, marked another heated Grand Old Party (GOP) Presidential Debate that took place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. In order of popularity of the polls, the participating candidates were: Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, Chris Christie, Mike Pence and Doug Burgum. The topics discussed included immigration, inflation, gun violence and safety of the LGBTQ+ community were discussed.
As the consistently eccentric candidate, Ramaswamy created memorable moments throughout the debate and drew much needed attention to present issues. His stance on the transgender community is that “transgenderism is a mental illness” and that he will ban “genital mutilation.”
One particular topic of debate between Ramaswamy and Haley was their stance on social media. Although Ramaswamy made it clear that he opposes teenagers under 16 using social media, he acknowledges the advantage that social media provides in reaching out to young Republicans through online platforms. However, Haley highlights the hypocrisy she finds in his opinion, since he claims to be against social media but yet wants to use it to his advantage. She goes on to express her concern regarding the security of Tik Tok.
The highlight from Christie was the moment he called Trump, “Donald Duck.” “I think Chris was super strong. I think every single one of his answers were substantive about [his presidential] policy,” Christie’s campaign representative said.
Scott described his current involvement in supporting the first amendment rights of student journalists. “[I went] to college campuses and [had] conversations with students, especially conservative students, about the importance of standing up for what they believe in [since] that speech has been protected,” Scott said.
All seven candidates fought desperately to maintain substantial popularity in order to qualify for the third debate. However, many question the debate’s relevance itself, as Donald Trump has a substantial 54 percent lead in the polls and was not present. “Trump was an excellent president. But America’s first agenda does not belong to a president, it belongs to you, the people,” Ramaswammy said. The next debate will be in Miami on Nov. 8.
