NewsNation hosts fourth GOP primary debate — NewsNation GOP Debate

[0:01] faith and college football. But on this night, the final showdown of the year moves to a new stage [0:15] on America's newest cable news network. 40 days before the Iowa caucuses, millions of votes are [0:23] still up for grabs. And four candidates are fighting for every last one of them. Who could [0:31] catch fire and shock the political world? 2024 is do or die for us. We're not getting a mulligan on [0:39] this. Governor Ron DeSantis. We have to have a new generational leader. Former ambassador Nikki Haley. [0:48] You're either pro-american or you're anti-american. That is the choice we face. Vivek Ramaswamy. We [0:55] deserve better character in the White House. Former governor Chris Christie. Live on News Nation, [1:04] News for all America. The lights are on. The field is set. It's game day in Alabama. And who knows [1:14] what the tide will roll in. The year live from the University of Alabama. I'm Megan Kelly, host of the [1:36] Megan Kelly Show podcast on Sirius XM. I'm Eliana Johnson with the Washington Free Beacon. And I'm [1:43] Elizabeth Vargas with News Nation. And we are live on News Nation and The CW. It is make or break time [1:50] for the candidates on this stage right now with the primary starting just weeks away. And we have a lot [1:57] to cover over the next two hours. So let's begin with tonight's rules. Candidates will have 90 seconds to [2:03] answer questions. 60 seconds to give a rebuttal at the moderator's discretion. You will all see the timing [2:10] lights that will indicate when time is up and it's time to stop talking. And the time we have is [2:15] critical over the next two hours. So we ask the audience to please keep your applause to a minimum. [2:21] All right. With that, let's get started. On stage tonight, four candidates all vying to become [2:29] their party's nominee. And given the state of affairs in our political system right now, [2:33] one of you might very well do it. Even many Democrats now admit that President Biden is a weak [2:40] candidate. Just as many Republicans acknowledge that former President Donald Trump's multiple [2:44] legal troubles could imperil his quest for a second term. All of which means one of you could wind up [2:51] the leader of the free world. Having said that, Mr. Trump is nearly 50 points ahead of all of you [2:59] in the national polls. 29 points ahead in Iowa, where the GOP caucuses are less than six weeks away. [3:04] And so as Republicans get ready to vote on whether any of you might be preferable to Mr. Trump, [3:10] we begin with the question of electability. Governor DeSantis, your campaign and its super PAC have spent [3:18] the most money, had the most high net worth donors, and had a wave of momentum coming into this race [3:23] after your big reelection win in Florida. You were seen by many as the candidate most likely to [3:29] consolidate the non-Trump field. But here we are a month out from the first real votes, [3:34] and you haven't managed to do it. In fact, Nikki Haley is beating you in New Hampshire and South [3:41] Carolina now, and closing in on you in Iowa. Not to mention Trump, who is not only dominating in the [3:47] early states, but is beating you in Florida by over 30 points. Is it fair to say, as Senator Tim Scott [3:54] did when he dropped out, that voters are telling you not no, but not now? So we have a great idea in [4:03] America that the voters actually make these decisions, not pundits or pollsters. I'm sick [4:09] of hearing about these polls because I remember those polls in November of 2022. They said there was [4:14] going to be a big red wave. It was going to be monumental, and that crashed and burned. The one [4:19] place that didn't crash and burn was in the state of Florida. They weren't predicting that I would win [4:24] the way I did, and I won the greatest Republican victory in the history of the state of Florida. [4:30] I'm looking forward to Iowa and New Hampshire. The voters are going to be able to speak, and we're [4:35] going to earn this nomination. And here's what we need. I am sick of Republicans who are not willing [4:41] to stand up and fight back against what the left is doing to this country. You've got to be willing [4:46] to stand strong, and you've got to be willing to beat these people. I'm the only one running for [4:51] president that has beaten these people on issue after issue. We beat the teachers' unions when we [4:56] did school choice. We beat Fauci on COVID. We beat George Soros when we removed two of his [5:02] radical district attorneys. We beat the Democrats on election integrity. I have delivered results. [5:08] That's what we need for this country. And you have other candidates up here like Nikki Haley. [5:12] She caves any time the left comes after her, any time the media comes after her. I did a bill in [5:18] Florida to stop the gender mutilation of minors. It's child abuse, and it's wrong. She opposes that [5:24] bill. She thinks it's fine, and the law shouldn't get involved with it. If you're not willing to [5:29] stand up for the kids, if you're not willing to stand up and say that it is wrong to mutilate these [5:34] kids, then you're not going to fight for the people back home. I will fight for you, and I will win [5:39] for you. You left government service in 2018 with just $100,000 in the bank. Five years later, [5:51] you're reportedly worth $8 million, thanks to lucrative corporate speeches and board memberships [5:56] like you had with Boeing. Weeks ago, you met with Wall Street heavyweights, including leaders from [6:01] J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and BlackRock. Several other billionaire investors are reportedly ready to [6:08] endorse you, or recently have, all of which comes with expectations. Aren't you too tight with the banks [6:15] and the billionaires to win over the G.O.P.'s working-class base, which mostly wants to break [6:20] the system, not elect someone beholden to it? Well, thank you. It's great to be here. You know, [6:25] first, I'll tell you, just to respond to Ron, he continues to lie about my record. I actually said [6:31] his Don't Say Gay Bill didn't go far enough, because it only talked about gender until the third [6:35] grade, and I said it shouldn't be done at all, that that's for parents to talk about, it shouldn't be [6:40] talked about with schools. In reference to donors coming on board, look, we will take [6:45] support from anybody we can take support from, but I have been a conservative fighter all my life. [6:51] I was a Tea Party candidate when I became governor. We opposed every single corporate bailout we [6:57] possibly could. We passed tort reform. We passed one of the toughest illegal immigration laws in the [7:01] country. We passed pro-life bills. We moved in unemployment from 11 percent to 3 percent. We took [7:07] on the unions, and we took on Obama when it came to the unions, the Syrian refugees, and everything in [7:12] between. And so I've had a fight. And so as much as Ron says that, that's not true. But when it comes to [7:17] these corporate people that want to suddenly support us, we'll take it. But you can, they don't, [7:23] I don't ask them what their policies are. They ask me what my policies are, and I tell them what it is. [7:29] Sometimes they agree with me, sometimes they don't. Some don't like how tough I am on China. [7:33] Some don't like the fact that I've signed pro-life bills. Some don't like the fact that I may oppose [7:38] corporate bailouts. That doesn't matter. That's who I am. And that's why the most conservative [7:43] grassroots group in the country, Americans for Prosperity, endorsed me last week. [7:49] Well, because he didn't respond to the criticism. It wasn't about the parents' rights and education [7:58] bill. It was about prohibiting sex change operations on minors. They do puberty blockers. [8:04] These are irreversible. Talk to Chloe Cole. She went through this. Now she's an adult. She's warning [8:09] against it. She may never be able to have kids again. That is what Nikki Haley opposed. She said [8:14] the law shouldn't get involved in that. And I just ask you, if you're somebody that's going to be the [8:19] president of the United States and you can't stand up against child abuse, how are you going to be [8:24] able to stand up for anything? I never said that. That is the truth. We have it on video. [8:28] I said that if you have to be 18 to get a tattoo, you should have to be 18 to have anything done [8:35] to change. You said the law should stay out of it. We're going to see in more detail later. Let's [8:42] finish with electability. But trust me, we're coming back to this issue. Mr. Ramaswami, for months [8:47] you campaigned as a unifier. Then you stood up at the first debate and attacked all of your [8:52] competitors as bought and paid for. The second debate, you changed your tune saying these are [8:56] good people on this stage, admitting you can come across as a bit of a know-it-all and rejecting the [9:02] practice of personal insults. By debate number three, you called Nikki Haley corrupt, accused Ron [9:08] DeSantis of wearing high heels and told Ambassador Haley she should keep a closer eye on her daughter. [9:13] Can you see how this has led some to conclude you are not, in fact, a unifier and to question [9:18] your authenticity? Megan, I think there's a time and place for everything. We need somebody in the [9:23] White House who absolutely is going to be a fighter when it counts. And I did say that there were some [9:28] good people on that stage in that third debate. Doug Burgum was on that stage at that time. [9:33] And I'll say that jokingly. Ron DeSantis is a good person too. I want to go back though to Nikki Haley's [9:38] comment from earlier that she is somehow not responding to the will of these donors. Nikki, [9:43] you were bankrupt when you left the UN. After you left the UN, you became a military contractor. [9:49] You actually started joining service on the board of Boeing, whose back you scratched for a very long time [9:55] and then gave foreign multinational speeches like Hillary Clinton is. And now you're a multimillionaire. [10:00] That math does not add up. It adds up to the fact that you are corrupt. And when I said they were [10:05] bought and paid for, I meant the Republican establishment, not the Democratic establishment. [10:11] Now you have Reid Hoffman, the person who's effectively George Soros Jr., funding lawsuits across [10:17] this country against Donald Trump to keep him off the ballot, funding left-wing causes. We discover this [10:24] week that he is one of Nikki Haley's largest supporters. Larry Fink, the king of the woke [10:29] industrial complex, the ESG movement, the CEO of BlackRock, the most powerful company in the world, [10:34] now supporting Nikki Haley. And to say that doesn't affect her is false because it's after that [10:39] meeting later that day that she says that every American needs to be doxed by having their ID, [10:45] their government-issued ID tied to what they say on the internet. So I think that this is far more [10:51] corrupt than I even imagined when I entered politics. But I will say this. It is going to [10:56] take a leader from the outside, with fresh legs, from the next generation to unite this country, [11:03] not the broken politicians who are puppets of the puppet masters, but the actual people in this [11:08] country. Thomas Jefferson was 33 when he wrote the Declaration of Independence. I think it's going to [11:13] take somebody whose best days in life are still ahead to see a country whose best days are ahead of [11:20] itself. And I think I can reach that next generation better than anybody else in this race. [11:25] Thank you. Response. Megan, first of all, we weren't bankrupt when I left the UN. We're people [11:34] of service. My husband is in the military and I served our country as UN ambassador and governor. [11:40] It may be bankrupt to him, but it certainly wasn't bankrupt to us. Secondly, I did serve on the board of [11:46] Boeing. I did a lot of work with Boeing when I was governor. They were a great partner to me. [11:50] I served for 10 months. And then when they decided after COVID that they wanted to go [11:55] for a corporate bailout, I've never supported corporate bailout. So I respectfully stepped back [12:00] and got off the board. I love Boeing. They build good commercial airplanes. They build airplanes for [12:06] our Air Force. I am proud of them. They employ a lot of people in South Carolina. But that's why I [12:11] left the Boeing board. There's nothing to what he's saying. And in terms of these donors that are [12:15] supporting me, they're just jealous. They wish that they were supporting them. But I'm not going to sit [12:19] there and do that. Go ahead, Governor Sanders. Are you jealous? [12:26] He wrote a book talking about ESG and these woke corporations and BlackRock. The idea that I want to [12:31] do that in Florida, they were managing our pension, part of our pension. And then when they did the ESG, [12:36] I took $2 billion away from BlackRock. We took action. This ESG, they call it environment social [12:42] governance. And again, Nikki is meeting with all these people. They want to use economic power to [12:48] impose a left-wing agenda on this country. They want basically to change society without having to go [12:54] through the constitutional process. We've kneecapped it in the state of Florida. The next president of [12:59] the United States needs to be able to go to that office on day one and end ESG. And the fact of the [13:04] matter is, we know from her history, Nikki will cave to those big donors when it counts. And that [13:10] is not acceptable. I did write that book, Ron. And the irony is Nikki Haley was heaping praise on me [13:17] when I wrote that book. But now I worry I was warning about the woke industrial complex in this [13:22] country as a warning. Apparently, she read it as a how-to manual, just like she reads George Orwell's [13:28] as well. And so I think that that's actually far more dangerous than, this is really important for [13:33] people to understand. We're marching towards fascism under Biden. Jack Smith has subpoenaed [13:39] every last retweet that someone has issued from Donald Trump in the year 2020. The only person more [13:45] fascist than the Biden regime now is Nikki Haley who thinks the government should identify every one of [13:51] those individuals with an ID. That is not freedom. That is fascism. And she should come nowhere near the levers of [13:57] power, let alone the White House. I've got to get to Governor Christie. I haven't forgotten about you, sir. [14:00] No, but can I just say, can you speak? I really appreciate that. How are you doing, sir? Good, good to see you. [14:04] Can you please speak to the requirement that you said that every anonymous internet user needs to out [14:12] themselves? They're both hitting you on it. I would be happy to. And I love all the attention, fellas. [14:16] Thank