On Wednesday night, eleven Republican presidential candidates took the stage at the Ronald Reagan Library in California. The second debate, hosted by CNN and moderated by Jake Tapper, adds former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina to the main stage and shines the spotlight on the increasingly popular retired surgeon, Ben Carson. If you missed it to study for an exam, catch up on sleep, or if your dorm’s cable was spotty, don’t worry – we’ve got you covered. While a lot of ground was covered in the three hour long debate, here are some of the highlights.
Trump vs. Fiorina
This debate would be the first time the two CEO’s met face to face since Donald Trump’s notorious remarks on Fiorina’s appearance (“Look at that face!”). The inevitable confrontation between the two was so highly anticipated that it was the subject of the very first question; Tapper asks Fiorina if she believes Trump has the right temperament to have “his finger on the nuclear codes.” Instead of taking the opportunity to criticize Trump’s hotheaded character, Fiorina dodges the question, responding “That’s not for me to answer.”
However, she doesn’t miss a second chance to attack Trump later on. When directly asked about Trump’s remarks on her appearance, Fiorina coolly replies “I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said.” This is just one of many statements for which she receives tremendous applause.
When asked how they’d create jobs and bolster the American economy, instead of discussing their plans, the two candidates threw punches back and forth, bashing each other’s business practices. Trump accuses Fiorina of running Hewlett-Packard into the ground. Fiorina points to Trump’s four claims of bankruptcy. In one of the night’s highlights, New Jersey governor Chris Christie is quick to criticize this exchange, saying “…for the 55-year-old construction worker out in that audience tonight who doesn't have a job, who can't fund his child's education, I've got to tell you the truth. They could care less about your careers, they care about theirs.”
Ben Carson: The Rising Star
Retired neurosurgeonBen Carson was one to watch Wednesday night – in the polls, he’s right on Trump’s heels. While being a political outsider has made him popular, it also raises concerns about his knowledge of international affairs. However, we got very little insight into Carson’s foreign policy aside from this quote: “There is no question that a lot of these problems that we have been talking about in terms of the international situation is because we are weak. It is because our Navy is so small. It is because our Air Force is incapable of doing the same things that it did a few years ago. It's because our Marines Corps is not ready to be deployed.” Throughout the debate, several other candidates share similar sentiments of a weakening American military, which is pretty funny considering we spend more on defense than the next seven countries combined.
Perhaps Dr. Carson’s best moment on stage was his response to Donald Trump’s insistence that vaccines cause autism. He replies to Trump’s harmful anti-vaccination rhetoric by flatly telling the audience that “we have extremely well-documented proof that there's no autism associated with vaccinations.” But other than that, Carson was his characteristically calm self, seldom butting into his fellow candidates' heated discussions.
Oh, That's Awkward
Things got awkward before the debate even started. In an attempt to rehash an old joke from a 2013 speech, Florida Senator Marco Rubio introduces himself and then brandishes a water bottle saying “I’m aware that California has a drought, so I made sure I brought my own water.” The audience responds to the joke with near silence; the drought has wrought devastation on the state's economy and is clearly no laughing matter. Oops.
If you’re reading this because you’re wondering what the context is behind that rad low-five between Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Donald Trump, prepare to wonder no more. At the end of the debate, each candidate was asked; “What would you want your Secret Service code name to be as President?” When the question arrived at Bush, he answered “Ever Ready. It’s very high energy, Donald,” a joking response to Trump’s criticisms of Bush’s enthusiasm. After an uproar of laughter and applause, the two candidates shared what might be the most awkward low-five in the history of low-fives.
So, Who Won?
If your idea of winning is a candidate’s ability to hog the airwaves, Trump came out on top with nearly 20 minutes of speaking time, followed closely by Bush and Fiorina. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker brought up the rear with 8 minutes. Overall however, most viewers seem to be in general agreement that Carly Fiorina took home the gold this time. She proved she belonged on the main stage, not at the earlier “kid’s table” debate. Her performance has certainly bolstered her polling numbers and thrust her into the spotlight with Trump and Carson.
While he started out strong, Jeb Bush’s polling numbers have taken a bit of a dip, and while his performance Wednesday wasn’t bad, it wasn’t anything special either. Something to the same effect can be said of Trump’s performance – while the front runner managed to hold his ground against the usual bombardment of attacks, he had his share of cringe worthy comments that kept him from being considered a winner. The weakest performances (arguably) came from Rand Paul, Scott Walker, and Mike Huckabee.
While many of the main stage candidates still have the resources and support to bounce back, things aren’t looking good for the four candidates (Jindal, Santorum, Pataki, and Graham, all polling under 1%) from the aforementioned kid’s table debate two hours before the main debate. We’ll more than likely see a few dropouts before the end of 2015.
Ask a Democrat who won the debate, and they might tell you it was beloved socialist Bernie Sanders, who actively subtweeted the debate as it was happening. The Vermont Senator’s harsh criticisms of the GOP candidates gained a lot of attention Wednesday night, but we’ll have to wait until October to see him and the rest of the Democratic presidential candidates on the debate stage.
