Ramaswamy’s ‘bought and paid for’ remark
Perhaps the biggest story of the debate was the emergence of Vivek Ramaswamy as the center of attention. Nobody’s performance shuffled expectations — for good or ill — as much as his did.
Among his characteristically absolutist proclamations was this particularly stark one:
“Let us be honest as Republicans,” Ramaswamy said as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis talked around a climate-change question. “I’m the only person on the stage who isn’t bought and paid for, so I can say this: The climate change agenda is a hoax.”
Someone said, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.” Another added: “That is ridiculous.” A fair number of boos rained down.
It was an angle to be expected from the most inexperienced politician on the stage, but perhaps not to that degree. He was saying that seven of the top nine candidates for the GOP nomination — former president Donald Trump skipped the debate — were “bought and paid for.”
Ramaswamy is the kind of candidate who, while probably having little hope of winning, seems primed to gain a significant following in the Trumpian GOP. And to the extent that he’s convincing people that so many of the party’s leaders are compromised, that’s not a great development for the party.
Fox News’s moderators followed up Ramaswamy’s bold claim by helpfully asking the candidates whether they were indeed “bought and paid for.” Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) responded by errantly saying, “Absolutely,” before correcting himself with an “Absolutely not” after a moderator asked again. Later, Ramaswamy congratulated former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley on her “future career on the boards of Lockheed and Raytheon.”
DeSantis’s squeamishness on Pence and Jan. 6
DeSantis objected to the climate-change question because the candidates were asked for a show of hands, and then when pressed he didn’t take a firm position. It wasn’t the only time he tried to avoid a direct answer. Asked twice about a federal abortion ban, he said merely, “I’m going to stand on the side of life.”
When the topic turned to whether then-Vice President Mike Pence had done the right thing on Jan. 6, 2021, by not trying to overturn the election, DeSantis was especially squeamish.
FOX NEWS’s MARTHA MACCALLUM: Governor DeSantis, do you believe that Mike Pence did the right thing on January 6?
DESANTIS: So, here’s what we need to do: We need to end the weaponization of these federal agencies.
MACCALLUM: But that’s not the question.
FOX NEWS’s BRET BAIER: Right, but you — that’s not the question.
DESANTIS: Here — I know, but here’s the thing.
PENCE: Are you going to answer the question?
DESANTIS: This election is not about January 6 of 2021. It’s about January 20 of 2025, when the next president is going to take office.
The moderators soon, to their credit, forced the issue by inviting Pence himself to weigh in:
MACCALLUM: That’s fine. You did not answer the question. You did not answer the question.
BAIER: Vice President Pence, what do you — what do you think, Vice President …
(CROSSTALK)
PENCE: … support and defend the Constitution of the United States. I think the American people deserve to know whether everyone on this stage agrees that I kept my oath to the Constitution that day. There’s no more important duty.
DESANTIS: We have answered this so many times. I’ve answered this before.
PENCE: So, “Yes.”
DESANTIS: Mike did his duty. I got no beef with him. But here’s the thing: Is this what we’re going to be focusing on going forward, the rehashing of this? I’ll tell you, the Democrats would love that.
Bookending this exchange were multiple GOP candidates offering flat and unequivocal answers — Pence had done the right thing. Pence’s decision not to try to overturn a presidential election was consequential; it’s hard to argue that it wasn’t worth commenting on. Pence himself drove that home and forced the issue.
Soon after, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie knocked DeSantis for offering only a “grudging” endorsement of what Pence did.
Pence’s ‘contrition’ reference
Pence has dealt gingerly with Trump’s legal jeopardy. But one answer Wednesday stood out.
Ramaswamy decided to ask whether Pence — the man whom some Jan. 6 rioters chanted about hanging as Trump was attacking him on Twitter — would pardon Trump.
Pence demurred, but he also made a conspicuous reference to “contrition”:
RAMASWAMY: Well, Mike, why don’t you say this? Join me in making a commitment that on day one, you would pardon Donald Trump. I’m the only candidate on this stage with the courage necessary [UNCLEAR] move our nation forward.
…
PENCE: That’s the difference between you and me. I’ve actually given pardons when I was governor of the state of Indiana. It usually follows a finding of guilt and contrition by the individual that’s been convicted. So, if I’m president of the United States, we’ll give fair consideration to any pardon request.
It’s difficult to understand this as anything other than a very personal response. Trump not only turned much of the Republican Party against Pence — efforts that still dog Pence’s 2024 chances — but he also has expressed no real regret for what Pence has cast as having “endangered my family.” Trump has even blamed Pence himself for the violence that day.
Haley’s undercutting of the GOP’s moral high ground on spending
We touched on this in our winners and losers roundup. But it’s worth emphasizing the degree to which Haley undermined the GOP’s complaints about Democratic spending.
Here are her key comments:
HALEY: The truth is that Biden didn’t do this to us. Our Republicans did this to us too. When they passed that $2.2 trillion covid stimulus bill, they left us with 90 million people on Medicaid, 42 million people on food stamps.
…
They need to stop the borrowing. They need to eliminate the earmarks that Republicans brought back in, and they need to make sure they understand these are taxpayer dollars.
…
And while they’re all saying this, you have Ron DeSantis, you’ve got Tim Scott, you’ve got Mike Pence — they all voted to raise the debt [limit]. And Donald Trump added $8 trillion to our debt. And our kids are never going to forgive us for this.
And so, at the end of the day, you look at the 2024 budget. Republicans asked for $7.4 billion in earmarks. Democrats asked for $2.8 billion. So, you tell me, who are the big spenders? I think it’s time for an accountant in the White House.
Like Ramaswamy with his “bought and paid for” remark, Haley opted for an angle that might be advantageous for the candidate in the moment. But it undercuts her party in a significant way. Expect Democrats to refer back to this plenty.