you for that. You know, I'll say this. What I said was that social media companies need to show us their [14:24] algorithms. I also said there are millions of bots on social media right now. They're foreign, they're [14:31] Chinese, they're Iranian. I will always fight for freedom of speech for Americans. We do not need [14:36] freedom of speech for Russians and Iranians and Hamas. We need social media companies to go and fight [14:43] back on all of these bots that are happening. That's what I said. As a mom, as a mom, do I think that [14:49] social media would be more civil if we went and had people's names next to that? Yes, I do think that [14:55] because I think we've got too much cyberbullying. I think we've got child pornography and all of those [15:00] things. But having said that, I never said government should go and require anyone's name. [15:04] That's false. She said, I want your name. [15:06] She absolutely said it. As president of the United States, her first day in office, [15:09] she said one of the first things I'm going to do. [15:11] I said we were going to get the millions of bots on social media. [15:14] She wants government ID to dox every American. That's what she said. [15:17] You can roll the tape. She said, I want your name. And that was going to be one of the first [15:20] things she did in office. And then she got real serious blowback. And understandably so [15:25] because it'd be a massive expansion of government. We have anonymous speech. The federalist papers [15:31] were written with anonymous writers. Jay Madison and Hamilton, they went under pubulous. It's something [15:37] that's important. And especially given how conservatives have been attacked and they've lost jobs and [15:43] they've been canceled. You know, the regime would use that to weaponize that against our [15:47] own people. It was a bad idea. [15:49] Okay. So I have to say. [15:49] And she should have owned up to it. Come on now. [15:51] What are you doing here? [15:52] You give me 15 seconds. And then there is the governor, [15:54] the former governor of New Jersey who deserves some time. [15:56] This cracks me up because Ron is so hypocritical because he actually went and tried to push a law [16:00] that would stop anonymous people from talking to the press and went so far to say bloggers should have to [16:07] register with the state if they're going to talk about, write about elected officials. It was in [16:11] the, check your newspaper. It was absolutely there. I have never said government officials have to [16:16] trample on your constitutional rights. You can come back to it later. [16:18] This is more dangerous than the Democrats. You're lying. [16:20] This section's over. Okay. Governor Christie. [16:23] Really? [16:24] Just that case. [16:24] I'm usually not somebody who gets missed, but okay, let's go. [16:27] What's happening? Okay, I got you. [16:30] Listen, you endorsed Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020. You gave him an A for his first term. [16:36] Since then, however, you've turned on him, calling him a liar, a loser, a con man, [16:41] and someone who cannot win. You've even said that you got into this race just to stop President [16:46] Trump. His approval rating with Republicans is currently at 81%. Yours is at 25%. [16:53] Your best state is New Hampshire, and even there, two-thirds of GOP voters say they would be angry [16:58] and disappointed if you won. Respectfully, Governor, you have not stopped Mr. Trump, [17:04] Trump. And voters may wonder how you could possibly become the nominee of a party that [17:09] does not appear to like you very much. [17:10] Yeah. Well, look, Megan, it's often very difficult to be the only person on the stage who's telling [17:17] the truth and the only person who is taking on what needs to be taken on. I look at my watch now. [17:22] We're 17 minutes into this debate, and except for your little speech in the beginning, [17:27] we've had these three acting as if the race is between the four of us. The fifth guy who doesn't [17:35] have the guts to show up and stand here, he's the one who, as you just put it, is way ahead in the [17:41] polls. And yet, I've got these three guys who are all seemingly to compete with, you know, [17:47] Voldemort. He shall not be named. They don't want to talk about it. [17:51] The fact is that when you go and you say the truth about somebody who is a dictator, a bully, [17:57] who has taken shots at everybody, whether they've given him great service or not over time, [18:05] who dares to disagree with him, then I understand why the thieves three are timid to say anything [18:11] about it. Maybe it's because they have future aspirations. Maybe those future aspirations are now, [18:17] or maybe they're four years from now. But the fact of the matter is the truth needs to be told. [18:21] And for us to go 17 minutes without discussing the guy who has all those gaudy numbers you talked [18:27] about is ridiculous. I'm in this race because the truth needs to be spoken. He is unfit. This [18:35] is a guy who just said this past week that he wants to use the Department of Justice to go after [18:40] his enemies when he gets in there. I mean, the fact of the matter is he is unfit to be president, [18:45] and there is no bigger issue in this race, Megan, than Donald Trump, and those numbers prove it. [18:51] Governor Christie, we will be addressing that issue of Donald Trump in just a moment, [18:57] but I'd like to first get to some questions on Israel. Governor DeSantis, tonight as we speak, [19:03] the war is back on in Gaza. Israeli tanks are on the move and have surrounded the home [19:08] of the leader of Hamas. Eight Americans have been held hostage in the tunnels beneath Gaza for 60 [19:15] days now. American troops and warships in the Middle East are under attack. How far would you [19:22] go as president to secure the release of those eight American hostages, and would it include [19:27] sending American forces into combat? We have to look out for our people. When there are hostages, [19:33] commander in chief, you have to do whatever you can to get them done. But the overall issue with this [19:37] is this administration is trying to hobble Israel from being able to defend itself. [19:43] They have a right to eliminate Hamas and win a total and complete victory so that they never have [19:49] to deal with this again. Hamas wants nothing less than a second Holocaust. They would wipe off [19:53] every single Jew off the map. They would destroy the state of Israel if we could. Joe Biden will say [19:59] they support Israel, and then they do nothing but try to kneecap them every step of the way. You should [20:04] not try to direct their war effort. We should work together with them so that they can bring Hamas to [20:10] heal. Look, I served in Iraq back in the day. I'm the only one running for president that served in the [20:16] military. I understand that part of the world. It's not the best part of the world. We do have [20:21] troops there that Biden is leaving basically as sitting ducks, and you have the Iranians that are [20:26] attacking these troops, and he's responding with basically pinpricks. If you harm an American [20:31] service member, you're going to have hell to pay when I'm president. We are not going to let our [20:35] troops be sitting ducks. We also need to look at what's the underlying problem here, Iran. [20:40] Biden is doing nothing to bring Iran to account. You've got to turn the screws on them. Don't let [20:46] them have any oil revenue. The money they get, they send to Hamas, they send to Hezbollah, and they [20:51] foment jihad throughout the Middle East. So Biden has empowered Iran just like he's empowered other [20:57] adversaries. We stand with Israel. They're our best ally in the Middle East. We have a unique [21:03] relationship with them, and you will see a strong relationship when I'm the president of the United [21:07] States. But would you send American troops? Elizabeth, look, this is the problem with the first [21:13] three debates. Ron gets asked a question, and he doesn't answer it. Your question was very specific. [21:19] You said, would you send American troops as commander-in-chief? And he went on to this [21:26] minute and 30-second hosanna about his knowledge of the military and what we need to do, and didn't [21:32] answer your question. Look, when you're president of the United States, you're not going to have a [21:36] choice whether to answer that question or not. Your generals, your secretary of defense, your secretary [21:41] of state, your national security advisor are going to present plans to you. They're going to look at you [21:45] and say, do we go or don't we, Mr. President? And you can't give a 90-second speech about your [21:49] military service, as vulnerable as it is. So would you send American troops in to rescue [21:53] those hostages? I would absolutely, absolutely. If they had a plan which showed me that we could [21:59] get them out safely, you're damn right I'd send the American army in there to get our people home [22:04] and get them home now, and I'll answer that question directly. Thank you, Governor Christie. [22:09] Mr. Ramaswamy, you have said it was irresponsible for Ambassador Haley to call Hamas's [22:15] terrorist rampage an attack on America, and for her to, quote, [22:20] rabidly shout, finish them, end quote. The Hamas terror attack left dozens of Americans dead [22:26] and was the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust. Why wouldn't it be a good thing [22:32] to finish Hamas? Finish them was purposefully vague in a discussion that included Iran, which is [22:38] what I objected to, and I think as U.S. president, you have to be responsible. What happened to Israel [22:44] was dead wrong. What Hamas did was medieval. It was subhuman. It was immoral. And we have to call [22:50] that out for what it is on October 7th. But to say that that was an attack on America fails a basic [22:56] test. I mean, Nick, if you can't tell the difference between where Israel is and the U.S. is on a map, [23:00] I can have my three-year-old son show you the difference. That is irresponsible because it has [23:04] major consequences because that doesn't leave room for what actually is an attack on America. So I believe I [23:10] have the strongest pro-Israel position actually on the stage, even though it's a little bit different [23:14] than the standard GOP talking points. And it is this. The founding vision of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, [23:20] the George Washington figure of Israel, what did he believe? He believed that we don't want as [23:25] Israel to depend on the fleeting sympathies of the West and have our hands tied. I think Israel has an [23:31] absolute right to defend itself to the fullest without the U.S., the U.N., or the EU, or anybody else [23:37] second-guessing their decisions, as the Biden administration, guess what, is now starting to [23:41] do. I think that's a more deeply pro-Israel position than anybody else, and it keeps the [23:46] actual lines of accountability clear because it is a pro-American position. And as leader of the [23:51] United States of America, just as a father of two sons, my sole moral duty is to my family. [23:57] As your next president, my sole moral duty is to you, the people of this country. That's how I'm going [24:03] to lead. So I'll tell Bibi, you smoke the terrorists on your southern border, you go ahead and we're [24:07] rooting for you. We're going to smoke the terrorists on our own southern border, and that's [24:11] how I'm going to lead this country. But Americans were killed in that attack. [24:15] Americans were killed in that attack. And so if you looked at this terrorist attack and the number [24:21] of Americans, this would be one of the top 10 terrorist attacks in American history. So our own [24:26] people were killed in that attack. And I think it's absolutely appropriate to point that out and to say [24:31] that we're in this together. And we are going to work with Israel so that these people are brought [24:36] to justice. I agree with that. Ambassador Haley, I'm coming to you. [24:41] Iran is on the threshold of becoming a nuclear state. The Wall Street Journal reported that [24:46] Iranian military leaders gave the green light for Hamas' attack on Israel. You said in last month's [24:52] debate that by contrast to the Biden administration's approach to Iran, you would, quote, punch them once [24:58] and punch them hard. Were you saying that it's time to bomb Iran? [25:02] No, I was not saying it's time to bomb Iran. But I will tell you, I dealt with Iran every [25:08] day when I was at the United Nations, and they only respond to strength. What they don't respond [25:14] to is when you weaken the sanctions like they did on Iran that allowed China to send them billions [25:19] to fill their proxies. What they don't respond to is when you give $6 billion for five hostages. [25:24] That only makes them want more hostages. What they don't respond to is when they do 140 strikes [25:30] on our men and women in Syria and Iraq, and we do nothing but just some small shots back. [25:36] You've got to punch them. You've got to punch them hard and let them know that. [25:39] That's the only way they're going to respond. So the way you do that is you go after their [25:44] infrastructure in Syria and Iraq where they're hitting our soldiers. That's what you do. And [25:48] then that's when they'll back off. The problem is you have to see that all of these are related. [25:53] If you look at the fact Russia was losing that war with Ukraine, Putin had hit rock bottom. [25:58] They had raised the draft age to 65. He was getting drones and missiles, drones from Iran, [26:04] missiles from North Korea. And so what happened when he hit rock bottom, all of a sudden his other [26:10] friend, Iran, Hamas goes and invades Israel and butchers those people on Putin's birthday. [26:17] There is no one happier right now than Putin because all of the attention America had on Ukraine [26:22] suddenly went to Israel. And that's what they were hoping is going to happen. [26:27] We need to make sure that we have full clarity that there is a reason, again, that Taiwanese [26:33] want to help Ukrainians because they know if Ukraine wins, China won't invade Taiwan. [26:39] There's a reason the Ukrainians want to help Israelis because they know that if Iran wins, [26:43] Russia wins, these are all connected. But what wins all of that is a strong America, [26:48] not a weak America. And that's what Joe Biden has given us. [26:51] I want to say one thing about the tie to Ukraine, if I may. [26:55] So foreign policy experience is not the same as foreign policy wisdom. [27:01] I want everybody at home to note that I was the first person to say we need a reasonable peace deal in Ukraine. [27:06] Now a lot of the neocons are quietly coming along to that position with the exceptions of Nikki Haley and Joe Biden [27:12] who still support this, what I believe is