'Donald Duck' and other Trump attacks from the Republican debate – The Washington Post
Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie has a new name for former president Donald Trump based on his absence from the GOP debate stage: Donald Duck.
The quip by Christie was among an onslaught of attacks that Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former vice president Mike Pence lobbed at Trump, the clear front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, during Wednesday night’s debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif.
The criticism was especially pointed at this second GOP debate as Trump attempted to take away attention from the other candidates with a competing event in the Detroit area, where autoworkers are striking.
“Donald Trump should be here to answer for that, but he’s not,” Christie said responding to a question about crime. He then looked into the camera and addressed Trump directly, saying the former president couldn’t help himself but to watch.
“You’re not here tonight,” Christie said. “Not because of polls, and not because of your indictments. You’re not here tonight, because you’re afraid of being on the stage and defending your record. You’re ducking these things. And let me tell you what’s going to happen if you keep doing that. No one up here is going to call you Donald Trump anymore. We’re going to call you Donald Duck.”
In the first debate, Trump was barely mentioned and even more rarely attacked. At one point, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley lumped Trump in with other Republicans who had added to the national debt. The candidates also said they would support the former president if he were the nominee.
But in this debate, the candidates hit Trump in three major ways:
Christie also referenced Trump’s nonattendance in another answer in which he said President Biden was hiding “in his basement” and Trump was hiding “behind the walls of his golf clubs.”
DeSantis echoed Christie’s answer, saying both Biden and Trump were “missing in action.”
Christie and DeSantis also both attacked the Trump administration for contributing to the national debt, which grew by $7.8 trillion during his time in office.
Defending Republicans’ losses during the midterms, DeSantis said he rejected reasoning that their party’s strict abortion stance was to blame, instead naming Trump and referring to his recent comments that some red states went too far in restricting abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
“He should be here explaining his comments to try to say that pro-life protections are somehow a terrible thing,” DeSantis said.
Pence joined in on the Trump bashing, distinguishing himself from his former running mate as a Republican who favors small government and lambasting Trump’s vision for his second term.
“My former running mate, Donald Trump, actually has a plan to start to consolidate more power in Washington, D.C., consolidate more power in the executive branch,” he said. “If I’m president of the United States, it’s my intention to make the federal government smaller by returning to the states those resources and programs that are rightfully theirs under the 10th Amendment of the Constitution.”
Republican candidates are vying for the 2024 presidential nomination in a crowded field. Catch up on the winners and losers from the second GOP debate and the attacks candidates hurled at front-runner Donald Trump.
Republicans: Top contenders for the GOP 2024 nomination include former president Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Here is The Post’s ranking of the top 10 Republican presidential candidates for 2024.
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