Every Republican candidate except for former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson agreed to support former President Donald Trump if he becomes the Republican nominee, even should he be convicted in one of the myriad cases against him.

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Eight Republican candidates took the stage Wednesday night in the first Republican primary debate, seeking to win over voters on the road to securing the party nomination for president in 2024.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Vice President Mike Pence, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum all qualified to participate.

Former President Donald Trump, the front runner in the contest, did not attend, citing his polling lead. He previously expressed concerns about a Republican National Committee requirement that candidates pledge to support the eventual nominee in order to appear on the stage.

Early jabs over economics and experience

The first question for each candidate referred to Oliver Anthony’s recent smash hit “Rich Men North of Richmond” and asked them as to their vision for the economy.

The first jab came from Vice President Mike Pence, who swiped at Ramaswamy with the declaration “Now is not the time for on the job training.”

DeSantis largely asserted that he would reverse President Joe Biden’s policies and rein in federal spending. Christie touted his experience as a Republican governor in a blue state and insisted he was best suited to sell conservative ideas to the country.

Scott touted his efforts to write the 2017 tax cuts and jobs act, suggesting that reducing taxes would prevent additional federal spending. Ramaswamy pointed to his success story running multi-billion dollar companies.

Haley, meanwhile, attributed the economic situation in part to Republican willingness to spend money and insisted someone must rein in the GOP as much as the Democrats. Pence touted the economic successes of the Trump administration while he was vice president.

Climate change

Candidates fielded a question as to how they would assuage young voters of concerns that the GOP doesn’t care about climate change.

Several declined to do so.

“The climate change agenda is a hoax!” Ramaswamy claimed. “More are dying from climate change policies than actual climate change.” He asserted that his willingness to make the claim came from his status as a candidate who is not “bought and paid for.”

DeSantis expressed openness to discussion on the matter, saying “let’s have the debate.” He then blamed the media disproportionately assigning favorable coverage to Democrats.

Abortion rights

Moderators asked candidates as to the impact of the abortion issue on party electability. South Carolina Republican Gov. Nikki Haley opened the issue calling for “consensus.”

“Can’t we all agree that we should ban late term abortions?” she asked, before suggesting that the country encourage adoption, and that work to protect doctors with moral objections to the procedure from being forced to perform them.

“We are not gonna allow abortion until birth,” DeSantis vowed. “I’m gonna stand on the side of life.” He did recognize that different states would pursue different approaches.

Pence largely discussed his faith and touted his history as a pro-life candidate. He did, however, throw a jab at Haley, saying “[c]onsensus is the opposite of leadership.” He further called for a 15 week ban.

Burgum pointed to the 10th Amendment in opposing a federal abortion ban, saying the policy fell under the purview of the states.

“If we say the feds should be in on this one, where do we stop?” he asked.

Crime

Ramaswamy contended that the country needs to put more police on the streets to do their jobs without the fear of being sued. He further asserted that the U.S. needs to “spine” to revive mental institutions to get people off the streets.

DeSantis pointed to the prevalence of Soros-backed district attorneys refusing to prosecute violent criminals and highlighted his actions to remove them from their posts.

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson during the Republican debate insisted that former President Donald Trump had “undermined” respect for the American justice system by attacking judges and prosecutors amid his myriad indictments.