pointless war in Ukraine. [27:16] And I think those with foreign policy experience, one thing that Joe Biden and Nikki Haley have in common [27:20] is that neither of them could even state for you three provinces in eastern Ukraine that they want [27:26] to send our troops to actually fight for. Look at that. This is what I want people to understand. [27:32] These people have, I mean, she has no idea what the hell the names of those provinces are, [27:35] but she wants to send our sons and daughters and our troops and our military equipment to go fight it. [27:40] So reject this myth that they've been selling you, that somebody had a cup of coffee stint at the UN [27:44] and then makes eight million bucks after, has real foreign policy experience. [27:48] It takes an outsider to see this through. Look at the blank expression. [27:51] She doesn't know the names of the provinces that she wants to actually fight for. [27:55] And there's a puppet master right there. The donors, the donors right there that are playing about the puppet master. [28:01] Enough. Okay, hold on, hold on. [28:02] Let me just say something here. You know, his reasonable peace deal in Ukraine, he made it clear. [28:09] Give them all the land they've already stolen. [28:11] Promise Putin you'll never put Ukraine in Russia and then trust Putin not to have a relationship with China. [28:18] Let me tell you something. That's no reasonable. [28:20] That's not my deal. [28:21] Yes, it's exactly what you said. You do this at every debate. [28:24] I'll tell him what I'm doing. [28:25] No, don't interrupt me. I didn't interrupt you. [28:28] Okay? You say this. [28:29] Tell him about how you want to send our kids to die. [28:31] You do this at every debate. You go out on the stump and you say something. [28:35] All of us see it on video. We confront you out on the debate stage. [28:39] You say you didn't say it and then you back away. [28:41] And I want to say what? [28:42] I'll tell you exactly what I said, Chris. [28:43] I'm not done yet. [28:44] Well, this is... [28:45] Hold on. [28:46] Now, hold on. [28:46] This is not a spirit. [28:48] This is not a spirit of nonsense. [28:49] I'm saying something. [28:50] This is the fourth debate. [28:52] The fourth debate that you would be voted in the first 20 minutes as the most obnoxious blowhard in America. [28:58] So shut up for a little while. [29:00] I'm going to respond to that. [29:02] Chris, you're going to... [29:03] We're going to let you respond to that. [29:04] We're going to let you respond to that. [29:05] I'll take that. [29:06] I want to say something else. [29:08] We're now 25 minutes into this debate. [29:11] And he has insulted Nikki Haley's basic intelligence. [29:17] Not her positions. [29:19] Her basic intelligence. [29:21] She doesn't know regions. [29:22] She wouldn't be able to find something on a map that his three-year-old could find. [29:26] Look, if you want to disagree on issues, that's fine. [29:29] And Nikki and I disagree on some issues. [29:31] But I'll tell you this. [29:32] I've known her for 12 years, which is longer than he's even started to vote in a Republican primary. [29:37] And while we disagree about some issues and we disagree about who should be president of the United States, what we don't disagree on is this is a smart, accomplished woman. [29:49] You should stop insulting her. [29:50] I'm going to take this. [29:51] I'm going to take this. [29:51] I'm going to take this. [29:51] So first of all, I think we just learned something from Chris Christie. [29:58] We learned three things. [29:59] Hold on. [29:59] Go ahead. [29:59] We learned three things right there. [30:01] First of all, Chris Christie also doesn't know what provinces in eastern Ukraine he actually want us to fight for. [30:06] Chris, your version of foreign policy experience was closing a bridge from New Jersey to New York. [30:13] So do everybody a favor. [30:14] Just walk yourself off that stage. [30:16] Enjoy a nice meal and get the hell out of this race. [30:18] When it comes to Nikki, I think if you're going to actually send your sons and daughters to go die in somebody else's war, you better, excuse me, Chris, I'm speaking and I'm not done yet. [30:28] I haven't heard a time when you aren't speaking. [30:30] And we're going to be done. [30:31] So listen up to this. [30:32] If these people want to send your sons and daughters to go die in Ukraine, they've been arguing for it for a year. [30:38] $200 billion of our taxpayer money sent over. [30:41] Neither of them could even name for you the provinces that they actually want to protect. [30:45] And this is the people who have been touting their so-called foreign policy experience. [30:50] It is intellectual fraud. [30:52] These people are lying to you. [30:53] The same people who told you about weapons and mass destruction in Iraq to justify that invasion. [30:59] Didn't know the first thing about it, yet they sent thousands of our sons and daughters to go die. [31:03] The same people who told you the same in Afghanistan, where the Taliban is still in charge 20 years later. [31:08] $7 trillion of our national debt due to these toxic neocons. [31:12] You can put lipstick on a Dick Cheney. [31:14] It is still a fascist neocon. [31:16] Thank you, Mr. Ramaswamy. [31:17] It's Dick Cheney all over again at this point. [31:20] Thank you, Mr. Ramaswamy. [31:21] 15 seconds. [31:24] Name the provinces. [31:26] Neither of you could even name the first thing about Eastern countries. [31:28] I think we've had enough of this. [31:30] Let me just... [31:32] It's actually... [31:33] Crimea is the wrong... [31:34] All right. [31:35] The floor is Christie's. [31:36] All right. [31:37] Let me just say this. [31:38] You know, this is the kind of thing where he talks about experience. [31:43] You know, I was the U.S. attorney in New Jersey when the terrorist attacks were launched against the United States in 2001. [31:52] I brought the two, first two cases in this country against terrorists who tried to attack us again. [31:57] And I know about the threat of terrorism and bullying in this country and around the world. [32:04] And at that time, he was learning about the provinces in Ukraine sitting with his smart-ass mouth at Harvard. [32:11] That's what was going on. [32:12] And so, the fact of the matter is, and back then he was a Democrat. [32:17] So, you know, the fact is... [32:18] That's a dead old lie. [32:19] The fact is that all he knows how to do... [32:21] You were busy hugging Barack Obama getting him elected. [32:23] Thank you. [32:23] All he knows how to do is insult good people who have committed their lives to public service [32:28] and not say anything that moves the ball down the field for the United States. [32:37] Welcome back to the Republican primary debate live on News Nation from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. [32:42] We are now going to go to the crisis on the southern border. [32:47] Polls show immigration and the crisis are among the most pressing issues for Republican voters right now. [32:53] Both the issue of migrants crossing illegally into our country and the separate issue of fentanyl being smuggled in, [33:00] mostly through legal ports of entry. [33:01] All year, News Nation has been at the border documenting the crisis. [33:05] In 2023 alone, Border Patrol encountered a record 2.4 million migrants. [33:13] All four of you have talked tough. [33:15] The question now is, how realistic is the talk? [33:19] So, Governor DeSantis, I'd like to start with you. [33:21] You have pledged to send the military to the southern border on day one of your administration [33:26] with orders to shoot, quote, stone-cold dead anyone illegally entering [33:31] with a backpack that you believe contains fentanyl. [33:35] Critics have called this a shoot-first, ask-questions-later policy [33:39] that would amount to extrajudicial killing. [33:42] You are a former military lawyer. [33:45] Why do you think this idea of yours would be legal? [33:47] The drug cartels are invading our country, and they are killing our citizens [33:52] by the tens of thousands every year. [33:55] We had a situation in Florida. [33:56] There was an 18-month-old baby that was crawling on the floor of an Airbnb rental. [34:01] There was fentanyl residue on the carpet, and the baby died. [34:05] Is this acceptable in this country? [34:07] I know the elites in D.C., they don't care. [34:10] They don't care that fentanyl is ravaging your community. [34:12] They don't care that illegal aliens are ravaging our community [34:16] and overwhelming our community. [34:17] The commander-in-chief not only has a right, [34:20] you have a responsibility to fight back against these people. [34:23] And does that mean shooting first? [34:25] It means you're going to categorize them as foreign terrorist organizations, [34:30] and we will identify just like we would anywhere. [34:32] When I was in Iraq, the al-Qaeda wasn't wearing a uniform. [34:37] You'd see anyone walking down the street. [34:39] They all had man dresses on. [34:40] You didn't know if someone had a bomb, an IED attached, or not. [34:44] And so you had to make a judgment based on intelligence, [34:46] based on positive identification. [34:48] But we're going to be able to get the intelligence on these cartel people. [34:51] And here's the thing. [34:52] If we had a wall across the southern border, which I support, [34:56] this would not have happened. [34:57] We need to build a wall across the southern border. [35:00] I'll get it done, and I'll make for... [35:02] Mexico is supposed to pay for it. [35:04] Remember, here's how you do that. [35:05] I'm going to have fees on remittances from foreign workers [35:08] when they send the money back to foreign countries. [35:11] We're going to tax it, and we're going to build a wall with that. [35:14] So, yes, you should have had that. [35:15] But we don't have it. [35:16] I'm going to build it. [35:17] But we have to lean in on this problem. [35:20] I am not going to sit there and allow mothers to lose more kids [35:23] because of fentanyl overdose. [35:25] I am not going to sit there and let sex trafficking go unabated [35:29] or human trafficking go unabated. [35:31] There's going to be a new sheriff in town, [35:33] and these drug cartels better buckle up. [35:35] You have pledged to catch and deport all migrants [35:43] who are here in this country illegally. [35:45] But then you said in Londonderry, New Hampshire, last month [35:48] that you will not deport those who are working and paying taxes [35:52] rather than feeding off the system. [35:54] Which is it? [35:55] So, first of all, what I said is all of the 7 or 8 million illegals [35:59] that have come under Biden's watch absolutely have to go back. [36:03] We have to stop the incentive of what's bringing them over here in the first place. [36:06] Biden just gave temporary protective status to 500,000 Venezuelans. [36:12] That's a half a million Social Security cards. [36:15] That's a half a million driver's licenses. [36:17] And I know from my time at the United Nations, [36:19] the first thing they do is pick up the phone and said, [36:21] we came over, come on over. [36:23] And that's what sends more. [36:24] You have to go and deport these people so they know it can't happen again. [36:28] For those that have been here longer than that, [36:31] we've got to start seeing who is it, how long have they been here, [36:34] have they been vetted, have they paid taxes, [36:37] have they been working, and figure out who else is out there. [36:40] But what I know is my parents came here legally. [36:43] They put in the time, they put in the price. [36:46] They are offended by those that are coming illegally. [36:48] We can't let them skip the line. [36:50] But when you talk about fentanyl like you did before, [36:52] let's look at something else. [36:54] Yes, I think we should send special operations over [36:57] and take out the cartels. [36:58] I think we should do a remain in Mexico policy [37:02] so they never step foot in U.S. soil in the first place. [37:05] But look at where fentanyl came from. [37:07] Let's go to the heart of the matter. [37:08] It came from China. [37:10] That's why we need to end all normal trade relations with China [37:13] until they stop murdering Americans with fentanyl. [37:16] I promise you, they need our economy. [37:18] They will immediately stop that. [37:19] But this is where Trump went wrong. [37:21] Trump was good on trade, but that's all he was with China. [37:26] Because here he allowed fentanyl to continue to come over. [37:29] He continued to allow them to take, [37:31] he would give them technology [37:33] that would build up their military and hurt us. [37:36] He allowed the Chinese infiltration for them [37:37] to buy up farmland, to put money in our universities, [37:41] and to continue to do things that were harmful for America. [37:44] We now have a spy base in Cuba and police stations [37:46] and Trump didn't do anything about it. [37:48] Thank you. [37:48] For China, though. [37:49] I mean, listen, this is rich [37:50] because when she was governor of South Carolina, [37:52] she was the number one ranked governor [37:54] of bringing the CCP into her state. [37:57] She wrote a love letter to the Chinese ambassador [38:00] saying how great a friend China is. [38:02] You can look at it. [38:02] We put it on her website, rondesanis.com. [38:04] There's also a video of her as governor [38:06] standing in front of a Chinese flag [38:09] with a Chinese business saying [38:11] that she now works for them, [38:13] talking about this Chinese company. [38:15] So she's been very weak on China. [38:17] Now, here's the problem. [38:18] The rhetoric is different, [38:19] but the one, her donors, [38:21] these Wall Street liberal donors, [38:23] they make money in China. [38:25] They are not going to let her be tough on China [38:27] and she will cave to the donors. [38:29] She will not stand up for you. [38:31] 15 seconds. [38:31] First of all, he's mad because [38:37] those Wall Street donors used to support him [38:39] and now they support me. [38:40] The second thing is he has a company, [38:43] a Chinese company, UGAS, [38:45] that he just did a rally there last year. [38:47] They have given you 340,000 in campaign donations [38:51] between them and their employees. [38:54] They are tied to the communist Chinese part. [38:56] JNCO Solar is another one. [38:58] They went and expanded. [38:59] You gave 2 million in subsidies. [39:01] I banned China from buying land [39:03] in the state of Florida. [39:04] And the Department of Homeland... [39:04] I ejected the Confucius Institute. [39:07] Nikki Haley brought Confucius Institutes [39:09] to the universities in South Carolina. [39:11] That is not true. [39:11] I ejected them. [39:12] So I have a record of standing up [39:14] and do what's right. [39:15] And here's the thing. [39:15] You have a record of lying. [39:16] She's trying to say things like that. [39:18] Even the liberal media groups [39:20] that usually if I say the