The Washington Post-Watch the key attacks from the second Republican debate

2023-09-18T17:06:43.811Z

The Republican candidates onstage in the second GOP primary debate spent relatively little time on the offensive Wednesday night, leveling few attacks on each other or Donald Trump, the front-runner they must first overcome to have a shot at the White House.

The event at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., was more muted than the first debate, with about half as many direct attacks among the seven contenders as last time, according to a Washington Post tally. (Trump again declined to participate.)

Fewer attacks in the second debate

It took almost a half-hour for one of the seven participants to criticize another by name, when Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) jabbed at entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy’s business relationships with China.

Most of the other flare-ups also centered on Ramaswamy, who is running third behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in polls and generated buzz in the first debate when candidates across the stage piled on him. In total, Ramaswamy was attacked five times by three candidates this debate, the most of anyone, according to The Post’s tally.

One candidate went on the offensive

There was one candidate who was willing to attack her opponents Wednesday night: Nikki Haley. Her campaign has struggled to gain traction, but she emerged as the night’s main aggressor, with four attacks on three candidates.

One of the debate’s harshest exchanges came when Haley, a former Trump administration diplomat and South Carolina governor, chided Ramaswamy for embracing TikTok as a tool for reaching young voters.

“TikTok is one of the most dangerous social media assets that we could have,” she said, referencing the app’s ties to the Chinese government. She added: “Every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber for what you say.”

Haley also squabbled with Scott about his performance in the Senate and fired a dart at DeSantis, accusing him of opposing the fossil fuel drilling process known as fracking. DeSantis called the claim “totally wrong” but stopped short of attacking Haley directly.

There were some pointed attacks against Trump, but for the most part the candidates avoided going after him. The former president was the subject of just nine attacks over 2 1/2 hours, the same number as the first debate.

Candidates avoided going after Trump hard

Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie and DeSantis criticized Trump for being a no-show.

“You’re ducking these things,” Christie said of Trump’s absence. “You keep doing that, no one up here is going to call you Donald Trump anymore. We’re gonna call you Donald Duck.”

Christie and DeSantis also criticized Trump for allowing the national debt to grow on his watch while former vice president Mike Pence attacked Trump on his plans to expand executive powers if elected. Haley also joined the fray, attacking Trump for not being tough enough on China.

Most attacks were reserved for Biden

Throughout the debate, the candidates seized on the opportunity to hammer Biden. Most of the heat came in the early portion, with candidates blaming Biden for the nation’s economic woes and blasting his handling of immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Scott, Christie and Ramaswamy all stepped up their attacks on Biden compared with the last debate, according to The Post’s analysis. DeSantis, Pence, Haley and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum mentioned him less than they did the first time around but still took time to call out what they said were his failings.

“Joe Biden should not be on the picket line,” Scott said, referring to Biden’s visit to striking autoworkers this week. “He should be on the southern border working to close our southern border.”

Christie criticized Biden and Trump in the same breath.

“Joe Biden hides in his basement and won’t answer as to why he’s raising the debt the way he’s done,” he said. “And Donald Trump, he hides behind the walls of his golf clubs.”

About this story

The Post recorded every interaction and reference during the Republican debate and categorized them as a mention, attack or alignment. Attacks and alignments were counted once per speech block, unless broken up by an interaction or reference directed at someone else.