Those who brought out the popcorn to see the fright night-Handmaids Tale alternative reality-clown show that was the first Republican Presidential Debate of the 2024 election cycle were not disappointed.
It was clear at the end of the debate that the winner of the affair was the Biden/Harris Campaign which issued several releases in real time to counter various Republican talking (mostly lying and distorted) points.
Of course, it is never a good sign for the former Party of Lincoln when the current leading candidate for the Republican Presidential Nomination, who will be formally arrested and released on bail in Atlanta tomorrow (August 24, 2023,) cowardly stayed away from the debate stage rather than having to face attacks on his four indictments and behavior on January 6 from his former Vice President and at least two other contenders.
There are three points that voters from the sane branch of the Republican Party, Independents, and Democrats should remember from this evening’s spectacle.
- Six of the eight candidates on the stage (including Mike Pence) would support the four-time indicted, twice impeached, twice popular vote loser, found liable for sexual assault, David Duke endorsed Trump should he win the nominee even though as Nicki Haley (who actually showed flashes of reason and honesty at the event, especially on Republican created deficits) said the Republicans will not win with the 45th President at the head of the ticket. Only Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson said they would not support Trump. Supporting Donald Trump again should be disqualifying.
- Women and doctors had better watch out if most of these candidates win because a national ban on abortion is on their to-do list if they get elected with a Republican Congress. Ron DeSantis (who was at his best when he was not speaking) actually conveyed in a subtle pitch, that he would try to push for the six-week abortion ban he signed into law in Florida. That segment of the debate should convince anyone who values freedom that these candidates are not the ones to lead the country.
- Even though the United States economy is mostly performing fairly well and many of the Biden/Harris Administration legislative achievements are popular with the people (to the point where Republicans that voted against these measures are taking credit for them,) many of the people on the stage presented a bleak picture of the nation without offering prudent and reasonable policy solutions. This is probably because they do not have any that the people would support.
In reaction to the debate, the Biden/Harris campaign issued several real-time press releases countering the Republican Presidential Candidate’s flawed assertions.
On Republican economic designs, Campaign Spokesperson Kevin Munoz wrote:
“Nikki Haley is right: Republicans are responsible for some of our country’s worst economic decisions. This debate is a stark reminder that MAGA Republicans’ version of an economic agenda is rigging the economy for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations at the expense of the American middle class. They want to make Donald Trump and Mike Pence’s tax giveaways for the wealthy permanent, ship hardworking Americans’ jobs overseas, and cut Social Security and Medicare. Meanwhile, President Biden and Vice President Harris are working to lower costs, create jobs, and grow the economy by growing the middle class – the polar opposite of what we’ve heard tonight.”
The President’s team posted on Twitter:
On Republican attitudes toward combatting climate change, Munoz stated:
“Families across America are confronting the scary realities of the climate crisis every day. This summer alone, communities across the country have experienced the deadliest wildfire in a generation, devastating droughts and dangerous extreme heat, and historic flooding and storms. Despite another record-breaking summer, MAGA Republicans have railed against efforts to take action on climate and some continue to deny its very existence. While these extremists cozy up to Big Oil and Big Gas, President Biden and Vice President Harris are leading the charge in tackling the climate crisis with real action – including the most significant climate and green jobs legislation in American history.”
The President issued the below tweet:
On Republican’s position on abortion and misrepresenting the Biden/Harris stances on the issue, Munoz relayed:
“MAGA Republicans continue to unsuccessfully invent new policy positions for President Biden to distract from their deeply unpopular and dangerous support for banning abortion in every state across the country. Americans have rejected the extreme, anti-choice positions of MAGA Republicans in the midterms and in elections throughout this year. They will again in 2024.”
On Republican’s (remember six of them do not care about Donald Trump’s misdeeds) position on fighting crime (or rather lack of) and lying that most Democrats want to defund the police, Munoz offered:
“MAGA Republicans shout ‘crime’ instead of coming to the table with real solutions because they’re more concerned with protecting the NRA than they are with protecting our kids and our communities. President Biden believes in action, which is why he has funded the police – provided communities with funding for public safety and policing, and requested funding to hire 100,000 more officers. The President’s first major bill signed into law has provided $10 billion in additional funding for law enforcement – and every Republican in Congress voted against that bill. While MAGA Republicans are blocking legislation to ban assault weapons and strengthen background checks, a record number of kids and teens died from gun violence in 2021. President Biden brought together Republicans and Democrats in Congress to pass historic bipartisan gun safety legislation to keep guns out of the hands of felons and domestic abusers and won’t stop fighting to ban assault weapons and protect our kids.”
On some Republicans putting Putin (who probably just orchestrated the plane crash of the person that nearly led an insurrection against him a couple of months ago) over Ukraine, Munoz wrote:
“Tonight, some MAGA Republicans running for President of the United States sided with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin over the Ukrainian people fighting for their democracy. They made fun of President Zelenskyy and opposed providing Ukraine with the equipment they needed to defend themselves. Those aren’t American values. President Biden has rallied the world to stand up to Putin’s aggression and for the future of democracy, making America a leader standing up to bullies once again on the world stage.”
Vice President Kamala Harris issued the last statement for the campaign, stating:
“No one on stage ‘won’ tonight’s debate. Instead, the American people heard how much they stand to lose from an extremist agenda.
“One by one, each extremist Republican candidate laid out a vision for an America that is less fair, less free, and less safe. These candidates want to raise costs for working families in order to benefit special interests and the ultra-wealthy. To gut Social Security and Medicare. To strip fundamental rights and basic freedoms from millions of people. And to reverse the Bidenomics strategy that has helped create 13 million jobs, the strongest two years of small business creation in history, and record-low unemployment.
“These extremists focus on unnecessary debates meant to divide our nation in hopes that the American public will not notice they have no affirmative agenda.
“President Biden and I will continue to grow the economy from the bottom up and the middle out and build a nation in which all people can truly thrive. We are laser-focused on finishing the job we’ve started: to create good jobs, lower costs, fix America’s roads and bridges, create a clean energy economy, protect a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body, keep our children safe from gun violence, and make sure all Americans can dream about their future with ambition and aspiration.”
The ads coming from this debate write themselves…for the Biden/Harris Campaign and Democrats across the country.
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