sky is blue, [39:22] they'll fact check me and say that's wrong. [39:23] They looked at her charges. [39:25] They said it was totally false [39:26] that they could not find one instance [39:28] of me recruiting a Chinese business [39:30] coming to Florida. [39:31] You know why? [39:31] Because we never recruited [39:33] any Chinese businesses [39:34] in the state of Florida. [39:37] Mr. Ramaswamy, [39:39] over the past year, [39:40] fentanyl has killed [39:40] more than 75,000 Americans. [39:43] 1,000 of them right here in Alabama. [39:46] You have vowed to use the military [39:47] to, quote, [39:48] annihilate drug labs inside Mexico, [39:50] something the president of Mexico [39:51] said would be a hostile act. [39:53] But fentanyl can easily be made anywhere. [39:56] And labs that are shut down [39:58] can easily and quickly be replaced. [40:00] Are your tough enforcement policies [40:03] offering false hope [40:04] to a country wracked by addiction? [40:07] To the contrary, [40:07] I don't think it's going to have to come to that [40:09] if we deal with the actual demand side problem [40:12] that we also have in this country. [40:14] I mean, the easy part is talking about [40:15] how we're going to use our military [40:16] to secure the border. [40:17] I will, [40:17] and I believe that everybody else [40:19] wants to do the same thing. [40:21] But the harder part [40:22] is dealing with the crisis [40:23] of purpose and meaning, [40:24] the mental health epidemic [40:26] raging across this country [40:27] like wildfire. [40:28] And there's a reason why [40:29] after the opioid crisis, [40:31] you see fentanyl. [40:32] And even after we get fentanyl [40:33] and we are going to be sure [40:34] to make sure we do it, [40:35] this one is worse for many reasons. [40:37] They're illegally lacing it [40:38] into pharmaceuticals. [40:39] So it's more dangerous. [40:41] But we're deluding ourselves. [40:42] The real false promise here [40:43] is thinking that we're going to have dealt [40:45] with that underlying [40:46] mental health epidemic [40:48] in this country [40:49] by just dealing [40:50] with the demand side of it. [40:51] But I want to get back [40:52] to this issue of the root cause [40:53] because a lot of these [40:54] are coming from labs [40:56] in Wuhan, China, [40:57] of all places. [40:58] Drug materials [40:59] that are going to [40:59] the Mexican drug cartels [41:00] that they're pumping [41:01] across that southern border [41:02] like a modern opium war. [41:04] I think it is going to take [41:05] a U.S. president [41:06] that's going to have [41:06] a very different conversation [41:08] with Xi Jinping [41:09] than what Joe Biden [41:11] just had in California. [41:13] I will tell Xi Jinping, [41:14] you will not only not buy [41:15] land in this country [41:16] or donate to universities [41:17] in this country. [41:18] U.S. businesses won't expand [41:20] into the Chinese market [41:21] until they're playing [41:22] by the same set of rules [41:23] and the same country [41:25] that's putting fentanyl [41:26] into illegal pharmaceuticals [41:27] in Mexico. [41:28] It's no coincidence [41:29] is the exact same country [41:31] that also unleashed [41:32] hell on the world [41:33] with the COVID-19 pandemic. [41:35] We also have to hold [41:36] them accountable [41:37] with every financial lever [41:39] that we have available. [41:40] Thank you. [41:41] That is what it actually means [41:41] to stand with a spine [41:43] and you mark my words, [41:44] if we're willing to stand [41:45] with a spine, [41:46] China will absolutely [41:47] have to fold [41:47] because they're in a tougher [41:48] spot than we are [41:49] and then we're back to playing [41:51] by the same set of rules. [41:51] Thank you, Mr. Ramaswamy. [41:53] Thank you. [41:54] Let's talk about the economy. [41:57] Ambassador Haley, [41:58] home ownership [41:59] has always been part [42:00] of the American dream, [42:01] but it's increasingly [42:02] out of reach [42:03] for younger Americans. [42:05] This year, [42:05] mortgage rates [42:06] reached 30-year highs. [42:08] Home prices have risen [42:09] $190,000 [42:11] over the past decade. [42:13] Is this a free market [42:14] at work [42:15] or should the federal government [42:17] do something [42:18] to make homes [42:18] more affordable? [42:20] Well, first of all, [42:21] I mean, you're exactly right. [42:22] My daughter just got married [42:23] and I saw how hard it was [42:25] for her and her husband [42:26] to buy a home. [42:27] Right now, [42:28] the average homeowner [42:29] in America [42:30] is 49 years old. [42:32] You've got young people [42:33] everywhere. [42:34] That used to be [42:35] the American dream [42:36] and now it's out of reach. [42:37] But you look at what happened. [42:39] You first of all, [42:39] look at what the Fed did. [42:40] The Fed did a terrible job [42:42] when they allowed [42:43] all of that money [42:43] to go through. [42:44] You saw the Treasury bond [42:46] rates go up. [42:46] That affected mortgage rates. [42:48] That affected automobile rates. [42:49] That affected insurance rates. [42:51] And so now we have [42:52] a high interest rate. [42:53] You've got a supply issue. [42:55] Ask any builder. [42:56] The supply issues [42:57] have continued to be there. [42:59] That's caused the rate [43:00] to go up. [43:01] And then you've got [43:01] insurances that have gone up. [43:03] And so what you have [43:04] is a lot of younger people [43:05] who, one, can't afford a home, [43:07] but two, [43:08] the banks aren't [43:09] lending them any money. [43:10] They've made the regulation [43:12] so hard [43:13] that they don't want [43:14] to give loans [43:15] on mortgages anymore. [43:16] So what we have to do [43:17] is we have to open it up. [43:18] We have to, one, [43:19] grow our economy [43:20] so that people have [43:21] more money in their pockets. [43:22] We've got to look [43:23] at the supply chain [43:24] and make sure that [43:25] we are funneling that [43:26] so that builders [43:27] don't have to sit there [43:27] and go overseas [43:28] to find things. [43:29] And then we need to make [43:30] sure that we really [43:31] stop paying down this debt, [43:33] make sure that we [43:34] stop the borrowing, [43:35] stop the spending. [43:35] I'll veto any spending bill [43:38] that doesn't take us [43:38] back to pre-COVID levels [43:40] because our kids are not [43:41] going to forgive us [43:42] for all the spending [43:43] that happened. [43:44] And as much as everybody [43:45] wants to talk about [43:46] how Donald Trump [43:47] had a good economy, [43:48] $9 trillion in debt [43:50] he did just in four years. [43:53] And we're all paying [43:54] the price of that, [43:55] including those mortgage prices. [43:56] We're going to come back [43:57] to President Trump, [43:58] I promise. [43:59] Governor DeSantis, [44:02] the latest News Nation [44:03] Decision Desk poll [44:04] found that inflation [44:05] tops the worries [44:06] of American voters. [44:08] 61% say they're very concerned [44:10] and the working class [44:11] is hardest hit. [44:12] Economists say this was [44:14] fueled by a glut [44:15] of federal spending. [44:17] The Biden administration [44:18] has added $6 trillion [44:19] to the national debt so far. [44:22] But President Trump [44:23] wasn't exactly a penny pincher. [44:25] His administration [44:26] added $7.8 trillion. [44:29] Do Republicans, [44:30] including President Trump, [44:31] share the blame for inflation? [44:33] And what concrete steps [44:34] would a President DeSantis [44:35] take to help Americans [44:37] make ends meet? [44:38] The borrowing, printing, [44:40] and spending of money [44:41] was both parties [44:42] in Washington, D.C. [44:44] That's just a fact. [44:45] These Republicans [44:46] in Washington have spent. [44:47] It's driven your prices higher [44:48] and it's driven your interest rates [44:50] to the point [44:51] where you can't afford. [44:52] I met a young fellow in Iowa. [44:54] He had graduated college [44:55] a couple years ago [44:56] and he's like, [44:57] Governor, [44:57] I don't have a chance. [44:58] I'm gainfully employed. [44:59] He's like, [45:00] I have no chance [45:00] to afford a home [45:01] and start a family. [45:03] That is taking [45:03] the American dream [45:04] away from people. [45:05] So we're going to get [45:05] the inflation down. [45:06] We're going to get [45:07] the interest rates down. [45:08] We are going to reduce spending [45:09] and I will be willing to veto [45:10] and I vetoed a lot [45:11] as Governor of Florida [45:12] and we'll do that. [45:13] We're also going to open up [45:14] all of our domestic energy [45:15] for production. [45:16] Lower your gas prices. [45:17] Lower the price of fuel. [45:19] That's going to help the economy. [45:21] It'll also help jobs [45:22] and we'll do it. [45:22] But you know, [45:23] another thing that's burdening [45:24] young people [45:24] are the student loans. [45:26] Now, I don't support [45:27] having a truck driver [45:29] having to pay a student loan [45:30] for someone [45:30] that got a degree [45:31] in gender studies. [45:32] That is wrong. [45:33] We should not have [45:34] taxpayers do that. [45:35] What I'm going to do though [45:36] is I'm going to get [45:37] to the root cause [45:37] of the problem. [45:38] These student loans [45:38] are going to be backed [45:39] by the universities [45:40] because they need [45:42] to have an incentive [45:42] to produce gainful [45:44] employment for people. [45:45] They should not be [45:46] indulging in ideological studies. [45:48] They should be focusing [45:49] on things that work [45:50] and we're going to take [45:51] some of this money [45:52] and we're going to move it [45:53] to actual vocational training. [45:55] In Florida, [45:56] we doubled apprenticeships. [45:57] We have more truck drivers. [45:59] These are in-demand [46:00] skills. [46:00] Don't let anybody [46:01] tell you that the only way [46:03] you can be successful [46:04] is through a four-year [46:05] brick and ivy degree. [46:06] That's one way you can be. [46:07] It's not the only way [46:08] and we're going to fix [46:09] that problem [46:10] in the United States [46:11] of America. [46:11] Mr. Ramaswamy, [46:16] you've praised [46:17] cryptocurrency like Bitcoin [46:19] as an opt-out [46:20] from our, quote, [46:21] broken financial architecture [46:23] and you oppose efforts [46:24] to regulate it. [46:25] The head of the largest [46:26] international crypto exchange [46:28] just pleaded guilty [46:29] to allowing his platform [46:31] to launder money [46:32] for terrorists, [46:33] including Hamas. [46:34] You say your cryptocurrency [46:36] plan will, quote, [46:37] ensure economic freedom [46:38] for Americans, end quote. [46:41] Won't it also ensure [46:42] economic freedom [46:43] for fraudsters, [46:44] criminals, and terrorists? [46:46] Look, fraudsters, [46:47] criminals, and terrorists [46:48] have been defrauding [46:49] people for a long time. [46:50] Our regulations [46:51] need to catch up [46:52] with the current moment. [46:53] The fact that SBF [46:54] was able to do [46:55] what he did at FTX [46:56] shows that whatever [46:57] they have as the current [46:58] framework isn't working. [47:00] And I think it is [47:00] nothing short of embarrassing [47:01] that Gary Gensler, [47:03] the current leader [47:04] of the SEC, [47:05] in front of Congress [47:06] could not even say [47:07] whether Ethereum counted [47:09] as a regulated security [47:11] or not. [47:12] And so I think [47:12] that this is just [47:13] another example [47:14] of the administrative [47:15] state gone too far. [47:17] Here's the dirty little secret [47:18] in American politics today. [47:19] The people who we elect [47:21] to run the government [47:22] are not the ones [47:23] who are even actually [47:24] running the government. [47:26] It is the bureaucrats [47:27] in those three-letter agencies [47:28] that are writing regulations [47:30] that Congress never gave them [47:31] the authority to write. [47:33] And the good news is [47:34] a U.S. president [47:35] can absolutely fix that. [47:38] That takes a U.S. president [47:39] with a spine. [47:40] So what I've said [47:41] is in my administration, [47:42] by the end of year one, [47:44] we will have a 75% reduction [47:46] in the number [47:47] of federal bureaucrats. [47:48] We will shut down [47:49] government agencies [47:50] that should not exist. [47:51] We will rescind [47:53] any regulation [47:54] that fails the test [47:55] of West Virginia [47:56] versus EPA, [47:57] which is the most important [47:58] Supreme Court case [47:59] of our lifetime [48:00] that said if Congress [48:01] didn't delegate that [48:02] to an administrative agency, [48:04] then it's unconstitutional. [48:06] These are seismic changes. [48:08] These are big changes [48:09] that the next president [48:10] can deliver [48:11] without asking Congress [48:13] for permission [48:13] or for forgiveness. [48:15] And I want people [48:15] to understand that distinction [48:16] because people have been [48:17] sold myths [48:18] by politicians [48:19] for a long time [48:19] saying, [48:20] I'm going to work [48:20] with Congress [48:21] to do this or that. [48:22] Much of what you've heard [48:23] on the stage [48:23] from the other politicians [48:24] fit that description [48:25] they need Congress. [48:27] The things that I'm promising you, [48:29] this is what the leader [48:30] of the executive branch [48:31] gets to do [48:31] under Article 2 [48:33] of the Constitution. [48:34] Thank you, sir. [48:34] Cut down the bureaucracy. [48:36] That's how we grow our economy [48:37] and put the Federal Reserve [48:38] in its place [48:39] as part of the crypto discussion. [48:40] No, no, no. [48:41] 90% headcount reduction [48:42] at the Fed. [48:42] You're out of time. [48:43] 15 seconds, Governor DeSantis. [48:44] So one of the dangers [48:46] that we're going to face, [48:47] Biden wants, [48:47] is a central bank digital currency. [48:49] They want to get rid of cash, crypto. [48:51] They want to force you to do that. [48:52] They'll take away your privacy. [48:54] They will absolutely regulate [48:55] your purchases. [48:57] On day one as president, [48:58] we take the idea [48:59] of central bank digital currency [49:00] and we throw it in the trash can. [49:02] It'll be dead on arrival. [49:04] I agree with that. [49:05] Got to get a break. [49:06] Got to get a break. [49:07] Have a whole second hour [49:08] to get to it. [49:09] It's exciting. [49:09] And when we come back, [49:10] we've got a big subject, [49:11] huge, you might even say, [49:13] Donald Trump. [49:14] Stay tuned. [49:15] Welcome back, everyone. [49:32] So you've all spent [49:34] a lot of time [49:34] criticizing each other [49:35] on this stage [49:36] as Governor Christie pointed out [49:37] and less so for most of you [49:39] on the frontrunner [49:41] in this race, Donald Trump. [49:43] We invited him [49:44] to come tonight, as you know, [49:45] but he declined