During Wednesday’s debate, it took nearly an hour and two commercial breaks before the Fox News moderators addressed the absence of former President Donald J. Trump, the front-runner.
Finally, one of the moderators, Bret Baier, acknowledged the elephant not in the room and asked the candidates if they would support Mr. Trump if he became the Republican nominee. Only Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson, former governors of New Jersey and Arkansas respectively, did not answer affirmatively.
The audience in the debate hall made their stance clear, cheering for those who expressed support for Mr. Trump and booing those who did not.
In a puzzling moment, Mr. Christie raised his hand but then waved it, indicating that he would not support Mr. Trump and criticized his behavior. However, his statement was drowned out by boos, countered by a retort from Mr. Ramaswamy.
Mr. Christie said, “Someone has to stop normalizing this conduct. Whether or not you believe that the criminal charges are right or wrong, the conduct is beneath the office of the President of the United States.”
Mr. Ramaswamy responded, “Honest to God, your claim that Donald Trump is motivated by vengeance and grievance would be a lot more credible if your entire campaign wasn’t motivated by vengeance and grievance against one man.” His remark received resounding cheers.
When Mr. Christie tried to reply, he was interrupted by loud jeering from the crowd. Unable to continue, Mr. Baier intervened and reprimanded the audience.
Once order was restored, the moderators shifted the conversation to Vice President Mike Pence and his actions on January 6, 2021, when he affirmed the results of the 2020 election. They asked the candidates if they believed Mr. Pence made the right decision.
“Absolutely,” Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina responded, but he quickly redirected the discussion towards claiming the politicization of the Justice Department.
On this issue, nearly all the candidates agreed, although Mr. Christie once again attempted to shift the focus onto Mr. Trump.
“The argument that we need to have in this party, before we can move on to the issues that Ron talked about, is we have to dispense with the person who said that we need to suspend the Constitution to put forward his political career,” he stated.
The moderators then gave Mr. Pence the final word.
“I chose the Constitution, and I always will,” he concluded.
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