to come. [49:46] But we'd like to ask you [49:47] a couple of questions [49:48] about him now. [49:50] Ambassador Haley, [49:51] former President Trump [49:52] recently promised [49:53] if he's re-elected [49:54] to bring back [49:55] and expand his program [49:56] restricting immigration [49:58] from Muslim countries. [50:00] Here he is in Iowa [50:01] on October 16th. [50:03] No longer will we allow [50:04] dangerous lunatics, [50:06] haters, bigots, [50:07] and maniacs [50:08] to get residency [50:10] in our country. [50:10] We're not going to let him [50:11] stay here. [50:12] If you empathize [50:13] with radical Islamic terrorists [50:15] and extremists, [50:16] you're disqualified. [50:17] You're just disqualified. [50:19] Ambassador Haley, [50:20] do you support [50:21] President Trump's plan [50:22] for ideological screening? [50:24] Well, I don't think [50:25] that you have [50:25] a straight-up Muslim ban [50:26] as much as you look [50:27] at the countries [50:28] that have terrorist activity [50:29] that want to hurt Americans. [50:31] You do, [50:32] you can ban those people [50:33] from those countries. [50:34] That's the way [50:35] we should look at it, [50:36] is which countries [50:36] are a threat to us. [50:38] You look at what came [50:38] across the southern border. [50:39] What worries me the most [50:41] are those that came from Iran, [50:42] from Yemen, from Lebanon, [50:44] those areas where they say [50:46] death to America. [50:47] That's where you want [50:48] to be careful. [50:49] It's not about a religion. [50:50] It's about a fact [50:51] that certain countries [50:52] are dangerous [50:53] and our threats to us. [50:54] A president has one job, [50:56] and that's to keep [50:56] Americans safe. [50:58] And that's what we've got [50:58] to do, is make sure [50:59] that we have good [51:00] national security [51:00] in that process. [51:01] And that's the way [51:02] you should look at it, [51:03] is where the terrorist [51:04] threats are, [51:05] how we're going to deal [51:05] with it, and what [51:06] we're doing about it. [51:07] And the biggest threat [51:08] we have right now [51:09] is communist China. [51:10] But you have to also look [51:12] at what Iran and Russia [51:13] are doing as well. [51:14] And we need to be [51:15] paying attention to that. [51:16] That's why we have to [51:17] focus on things like cyber, [51:18] on space, on artificial [51:20] intelligence, and not just [51:21] the regular things that we've [51:22] always focused on. [51:24] It's not just, [51:25] it's not just terrorism, [51:26] though. [51:27] That's important. [51:28] But look what's happened [51:29] in Europe. [51:30] You have more [51:31] anti-Semitism in Germany [51:32] than at any time since [51:34] Adolf Hitler. [51:35] Why? [51:35] Because they imported [51:36] mass numbers of people [51:38] who reject their culture. [51:40] Europe is committing [51:41] suicide with the mass [51:43] migration, and it's [51:44] illegal and legal. [51:46] Nikki Haley said the other [51:47] day there should be no [51:48] limits on legal immigration, [51:51] and that corporate CEOs [51:52] should set the policy on that. [51:54] That's not true. [51:54] There needs to be [51:55] limits on immigration, [51:56] and we should not be [51:58] importing people from [51:59] cultures that are hostile. [52:01] So, for example, I said [52:02] with the Gaza, you had some [52:03] of the squad wanted to [52:05] import 300,000 people [52:06] from the Gaza Strip. [52:07] I said, no, we're not [52:08] taking anyone from Gaza [52:10] because of the anti-Semitism [52:11] and because they reject [52:13] American culture. [52:14] So we've got to get [52:14] smart about this. [52:16] We cannot let the United [52:17] States be like Europe. [52:18] Governor Christie. [52:19] If I may just hit this point [52:22] because it relates [52:23] to what they just said, [52:24] there are things [52:25] that the government [52:25] can do right now [52:26] that nobody's talking [52:27] about amongst the [52:28] professional politicians [52:29] in this race. [52:31] What about all of the [52:32] illegals who are already [52:33] here? [52:34] Here's the answer. [52:35] There's 287G in the law. [52:38] That is a provision [52:39] that already allows ICE [52:40] agents to deputize [52:42] or allow local law [52:43] enforcement to enforce [52:45] those ICE wars. [52:46] And it shocks me [52:47] that nobody in the [52:48] Republican Party [52:49] is talking about it [52:49] because there are [52:50] one million then [52:51] officials, law enforcement [52:53] officials in this country. [52:55] And against that backdrop, [52:56] we absolutely have the [52:57] ability to deport anybody [52:58] who's in this country [52:59] illegally. [53:00] Thank you, Mr. Ramaswami. [53:00] We need to be talking about it [53:01] more in this country. [53:02] Thank you. [53:02] Governor Christie. [53:03] He actually did that [53:05] as governor of South Carolina. [53:06] Governor Christie [53:07] asked last night in Iowa [53:08] whether he would be a dictator [53:10] if he wins a second term [53:11] in office. [53:12] Donald Trump quipped, [53:13] no, quote, except for day one, [53:16] promising to seal [53:17] the southern border. [53:19] He has also pledged [53:20] to begin the largest [53:21] deportation operation [53:22] in American history, [53:24] saying that migrants [53:25] are, quote, [53:25] poisoning the blood [53:27] of our country. [53:28] He has pledged [53:29] to round up and expel [53:30] an estimated 11 million [53:31] undocumented immigrants [53:33] in the United States. [53:34] What do you make [53:35] of that plan? [53:37] I think it's [53:38] completely predictable. [53:40] I mean, look, [53:40] he's made it very clear. [53:42] There's no mystery [53:43] to what he wants to do. [53:45] He started off [53:45] his campaign by saying, [53:47] I am your retribution. [53:50] Eight years ago, [53:51] he said, I am your voice. [53:52] This is an angry, bitter man [53:55] who now wants to be back [53:57] as president [53:57] because he wants [53:59] to exact retribution [54:00] on anyone [54:01] who has disagreed with him, [54:04] anyone who has tried [54:05] to hold him to account [54:06] for his own conduct. [54:08] And every one [54:09] of these policies [54:10] that he's talking about [54:11] are about pursuing [54:13] a plan of retribution. [54:14] And yet, at the first debate, [54:17] my three colleagues [54:18] on this stage, [54:18] when asked [54:19] if he would be convicted [54:21] of federal felonies, [54:23] would they still support him? [54:24] Raised their hand, [54:26] looked into the camera, [54:27] and let everybody know [54:28] that they would still support him [54:30] even if convicted [54:31] of felonies. [54:32] Federal felonies, [54:33] by the way. [54:34] Federal felonies [54:35] which involve [54:36] our election process. [54:38] Federal felonies [54:39] which involve [54:40] the most sensitive [54:41] of our governmental secrets. [54:44] Federal felonies [54:44] where he instructed others [54:46] to commit crimes. [54:47] Folks who are now agreeing [54:48] to go to jail [54:50] because of what they did [54:51] in his name. [54:52] So do I think [54:52] he was kidding [54:53] when he said [54:54] he was a dictator? [54:55] All you have to do [54:56] is look at the history. [54:58] And that's why [54:59] failing to speak out [55:00] against him, [55:02] making excuses for him, [55:04] pretending that somehow [55:05] he's a victim, [55:07] empowers him. [55:08] You want to know [55:08] why those poll numbers [55:09] are where they are? [55:10] Because folks like [55:11] these three guys [55:12] on the stage [55:12] make it seem like [55:13] his conduct is acceptable. [55:14] Let me make it clear. [55:16] His conduct is unacceptable. [55:18] He's unfit. [55:19] And be careful [55:20] of what you're going to get. [55:21] If you ever got [55:22] another Donald Trump term, [55:24] he's letting you know [55:24] I am your retribution. [55:27] Thank you. [55:27] He will only be, [55:27] Elizabeth, [55:28] he will only be [55:29] his own retribution. [55:30] He doesn't care [55:31] for the American people. [55:32] It's Donald Trump first. [55:34] Thank you, Governor Christie. [55:35] Governor DeSantis. [55:37] Governor DeSantis, [55:41] Donald Trump [55:42] would be older [55:43] on day one [55:44] of his second presidency [55:45] than Joe Biden was [55:46] on day one [55:47] of his first. [55:48] You have said [55:49] Trump is not [55:50] the same man he was [55:51] when he ran in 2016. [55:53] Your campaign [55:53] is running ads [55:54] showing Trump confused. [55:57] And you have said [55:57] he has, quote, [55:58] lost the zip [55:59] on his fastball. [56:01] You seem to be saying [56:02] Donald Trump [56:02] is no longer [56:03] mentally fit [56:04] to be president. [56:04] Is that what you think? [56:06] Look, [56:06] he is showing [56:07] father time [56:08] is undefeated. [56:09] The idea [56:10] that we're going [56:10] to put someone up there [56:11] that's almost 80 [56:12] and there's going [56:12] to be no effects [56:13] from that, [56:14] but we all know [56:14] that that's not true. [56:15] And so we have [56:16] an opportunity [56:17] to do a next generation [56:18] of leaders [56:19] and really be able [56:20] to move this country forward. [56:21] We also need a president [56:22] that can serve two terms. [56:24] I don't think Donald Trump, [56:25] I think he's going to have, [56:25] I don't think he can be able [56:26] to get elected. [56:27] The Democrats want him [56:28] to be the nominee. [56:29] We see that. [56:29] They are going to turn [56:30] the screws the minute [56:31] if he got the nomination, [56:32] you're going to see it. [56:33] But do you think he's mentally fit [56:33] to be president? [56:34] I think we need [56:34] to have somebody younger. [56:36] I think when you get up to 80, [56:37] I don't think it's a job for that. [56:38] But let me just respond [56:39] to some of the things there. [56:40] Look, the media is making a big deal [56:42] about what he said [56:42] about somebody's comments. [56:43] I would just remind people [56:44] that is not how he governed. [56:46] He didn't even fire Dr. Fauci. [56:48] He didn't fire Christopher Wray. [56:50] He didn't clean up the swamp. [56:52] He said he was going to drain it. [56:53] He did not drain it. [56:54] He said he was going to build a wall [56:55] and have Mexico pay for it. [56:56] We don't have the wall. [56:58] He did say in 2016 [56:59] he'd have the largest deportation [57:01] program in history. [57:02] He deported less [57:03] than Barack Obama did [57:05] when Barack Obama was president. [57:07] So some of these policies [57:09] he ran on in 16, [57:10] I was cheering him on then, [57:12] but he didn't deliver it. [57:14] Here's what I can promise people. [57:15] 100% of the things [57:16] I promised as governor, [57:18] I delivered on those promises. [57:20] I beat the left time and time again. [57:22] And that's what I'll do [57:23] for you as president. [57:24] We've got to start winning again [57:25] as a party. [57:26] Yes, win the election, [57:27] but we've got to start [57:28] getting these issues. [57:30] I will go in and wreak havoc [57:31] on this bureaucracy. [57:33] You will see people fired [57:34] and we are going to bring a reckoning [57:35] for how this government... [57:36] He handled COVID-19 in the lockdown. [57:38] Here's what you did. [57:38] Here's what you did. [57:39] Here's what you did. [57:39] Here's what you did, sir. [57:39] Now, Chris, you've had your chance [57:41] to watch eloquent on Donald Trump. [57:43] You've been doing it all this whole race. [57:44] Why didn't he just answer the question? [57:46] The question was very direct. [57:49] Is he fit to be president [57:50] or isn't he? [57:52] The rest of the speech is interesting [57:53] but completely non-responsive. [57:56] And if we were in a courtroom, [57:57] they'd strike the answer [57:58] and say, Governor DeSantis. [58:01] No, they wouldn't. [58:01] They would say that... [58:02] You're a smart man. [58:03] No, they would. [58:04] No, they wouldn't, Chris. [58:04] They would strike the answer [58:05] because you're not answering anything. [58:07] You just don't like... [58:08] You have your thing. [58:09] You have your thing. [58:11] No, I don't have my thing. [58:12] He's the thing. [58:13] We do not want to do... [58:15] You're talking about him being 80 years old. [58:17] It doesn't mean that somebody... [58:18] Governor DeSantis, let him finish. [58:21] Governor DeSantis, let him finish. [58:25] Ron, is he fit? [58:26] I think we have an opportunity [58:27] to do somebody who is in the prime of their life. [58:30] We don't have to worry about all this stuff with confidence. [58:33] We can get it done. [58:34] We'll do it. [58:35] I'm going to come to you. [58:36] Finish. [58:36] Look, father time is undefeated. [58:39] I don't know how he would score on a test, [58:41] but I know this. [58:42] We have an opportunity to nominate someone [58:44] and elect someone for two terms [58:46] who's going to be spitting nails on day one [58:48] and for eight years deliver you big results. [58:49] So you do think he's fit? [58:51] As a result, we should not nominate somebody [58:54] who's almost 80 years old. [58:56] He's afraid to answer. [58:58] No, I'm not. [58:59] No, you have to... [59:01] Either you're afraid or you're not listening. [59:03] No, it's not. [59:03] There's a simple question. [59:05] Governor DeSantis, I know you have been... [59:08] Hey, hey, hey, nobody can hear this. [59:09] No one can hear you. [59:10] They can't hear you. [59:10] You finish and then you get it back. [59:12] All right. [59:12] You know, look, I'm a simple guy, okay? [59:16] I hear the question and I answer it. [59:18] Is he fit or isn't he? [59:21] I'll concede you're fit, Ron. [59:24] You're a new generation. [59:25] You're 44 years old. [59:27] I wish I was still 44 years old, okay? [59:30] 45. [59:30] So, well, congratulations. [59:32] I'd still take 45. [59:34] Is he fit or isn't he? [59:35] And this is the problem with my three colleagues. [59:40] They're afraid to offend. [59:42] And let me tell you something. [59:43] If you're afraid... [59:44] Hold on, Mr. Ramaswani. [59:45] If you're afraid to offend Donald Trump, [59:48] then what are you going to do [59:50] when you sit across from President Xi [59:51] you sit across from the Ayatollah, [59:54] you sit across from Putin, [59:57] you have to be willing to offend with the truth. [1:00:00] Okay. [1:00:00] And answer the question. [1:00:01] It's not about offending. [1:00:01] Sit or unsit. [1:00:02] Okay, listen, listen, listen. [1:00:03] Sit or unsit. [1:00:04] I promised Ron DeSantis a minute and not a full minute. [1:00:06] And I've got... [1:00:07] It's not about offending. [1:00:08] You can wait in and then we're moving on. [1:00:09] It's about pointing out, [1:00:10] do you want to elect somebody [1:00:12] who will be older than Biden was when he went in 2021? [1:00:15] I don't think he's as bad as Biden was at all. [1:00:18] But I do think that over a four-year period, [1:00:21] it is not a job for somebody that's pushing 80. [1:00:24] We need somebody that's younger. [1:00:26] We need somebody that's going to be able to go in there [1:00:28] and clean house on day one and do it for two terms. [1:00:31] And I'll be able to do that. [1:00:32] Here's my issue with all three of my other colleagues [1:00:34] on this debate stage, [1:00:36] is all three of them have been licking [1:00:38] Donald Trump's boots for years [1:00:41] for money and endorsements. [1:00:43] Ron DeSantis, you've been a great governor, [1:00:44] but you would have never been one [1:00:45] without actually begging Donald Trump for that endorsement. [1:00:48] And you attacked him in your book a year ago. [1:00:50] Same thing with Chris Christie as a lobbyist, [1:00:52] begging them for COVID money [1:00:53] for his special interests in New Jersey, [1:00:56] prepping him for the debates last time around. [1:00:58] These people are now Monday morning [1:00:59] quarterbacking some decision he made. [1:01:02] I think the real enemy is not Donald Trump. [1:01:04] It's not even Joe Biden. [1:01:05] It is the deep state [1:01:07] that at least Donald Trump attempted to take on. [1:01:09] And if you want somebody who's going to speak truth to power, [1:01:12] then vote for somebody who's going to speak the truth to you. [1:01:15] Why am I the only person on this stage, at least, [1:01:18] who can say that January 6th now does look [1:01:20] like it was an inside job? [1:01:22] That the government lied to us for 20 years [1:01:24] about Saudi Arabia's involvement in 9-11. [1:01:27] That the great replacement theory [1:01:28] is not some grand right-wing conspiracy theory, [1:01:31] but a basic statement [1:01:32] of the Democratic Party's platform. [1:01:35] That the 2020 election [1:01:37] was indeed stolen by big tech. [1:01:40] That the 2016 election, [1:01:42] the one that Trump won for sure, [1:01:44] was also one that was stolen from him [1:01:46] by the national security establishment [1:01:48] that actually put up the Trump-Russia collusion hoax [1:01:51] that they knew was false. [1:01:51] There's a reason why I'm the only person [1:01:54] on the stage who can say these things. [1:01:56] That's what it's going to take, [1:01:56] not people who were licking his boots one time [1:01:58] and now Monday morning quarterbacking [1:02:00] and criticizing him when it's convenient. [1:02:02] Governor Christie, [1:02:02] you do not favor a ban [1:02:07] on trans medical treatments for minors, [1:02:10] saying it's a parental rights issue. [1:02:12] The surgeries done on minors [1:02:14] involve cutting off body parts [1:02:16] at a time when these kids [1:02:17] cannot even legally smoke a cigarette. [1:02:20] Kids who go from puberty blockers [1:02:22] to cross sex hormones [1:02:23] are at a much greater likelihood [1:02:24] of winding up sterile. [1:02:27] How is it that you think a parent [1:02:28] should be able to okay these surgeries, [1:02:31] never mind the sterilization of a child? [1:02:33] And aren't you way too out of step [1:02:35] on this issue to be the Republican nominee? [1:02:38] No, I'm not. [1:02:39] Because Republicans believe [1:02:41] in less government, not more. [1:02:43] In less involvement with government, [1:02:45] not more in government involvement [1:02:47] in people's lives. [1:02:48] And you know what, Megan? [1:02:49] I trust parents. [1:02:52] And we're out there saying [1:02:53] that we should empower parents [1:02:54] in education. [1:02:55] We should empower parents [1:02:56] to make more decisions [1:02:57] about where their kids go to school. [1:02:59] I agree. [1:02:59] We should empower parents [1:03:01] to be teaching the values [1:03:02] that they believe in in their homes [1:03:04] without the government telling them [1:03:06] what those values should be. [1:03:08] And yet, we want to take [1:03:09] other parental rights away. [1:03:11] I'm sorry. [1:03:12] As a father of four, [1:03:13] I believe there is no one [1:03:15] who loves my children more than me. [1:03:18] There's no one who loves my children [1:03:20] more than my wife. [1:03:22] There's no one who cares more [1:03:23] about their success [1:03:25] and health in life than we do. [1:03:27] Not some government bureaucrat, [1:03:29] not some... [1:03:29] You look at these jokers [1:03:31] down in Congress. [1:03:32] It takes them three weeks [1:03:33] to pick a speaker. [1:03:35] And up until two days ago, [1:03:36] they couldn't promote somebody [1:03:38] in the military in the United States Senate [1:03:40] who earned their new rank. [1:03:42] And we're going to put [1:03:43] my children's health [1:03:45] and my decisions in their hands [1:03:47] for them to make those decisions, [1:03:49] for Joe Biden to make those decisions, [1:03:51] for me and for my wife. [1:03:54] Let me just say this. [1:03:55] This is not something I favor. [1:03:57] I think it's a very, [1:03:58] very dangerous thing to do. [1:04:01] But that's my opinion [1:04:02] as a parent, Megan. [1:04:03] And I get to make the decisions [1:04:05] about my children, [1:04:06] not anybody else. [1:04:07] And every parent out there [1:04:08] who's watching tonight, [1:04:10] you start to turn over [1:04:11] just a little bit [1:04:12] of this authority. [1:04:13] The authority they're going [1:04:13] to take from you next, [1:04:14] you're not going to like. [1:04:16] I'll stand up for parents [1:04:17] each and every time. [1:04:18] So there are laws [1:04:19] banning smoking or drinking [1:04:21] by a certain name. [1:04:22] You do not have the right. [1:04:22] Hold on. [1:04:22] Let me tell you something. [1:04:24] I have a follow-up question for him [1:04:26] and you guys are going [1:04:27] to get to weigh in. [1:04:27] Okay? [1:04:28] Here's my follow-up question. [1:04:29] You talk about parental rights. [1:04:30] Let's talk about them. [1:04:31] When you were governor in 2017, [1:04:33] you signed a law [1:04:34] that required new guidelines [1:04:35] for schools dealing [1:04:36] with transgender students. [1:04:38] Those guidelines required schools [1:04:40] to accept a child's [1:04:42] preferred gender identity [1:04:43] even if the minor's parents [1:04:45] objected. [1:04:46] And it said that there is [1:04:47] no duty for schools [1:04:48] to notify parents [1:04:50] if their son or daughter [1:04:51] changes their gender identity. [1:04:53] Allowing this serious issue [1:04:54] to remain a secret [1:04:55] between the school [1:04:57] and a child. [1:04:58] How is any of that [1:04:59] pro-parental rights? [1:05:00] By the way, [1:05:00] that's simply not true. [1:05:01] You're doing what you [1:05:02] accused me of, Chris. [1:05:02] It's absolutely true. [1:05:03] That's simply not true. [1:05:05] That's simply not true. [1:05:06] That's simply not true. [1:05:06] That law was put into effect [1:05:07] in 2018 and regulated in 2018 [1:05:10] before I, after I was out of office, Megan. [1:05:12] You mandated the guidelines. [1:05:13] No, we did not, Megan. [1:05:15] We did not issue those guidelines [1:05:16] and you're wrong about that. [1:05:18] Simply wrong. [1:05:19] I have stood up [1:05:20] each and every time. [1:05:21] So I think if this is one issue [1:05:22] that's disqualifying, [1:05:23] it's this one. [1:05:24] I stood up every single time [1:05:26] for parents to be able [1:05:28] to make the decisions [1:05:29] for their minor children. [1:05:31] But parents... [1:05:31] Every single time [1:05:32] parents should make those decisions. [1:05:34] And by the way, [1:05:35] you know what? [1:05:35] Every once in a while, [1:05:37] parents are going to make decisions [1:05:38] that we disagree with. [1:05:40] But the minute you start [1:05:42] to take those rights [1:05:43] away from parents, [1:05:44] you don't know [1:05:45] that slippery slope, [1:05:47] what rights are going [1:05:47] to be taken away next [1:05:48] and what's going to be... [1:05:49] You do not have, as a parent, [1:05:51] you do not have the right [1:05:52] to abuse your kids. [1:05:54] This is cutting off their genitals. [1:05:56] This is mutilating these minors. [1:05:59] These are irreversible procedures. [1:06:01] And this is something [1:06:02] that other countries in Europe, [1:06:03] like Sweden, [1:06:04] once they started doing it, [1:06:05] they saw it did incalculable damage. [1:06:07] They've shut it down. [1:06:08] I signed legislation in Florida [1:06:10] banning the mutilation of minors [1:06:13] because it is wrong. [1:06:14] We cannot allow this [1:06:15] to happen in this country. [1:06:17] And I know Chris disagrees with me. [1:06:19] And I think he has an honest position. [1:06:21] Nikki disagrees with me. [1:06:22] She opposes the bill [1:06:23] that we did to ban that. [1:06:24] She said the law [1:06:25] shouldn't get involved with it. [1:06:26] You said the law [1:06:27] shouldn't get involved with it. [1:06:28] She also, though, I think, [1:06:30] and this flows from what she did [1:06:31] as governor of South Carolina, [1:06:33] you know, they had a bill [1:06:34] to try to say that men [1:06:35] shouldn't go into girls' bathrooms. [1:06:37] And she killed that bill [1:06:39] and she bragged that she killed that bill. [1:06:41] Even to this day, [1:06:42] she bragged that. [1:06:43] I don't think men [1:06:43] should be going [1:06:44] into little girls' bathrooms. [1:06:45] I think it's wrong. [1:06:46] And I think we have every right [1:06:47] to protect them from that. [1:06:49] I am going to come to you. [1:06:51] I promised him in a second. [1:06:53] So quickly. [1:06:53] I just think the North Star here [1:06:54] is transgenderism [1:06:56] is a mental health disorder. [1:06:57] We don't let you smoke a cigarette [1:06:59] by the age of 18. [1:07:00] We don't let you have [1:07:01] an addictive drink of alcohol [1:07:02] by the age of 21. [1:07:04] And I just challenged Ron DeSantis [1:07:05] to go one step further [1:07:06] and support what I think [1:07:07] is clearly within [1:07:08] the authority to do [1:07:09] using federal funds [1:07:10] just like Reagan did in 84 [1:07:12] for the Highway Act [1:07:14] that said the minimum [1:07:15] drinking age needs to be 21. [1:07:17] We can do the same thing [1:07:18] when it comes to banning [1:07:19] genital mutilation [1:07:20] or chemical castration. [1:07:22] I know Ron's been [1:07:22] unclear about that [1:07:23] on the federal level. [1:07:24] I'm crystal clear. [1:07:25] That's where I stand. [1:07:27] And that's a mental health disorder. [1:07:28] That's where we need to be at. [1:07:29] Go ahead. [1:07:29] So first of all, [1:07:33] Ron has continued to lie [1:07:35] because he's losing. [1:07:36] No, it's not a lie. [1:07:37] You are lying. [1:07:38] You said it on tape. [1:07:39] So first of all, [1:07:40] I will say that when I was governor, [1:07:44] 10 years ago [1:07:44] when the bathroom situation came up, [1:07:47] we had maybe a handful of kids [1:07:49] that were dealing with an issue. [1:07:52] And I said, [1:07:53] we don't need to bring government [1:07:54] into this, [1:07:55] but boys go into boys' bathrooms, [1:07:57] girls go into girls' bathrooms. [1:07:59] And if anyone else has an issue, [1:08:02] they use a private bathroom. [1:08:04] Now, 10 years later, [1:08:05] we see that this issue has exploded. [1:08:07] And this shows how hypocritical [1:08:09] Ron continues to be. [1:08:10] When he was running for governor [1:08:12] and they asked him about that, [1:08:14] he said he didn't think bathroom bills [1:08:16] were a good use of his time. [1:08:18] You can go look that up. [1:08:19] I signed a bathroom bill in Florida, [1:08:21] so that's obviously not true. [1:08:25] The idea that you would say [1:08:29] that I was against that. [1:08:31] No, you didn't. [1:08:31] You killed it. [1:08:32] I signed it. [1:08:33] I stood up for little girls. [1:08:34] You didn't do it. [1:08:35] And there was this going on. [1:08:36] I was actually just in South Carolina. [1:08:38] Some of the legislators told me at the time [1:08:40] there were boys going into the girls. [1:08:42] That's the whole reason why they did it. [1:08:44] No, no, no, no. [1:08:44] And so they say when she does that explanation [1:08:46] that that doesn't hold water. [1:08:47] And this is the upstate of South Carolina. [1:08:48] Ron. [1:08:49] I signed the bill. [1:08:50] I protected the girls. [1:08:51] Do you know South Carolinians? [1:08:52] She did not do it. [1:08:52] I know that. [1:08:53] Do you know South Carolinians? [1:08:54] Because South Carolinians... [1:08:55] No, no, no. [1:08:56] You are not going to talk about my state like that [1:08:59] because I will tell you for a fact, [1:09:01] South Carolinians never allowed that to happen. [1:09:04] And we did not have that issue at the time. [1:09:06] What I have always said is boys going to a boys' bathroom, [1:09:10] girls going to a girls' bathroom. [1:09:11] But hold on one second. [1:09:12] I also say that biological boys shouldn't be playing [1:09:16] in girls' sports. [1:09:17] And I will do everything I can to stop that [1:09:19] because it's the women's issue of our time. [1:09:21] And I sign legislation to protect women's sports. [1:09:24] I actually get this stuff done. [1:09:25] We're going to move on from this. [1:09:25] You got it. [1:09:26] Thank you, guys. [1:09:27] We're going to move on. [1:09:28] Mr. Ramaswamy, when discussing your Hindu faith in September, [1:09:32] you seemed to take a shot at Ambassador Haley, [1:09:35] who is also Indian-American [1:09:36] and who converted to Christianity as an adult. [1:09:39] You said, an easy thing for me to do, [1:09:41] being a politician, is to shorten my name, [1:09:44] profess to be a Christian, and then run. [1:09:47] Make Vivek Vicky or whatever, end quote. [1:09:50] Are you questioning Nikki Haley's Christian convictions? [1:09:53] And why has your campaign made a point [1:09:55] of referring to Ambassador Haley [1:09:56] by her given first name, Nimirata, [1:09:59] even though she's gone by Nikki for her whole life? [1:10:02] Well, my whole deal is if Nikki Haley, [1:10:03] of all people, should know how to pronounce my name correctly, [1:10:06] the rest of the news media can learn it. [1:10:07] My deal is I'll call her Nikki [1:10:09] when she can say my own name right. [1:10:10] That's our little fun side bet there. [1:10:12] Here's what I will say is deeper. [1:10:13] I don't question her faith, [1:10:14] but I question her authenticity. [1:10:16] And I think that's deeper here. [1:10:17] We were just talking about the trans issue. [1:10:19] This is a symptom of a deeper cancer in American life, [1:10:23] identity politics. [1:10:25] This new religion that says your race, [1:10:27] your gender, and your sexuality are your identity. [1:10:29] It is anti-American. [1:10:31] It is meritocratic. [1:10:32] It's anti-meritocratic, [1:10:33] and it is dividing this country to a breaking point. [1:10:36] And I've spoken about this to the left. [1:10:37] My books are all about this. [1:10:39] I've preached this to the left, [1:10:40] but it's even worse when Republicans [1:10:42] try to play the same game. [1:10:44] We're talking about that trans issue. [1:10:46] And Nikki Haley's campaign launch video [1:10:48] sounded like a woke Dylan Mulvaney Bud Light ad [1:10:51] talking about how she would kick in heels. [1:10:54] At the first debate, [1:10:55] she said that only a woman can get this job done. [1:10:57] That's what she said. [1:10:59] After the third debate, [1:11:00] when I criticized Ronna McDaniel [1:11:01] after five failed years of leadership of this party [1:11:03] and criticized Nikki for her corrupt foreign dealings [1:11:06] as a military contractor, [1:11:08] she said that I have a woman problem. [1:11:10] Nikki, I don't have a woman problem. [1:11:12] You have a corruption problem. [1:11:15] And I think that that's what people need to know. [1:11:17] Nikki is corrupt. [1:11:19] This is a woman who will send your kids to die [1:11:21] so she can buy a bigger house. [1:11:24] This is the problem. [1:11:25] Using identity politics more effectively than Kamala Harris [1:11:28] is a form of intellectual fraud. [1:11:31] And it actually needs to end. [1:11:33] There's our donor puppet masters [1:11:34] wielding their puppet right up here tonight. [1:11:37] This is how this game is played. [1:11:38] The puppet masters put up their puppet, [1:11:40] and I reject the use of identity politics in this party. [1:11:43] It has been a cancer coming from the left, [1:11:45] and I'm sick and tired of the double standards [1:11:47] the people of this country are too. [1:11:48] Having two X chromosomes does not immunize you from criticism. [1:11:51] Thank you, sir. [1:11:52] Thank you. [1:11:52] Governor Haley, would you like to respond? [1:11:55] No. [1:11:56] It's not worth my time to respond to him. [1:11:58] You have been using identity politics at every step. [1:12:01] She knows it's true, [1:12:02] and that's why she's actually... [1:12:03] Okay, sir, we're not going to give you a response [1:12:05] to the question that was to you. [1:12:07] Okay, we've got to move on to this. [1:12:10] Now by arrangement with the Republican National Committee, [1:12:13] we've got two questions for you [1:12:14] about the Justice Department and our election system. [1:12:17] Here's Tom Fitton with Judicial Watch. [1:12:19] Governor Christie, this one's for you. [1:12:25] President Trump and many of his supporters [1:12:27] claim federal law enforcement agencies [1:12:29] have abused his civil rights for the last eight years [1:12:33] by, among other things, spying on him [1:12:35] and now prosecuting him [1:12:37] while having treated Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden with kid gloves. [1:12:41] A recent Gallup poll shows that Americans think [1:12:44] more highly of the U.S. Postal Service [1:12:46] than they do the FBI or Justice Department. [1:12:50] What would you do as president [1:12:51] to restore the faith of the American people in these agencies? [1:12:57] Well, first off, I'm the only person on this stage [1:12:59] who's actually done a job in the Department of Justice. [1:13:02] I was the U.S. attorney in New Jersey [1:13:04] and the fifth largest office in this country [1:13:06] appointed by President Bush on September 10th, 2001. [1:13:11] And it was an extraordinary time in this country [1:13:13] to be on the front lines of fighting [1:13:15] the greatest attack against our country since Pearl Harbor. [1:13:20] And I'm proud of the seven years I spent [1:13:22] in the Justice Department. [1:13:24] And one of the reasons I am [1:13:25] is because I had an attorney general [1:13:27] when I came in named John Ashcroft. [1:13:29] And John Ashcroft stood up [1:13:31] and told each and every one of us our job [1:13:34] was to do one thing, [1:13:35] to make sure justice was done every day, [1:13:38] regardless of partisanship, [1:13:40] regardless of gender or race [1:13:42] or any other consideration. [1:13:45] And that's what we did for seven years. [1:13:46] And at a time when our country [1:13:48] was at its greatest moment of danger [1:13:50] in the last 40 years, [1:13:53] we did exactly that. [1:13:54] And there was not another domestic terrorist attack [1:13:56] on this soil. [1:13:57] So what I would do as president, [1:13:59] having had that experience, [1:14:00] and the only one who's had that experience, [1:14:03] is to pick an attorney general [1:14:05] who will absolutely do the same thing [1:14:08] that John Ashcroft did. [1:14:09] To pick U.S. attorneys [1:14:10] who will only care about making sure [1:14:13] that justice is done [1:14:14] without regard to any other consideration, [1:14:17] but the facts that are presented [1:14:19] and whether someone is guilty [1:14:21] beyond a reasonable doubt [1:14:22] and the government can prove it. [1:14:23] We have had attorneys general [1:14:26] like Eric Holder [1:14:27] and Loretta Lynch [1:14:29] and Jeff Sessions [1:14:30] and now our current attorney general [1:14:34] who have not met that standard. [1:14:37] And the only way you restore [1:14:38] people's faith in the justice system [1:14:40] is to put someone like that [1:14:41] in charge of the Justice Department [1:14:43] and then as president [1:14:44] to get the hell out of the way [1:14:47] on anything that involves [1:14:49] criminal investigations. [1:14:50] If a president's involved [1:14:51] in trying to do something [1:14:53] and put their thumb on the scale, [1:14:54] as Donald Trump says he will do, [1:14:56] that makes people much less likely [1:14:59] to believe our justice system [1:15:00] can be fair. [1:15:00] Thank you. [1:15:01] Thank you. [1:15:01] Governor DeSantis, [1:15:02] next one's for you. [1:15:03] Back to Tom Fitton. [1:15:05] Many Republicans are concerned [1:15:06] about the legitimacy of elections. [1:15:09] A federal judge just ruled [1:15:10] that Pennsylvania must count [1:15:12] undated mail-in ballots [1:15:14] and unlike Alabama, [1:15:15] many states still don't require [1:15:17] any identification to vote. [1:15:19] What should states do now [1:15:21] to increase election integrity [1:15:22] and voter confidence [1:15:24] for the 2024 election? [1:15:27] Well, Tom, thanks for the question. [1:15:28] Thanks for you guys [1:15:29] doing Judicial Watch. [1:15:30] It's really, really important. [1:15:31] There's a lot of corruption [1:15:32] in this government. [1:15:33] You guys are doing a great job. [1:15:35] What you should do [1:15:35] for election integrity [1:15:36] is do what we did in Florida. [1:15:38] 20 years ago, [1:15:39] Florida and elections was a joke. [1:15:41] Everybody would laugh at it. [1:15:42] I came in, [1:15:43] I removed a couple supervisors [1:15:45] from South Florida. [1:15:46] We require voter ID universal, [1:15:49] no Zuckerbucks, [1:15:51] no mass mail balloting [1:15:53] and no ballot harvesting. [1:15:55] We even have an agency [1:15:56] that prosecutes people [1:15:58] for violating election laws. [1:16:00] The result of that [1:16:00] in both 2020 and 2022, [1:16:02] we counted millions and millions [1:16:04] of votes on election night, [1:16:06] produced the results. [1:16:07] It was transparent [1:16:08] and everybody was happening. [1:16:09] That is not happening [1:16:10] throughout this country. [1:16:11] But let me tell you this [1:16:12] as the nominee. [1:16:12] I think it's important. [1:16:13] Not every state's where [1:16:14] we need it to be. [1:16:15] There is ballot harvesting [1:16:16] in places like Nevada, [1:16:18] all these places. [1:16:18] I am not going to fight [1:16:19] with one hand tied behind my back. [1:16:21] I'm going to have organizations [1:16:22] in all the swing states. [1:16:24] If they're harvesting, [1:16:25] we're harvesting. [1:16:26] If they're Zuckerbucks, [1:16:27] we're Zuckerbucks. [1:16:28] We are going to exploit [1:16:30] whatever the rules are. [1:16:31] I favor changing the rules [1:16:32] to be like Florida [1:16:33] and some of the other states [1:16:34] that have done a good job. [1:16:35] But until then, [1:16:35] we have to do that. [1:16:36] And then just on [1:16:37] the Justice Department [1:16:38] and FBI. [1:16:39] I mean, I remember being, [1:16:40] you know, in Iraq [1:16:41] working with FBI [1:16:42] on the ground [1:16:43] and being, [1:16:43] and then I was [1:16:44] a special assistant. [1:16:45] I used to have [1:16:46] such a high regard [1:16:47] for these agencies. [1:16:48] What they did [1:16:49] to Donald Trump [1:16:50] with the Russia collusion [1:16:51] was one of the biggest [1:16:52] abuses of power [1:16:53] in the history [1:16:54] of our country. [1:16:55] These agencies [1:16:56] need to be cleaned out. [1:16:58] With me, [1:16:59] you'll have a new [1:16:59] FBI director on day one. [1:17:01] We're going to clear out [1:17:02] the DOJ, the IRS, [1:17:04] all these places. [1:17:05] Buckle your seatbelts. [1:17:06] There's going to be [1:17:07] a new sheriff in town. [1:17:08] Thank you. [1:17:08] All right. [1:17:08] We've got to do [1:17:09] a quick break. [1:17:09] We're going to come back [1:17:10] in one minute. [1:17:11] China, up next. [1:17:11] To the final GOP [1:17:22] presidential primary [1:17:24] debate of 2023, [1:17:26] we're going to talk [1:17:27] about our college campuses. [1:17:29] Starting with you, [1:17:30] Ambassador Haley, [1:17:31] House Republicans [1:17:32] yesterday hauled [1:17:33] elite university presidents [1:17:35] up to Capitol Hill [1:17:36] to answer for the displays [1:17:37] of anti-Semitism [1:17:38] on college campuses. [1:17:40] These leaders, [1:17:41] including the president [1:17:42] of Harvard, [1:17:43] were asked whether calling [1:17:44] for the genocide [1:17:46] of the Jews [1:17:47] would violate school policies [1:17:48] against harassment [1:17:49] and intimidation. [1:17:51] All of them said [1:17:52] it would depend [1:17:53] on the context, [1:17:54] including whether [1:17:55] that speech veers [1:17:56] into conduct. [1:17:57] How do you think [1:17:59] these schools [1:17:59] and the rest of society [1:18:01] should balance [1:18:01] the imperative [1:18:02] of free speech [1:18:03] against the need [1:18:04] to prevent radical activists [1:18:05] from harassing [1:18:06] and intimidating others? [1:18:08] It was disgusting [1:18:09] to see what happened. [1:18:11] You know, [1:18:11] if this had been [1:18:12] the KKK [1:18:13] that was doing protests [1:18:14] on those campuses, [1:18:15] every one of those [1:18:16] college presidents [1:18:17] would have been up in arms. [1:18:18] This is just as bad. [1:18:21] The idea that they would go [1:18:22] and allow that kind [1:18:23] of pro-Hamas protest [1:18:25] or agree with the genocide [1:18:26] of Jews [1:18:27] and try and say [1:18:28] that they needed context [1:18:29] on that, [1:18:30] there is no context to that. [1:18:31] This is what we need [1:18:32] to do to deal with it. [1:18:33] First of all, [1:18:34] we have got to get [1:18:35] foreign money [1:18:36] out of our universities. [1:18:38] You've got Arab money, [1:18:39] you've got Chinese money, [1:18:40] you've got others. [1:18:41] We need to go [1:18:41] to every university [1:18:42] and say you either [1:18:43] take foreign money [1:18:44] or you take American money, [1:18:45] but the days of taking [1:18:46] both are over. [1:18:46] The second thing [1:18:48] we need to do, [1:18:48] the second thing [1:18:51] we need to do [1:18:51] is we need, [1:18:52] Biden made a mistake [1:18:53] not including anti-Zionism [1:18:55] in the definition [1:18:56] of anti-Semitism. [1:18:57] If you don't think [1:18:58] that Israel has a right [1:19:00] to exist, [1:19:00] that is anti-Semitic. [1:19:02] We will change [1:19:02] the definition [1:19:03] so that every government, [1:19:05] every school [1:19:05] has to acknowledge [1:19:06] the definition [1:19:07] for what it is. [1:19:08] The third thing is [1:19:09] we really do need [1:19:10] to ban TikTok [1:19:11] once and for all. [1:19:12] And let me tell you why. [1:19:14] For every 30 minutes [1:19:15] that someone watches TikTok [1:19:18] every day, [1:19:20] they become 17% [1:19:22] more anti-Semitic, [1:19:23] more pro-Hamas [1:19:24] based on doing that. [1:19:26] We now know [1:19:27] that 50% of adults, [1:19:29] 18 to 25, [1:19:31] think that Hamas [1:19:32] was warranted [1:19:33] in what they did [1:19:34] with Israel. [1:19:35] That's a problem. [1:19:36] When campuses [1:19:36] also don't go [1:19:38] and protect [1:19:38] when they have these rallies [1:19:39] and you've got students [1:19:40] that are scared, [1:19:41] we need to go [1:19:42] to these universities [1:19:43] and say if you're not [1:19:43] going to protect [1:19:44] these students, [1:19:45] if you're not going [1:19:45] to acknowledge anti-Semitism, [1:19:47] we'll take your tax-exempt [1:19:48] status away. [1:19:49] That'll fix it [1:19:50] and that'll take care [1:19:51] of it for good. [1:19:53] Staying with you, [1:19:54] Ambassador Haley. [1:19:56] On October 6th, [1:19:57] the Israeli government [1:19:58] thought it had [1:19:59] a clear-eyed view [1:19:59] of the threat [1:20:00] from Hamas. [1:20:01] In fact, [1:20:02] according to [1:20:02] The New York Times, [1:20:03] it even had Hamas's [1:20:04] attack plan [1:20:05] and dismissed it [1:20:06] as an aspiration. [1:20:08] The Israelis were wrong. [1:20:10] In our country, [1:20:11] the FBI director [1:20:12] told the Senate panel [1:20:13] just yesterday [1:20:14] that he sees, [1:20:15] quote, [1:20:16] blinking red lights [1:20:17] everywhere [1:20:17] and that the threat level [1:20:19] has, quote, [1:20:20] gone to a whole nother level [1:20:21] since October 7th. [1:20:23] Which of the threats [1:20:24] facing our country [1:20:25] do you worry [1:20:26] could blindside us? [1:20:27] What worries me [1:20:29] and what keeps me up [1:20:30] at night [1:20:30] is what happens [1:20:31] between now [1:20:32] and election day [1:20:33] while Joe Biden's [1:20:33] in office. [1:20:34] That's what worries me [1:20:35] more than anything else. [1:20:36] But I'll tell you [1:20:38] that America right now [1:20:40] is acting like [1:20:41] it's September 10th. [1:20:42] We better remember [1:20:44] what September 12th felt like [1:20:45] because it only takes one. [1:20:47] And whether you're looking [1:20:48] at open borders [1:20:49] that are allowing people [1:20:50] to come in, [1:20:51] Iran knows the easiest way [1:20:52] to get to America [1:20:53] is through the southern border. [1:20:54] And we're not doing [1:20:55] anything to stop it. [1:20:57] We've got to get [1:20:58] the foreign infiltration [1:20:59] out of our country. [1:21:00] Whether it's in our schools, [1:21:01] whether it's on our social media, [1:21:03] whether it's we need [1:21:04] to stop all foreign lobbying [1:21:05] that's happening [1:21:06] to members of Congress, [1:21:07] and we need to start [1:21:08] securing America again. [1:21:10] Until we do that, [1:21:11] we are going to be at threats. [1:21:13] We've got to look at Iran. [1:21:14] China and Russia [1:21:15] want to destroy the West. [1:21:16] We have to start [1:21:17] acting strong again. [1:21:19] We've got to start [1:21:19] protecting Americans. [1:21:21] Right now, [1:21:21] Americans don't feel protected [1:21:22] and we're not doing [1:21:24] anything to strengthen it. [1:21:25] So Joe Biden continues [1:21:26] to be a problem. [1:21:27] That'll change on election day. [1:21:28] Governor DeSantis, [1:21:31] if China invades Taiwan, [1:21:35] would you send American troops [1:21:36] as President Biden [1:21:37] has said he would do? [1:21:38] We will be able [1:21:39] to deter that from happening. [1:21:41] I think that's the important thing. [1:21:42] We need a strategy of denial [1:21:44] so that we're deterring [1:21:46] Xi's ambitions. [1:21:47] What if it doesn't work? [1:21:48] It's going to work. [1:21:49] Taiwan's an ally. [1:21:50] We have longstanding [1:21:51] American policy [1:21:52] and you know how that's done [1:21:55] and we will follow that. [1:21:56] But here's the thing. [1:21:58] Taiwan is important [1:21:59] not just because of semiconductors. [1:22:01] It's important because [1:22:01] if China is able to break [1:22:03] out of this first island chain, [1:22:04] they're going to be able [1:22:05] to dominate commerce [1:22:06] in the entire Indo-Pacific. [1:22:07] They will use that [1:22:09] to export authoritarianism [1:22:11] all around the world, [1:22:13] including here [1:22:13] in the United States. [1:22:14] You look at some of these guys, [1:22:15] actually some of them [1:22:16] that are supporting [1:22:16] Nikki on Wall Street, [1:22:17] they grovel to China. [1:22:20] Anytime something happens, [1:22:21] they got to go do that. [1:22:22] So they already exert [1:22:23] a huge amount of authority [1:22:24] over this country. [1:22:25] It will get a lot worse. [1:22:27] So deterring China's ambitions [1:22:29] is the number one [1:22:30] national security task [1:22:32] that I will do as president [1:22:33] and we will succeed. [1:22:34] The 21st century [1:22:35] needs to be an American century. [1:22:38] We cannot let it be [1:22:39] a Chinese century. [1:22:40] Mr. Ramaswamy, [1:22:41] I'm coming to you next. [1:22:42] I'll be clear on the same issue. [1:22:43] Okay, I'm coming to you next [1:22:44] on Taiwan. [1:22:45] You said, [1:22:46] if you want to stop [1:22:47] Qi from invading Taiwan, [1:22:49] quote, [1:22:49] let's open a branch [1:22:50] of the NRA in Taiwan [1:22:52] and put an AR-15 [1:22:53] in the hands of every family [1:22:55] and train them how to use it. [1:22:57] That will give Qi [1:22:58] a taste of American exceptionalism, [1:23:00] end quote. [1:23:01] The national police in Taiwan [1:23:03] announced a zero gun policy [1:23:05] last year. [1:23:06] Is this a serious policy proposal? [1:23:09] And if it isn't, [1:23:10] why do you keep repeating it? [1:23:12] Well, it's part of a broader [1:23:13] deterrence strategy. [1:23:14] And so I think [1:23:14] I'm going to respectfully [1:23:15] disagree with Ron here. [1:23:17] I think the next U.S. [1:23:17] president needs to be [1:23:18] crystal clear that at least [1:23:19] for the foreseeable future, [1:23:21] the U.S. will absolutely [1:23:22] defend Taiwan. [1:23:24] And it is with that clarity [1:23:25] that we actually achieve [1:23:26] deterrence. [1:23:27] But I have a broader [1:23:27] strategy than that. [1:23:28] We need to get onside [1:23:29] in our relationship with India. [1:23:30] Take it to the next level. [1:23:32] India has to be able [1:23:32] to block the Andaman Sea, [1:23:34] which is where China gets [1:23:35] most of its Middle Eastern [1:23:36] oil supplies. [1:23:38] That's critical. [1:23:39] I also do believe [1:23:39] the Second Amendment [1:23:40] is a critical way [1:23:41] of preventing foreign autocrats [1:23:43] from being able to... [1:23:44] It's worked in America. [1:23:45] Why wouldn't it work in Taiwan? [1:23:47] So it is part of [1:23:47] a broader strategy. [1:23:48] But I do think [1:23:49] that we need to be specific [1:23:50] about our deterrence strategy [1:23:52] or else Xi Jinping [1:23:53] is just encroaching by the day. [1:23:55] And the reason why [1:23:56] we're not doing it for China, [1:23:57] I want to be crystal clear, [1:23:58] is because we're scared. [1:23:59] Why are we scared? [1:24:01] Because we depend on them [1:24:02] for our modern way of life. [1:24:04] Why do we depend on them [1:24:05] for our modern way of life? [1:24:07] It's because Nikki Haley's [1:24:07] latest friends like Larry Fink [1:24:09] have created commingled economies [1:24:11] with BlackRock telling Exxon [1:24:13] and Chevron they can't drill here [1:24:14] while being a shareholder [1:24:15] of PetroChina, [1:24:16] not applying those same [1:24:18] constraints in China. [1:24:19] So it is our economic dependence [1:24:21] on China that makes us scared. [1:24:22] If that were a Russian spy balloon, [1:24:24] we'd have shot it down [1:24:25] in an instant. [1:24:25] If that were a Russian spy base [1:24:27] in Cuba, [1:24:27] we'd be actually going hard on them [1:24:30] instead of turning [1:24:31] the other way [1:24:31] as we are with China. [1:24:32] So it comes back down [1:24:34] to that economic dependence. [1:24:36] We cannot depend on them [1:24:36] for our pharmaceuticals, [1:24:38] our semiconductors, [1:24:39] and people have been lied to [1:24:40] for a long time. [1:24:42] Our own military, [1:24:43] the F-35 jets that we make [1:24:44] in this country, [1:24:45] depend on China, [1:24:46] and it's going to take an outsider [1:24:47] to fix that broken establishment. [1:24:49] Thank you, Mr. Ramaswamy. [1:24:50] Ambassador Haley, [1:24:51] would you like to respond? [1:24:51] I mean, when it comes to China [1:24:56] and Taiwan, [1:24:56] the one way that we keep China [1:24:58] from going into Taiwan [1:24:59] is, one, make sure that we win [1:25:01] in Ukraine, [1:25:02] that we protect our friends, [1:25:04] but also let China know [1:25:05] that they'll be held to pay [1:25:06] if they go into Taiwan. [1:25:08] They need to know [1:25:09] that there is going to be a force [1:25:11] that's going to go against them. [1:25:12] And they need to know [1:25:13] it's not just going to be [1:25:14] the United States. [1:25:15] That is why we need to build [1:25:16] our partnerships with India, [1:25:18] with South Korea, [1:25:19] with Japan, [1:25:20] with the Philippines, [1:25:20] with Australia. [1:25:21] We need to start pulling [1:25:22] that alliance together. [1:25:24] And the first way we do that [1:25:25] is we need to make sure [1:25:27] that on day one, [1:25:28] we look at the fact [1:25:29] whatever, [1:25:30] if China pulled the rug out [1:25:31] from under us tomorrow, [1:25:33] would we be ready? [1:25:34] Think about what happened [1:25:35] during COVID. [1:25:36] Everybody told you to wear a mask. [1:25:38] They were made in China. [1:25:39] Everybody told you [1:25:40] to take a COVID test. [1:25:41] They were made in China. [1:25:42] Everybody went, [1:25:43] I mean, everything that happened, [1:25:45] if you go to the drugstore, [1:25:46] all those medicines [1:25:47] are made in China. [1:25:48] We have to make sure [1:25:50] that we are not relying [1:25:51] on China for anything [1:25:52] related to our national security, [1:25:54] which means let's start focusing [1:25:56] on doing deals [1:25:57] with our friends now. [1:25:58] Thank you, Ambassador. [1:25:59] Governor Christie, [1:26:00] I'd like you to weigh in on that. [1:26:01] And do you think [1:26:02] arming every family in Taiwan [1:26:04] with an AR-15 [1:26:04] is a plausible policy? [1:26:06] You know, [1:26:07] I don't think [1:26:08] we have constitutional authority [1:26:10] over Taiwan [1:26:11] to give them a Second Amendment. [1:26:13] I think they can only [1:26:14] do that for themselves. [1:26:16] But look, [1:26:16] I want to be really clear. [1:26:18] Once again, [1:26:19] I don't want to play the role [1:26:20] of actually answering [1:26:21] your question, [1:26:22] which is if China [1:26:24] went after Taiwan, [1:26:25] you're absolutely right. [1:26:26] I would, as president, [1:26:28] have us go militarily [1:26:29] and defend them. [1:26:31] Secondly, [1:26:31] I'm not afraid, [1:26:33] based upon those economic [1:26:34] relationships, [1:26:35] to do that, [1:26:36] because these economic [1:26:36] relationships mean nothing. [1:26:38] Nothing. [1:26:39] If what's going to happen [1:26:40] is that China [1:26:40] is going to come [1:26:41] and act in that region [1:26:43] of the world [1:26:43] however they see fit. [1:26:45] It's not right. [1:26:46] And I'll say this about [1:26:47] what, you know, [1:26:49] I heard from Nikki earlier. [1:26:52] She said that Donald Trump [1:26:53] was good on trade. [1:26:56] He wasn't. [1:26:58] And the proof [1:26:58] that he wasn't good [1:26:59] on trade with China [1:27:00] is that all he did [1:27:01] was impose tariffs, [1:27:02] which raised the prices [1:27:03] for every American. [1:27:04] You want to know [1:27:05] what has contributed [1:27:06] to inflation in this country? [1:27:07] Yes, [1:27:08] it's more government spending. [1:27:09] Yes, [1:27:10] it's the fact [1:27:10] that we're printing [1:27:11] too much money. [1:27:12] Absolutely. [1:27:13] But it is also [1:27:14] the increase in prices [1:27:15] that were driven [1:27:15] by Donald Trump's tariffs. [1:27:17] And one last thing, [1:27:18] you can't say [1:27:20] he was good on trade [1:27:21] because he didn't trade, [1:27:22] he didn't change [1:27:22] one Chinese policy [1:27:24] in the process. [1:27:25] He failed on it. [1:27:27] Thank you, [1:27:27] Governor Christie. [1:27:28] Governor DeSantis, [1:27:29] switching subjects here. [1:27:31] For 15 years, [1:27:32] Republicans have been burned [1:27:34] by politicians' promises [1:27:35] to repeal Obamacare. [1:27:37] Trump repeatedly promised [1:27:39] to replace it with, [1:27:40] quote, [1:27:40] something terrific, [1:27:41] but failed to propose anything. [1:27:43] You're now promising [1:27:44] something better, [1:27:46] but Florida [1:27:47] has more uninsured people [1:27:49] than almost any other state. [1:27:51] Why should Americans [1:27:52] trust you [1:27:53] more than any other Republicans [1:27:55] who've disappointed them [1:27:56] on this issue? [1:27:57] Well, [1:27:57] I think we have millions [1:27:58] of Americans [1:27:59] who do not have access [1:28:01] to affordable health care. [1:28:03] And it's not just getting [1:28:04] some type of card [1:28:05] and Medicaid [1:28:06] because a lot of times [1:28:07] they don't even get access [1:28:08] to doctors. [1:28:09] Do you actually get access [1:28:10] to care? [1:28:10] The other thing is [1:28:11] we have millions [1:28:12] and millions of people [1:28:12] who don't have access [1:28:13] to good doctors [1:28:14] and good hospitals. [1:28:16] Florida did not expand Obamacare. [1:28:19] I think the states [1:28:19] that did that [1:28:20] I think are struggling [1:28:21] financially. [1:28:22] So that, yes, [1:28:23] we declined to do that [1:28:24] and I don't think [1:28:24] that that was the right policy [1:28:26] to do. [1:28:26] But we are going to go [1:28:27] after the cost. [1:28:29] You're paying [1:28:29] too much for everything. [1:28:31] We've actually addressed [1:28:32] this in Florida [1:28:32] in some ways, [1:28:33] but you need [1:28:33] price transparency. [1:28:35] You need to hold [1:28:36] the pharmaceuticals [1:28:37] accountable. [1:28:37] You need to hold [1:28:38] big insurance [1:28:39] and big government [1:28:39] accountable. [1:28:40] And we're going [1:28:41] to get that done. [1:28:41] I think it's very, [1:28:42] very important economically. [1:28:43] I think it's very, [1:28:44] very important [1:28:45] for the country [1:28:45] that we get that done. [1:28:46] Go ahead. [1:28:47] Yeah, so I actually [1:28:48] wanted to, [1:28:48] this is a very personal [1:28:49] issue to our family. [1:28:50] I wanted to take [1:28:51] actually a minute [1:28:52] to recognize my wife [1:28:53] who's here today. [1:28:55] Badass surgeon. [1:28:56] She did a bunch [1:28:57] of cases with cancer [1:28:58] survivors earlier today. [1:28:59] Flew here to be tonight. [1:29:01] We'll be back [1:29:01] at 7 a.m. [1:29:02] in Columbus, Ohio [1:29:03] tomorrow taking care [1:29:04] of those patients [1:29:05] in the O.R. [1:29:06] And on the front lines [1:29:07] of people who have [1:29:08] actually not swallowed [1:29:09] for years. [1:29:11] And here's what's [1:29:12] something that's awful [1:29:12] that's happening [1:29:13] in our health care system. [1:29:14] They'll pay for anything [1:29:16] like feeding tubes, [1:29:17] doctors to be pill pushers, [1:29:19] but for the procedures [1:29:20] that can actually [1:29:20] make these patients better, [1:29:22] we have a broken [1:29:23] health care system [1:29:23] that doesn't pay for it. [1:29:25] My wife, Apoorva, [1:29:26] in many cases, [1:29:26] does not get paid [1:29:27] for those procedures. [1:29:28] She does them anyway [1:29:29] because it's the right [1:29:30] thing to do. [1:29:31] But that does not [1:29:32] work system-wide. [1:29:34] So here's the answer. [1:29:35] We don't have a health [1:29:36] care system in this [1:29:38] country. [1:29:38] We have a sick care system. [1:29:41] We need to start [1:29:42] having diverse insurance [1:29:43] options in a competitive [1:29:45] marketplace that cover [1:29:46] actual health, [1:29:48] preventative medicine, [1:29:49] diet, exercise, [1:29:50] lifestyle, and otherwise. [1:29:52] And here's how we deliver [1:29:52] that. [1:29:53] End the antitrust [1:29:54] exemptions for health [1:29:56] insurance companies. [1:29:57] That's where the [1:29:58] competitive marketplace [1:29:59] begins. [1:29:59] That's crony capitalism, [1:30:00] and that's the answer. [1:30:01] Okay. [1:30:01] Through Operation Warp Speed, [1:30:03] the Trump administration [1:30:06] and private industry [1:30:07] developed a COVID vaccine [1:30:08] in record time. [1:30:09] The program protected [1:30:10] the drug companies [1:30:11] from virtually all lawsuits [1:30:13] over vaccine injuries. [1:30:15] The government has a program [1:30:16] to compensate for such harm, [1:30:17] but critics say it is a [1:30:18] black hole of bureaucracy. [1:30:20] 12,000 claims filed, [1:30:21] 10% decided, [1:30:23] only eight payouts so far [1:30:24] in a forum with no right [1:30:26] to counsel, [1:30:26] no hearings, [1:30:27] no appeals. [1:30:28] Mr. Trump says [1:30:29] he's very proud [1:30:29] of Warp Speed. [1:30:31] Should he be? [1:30:32] Well, this question [1:30:33] specifically on liability [1:30:34] goes back to actually Reagan. [1:30:36] And Reagan is a president [1:30:37] who I admire. [1:30:38] Many of us do. [1:30:39] I think that reviving [1:30:41] that spirit is in many ways [1:30:42] going to be good [1:30:42] for this country [1:30:43] in so many ways. [1:30:45] But one of the areas [1:30:45] where he erred [1:30:46] was this special form [1:30:48] of lobbying [1:30:48] to say that one kind [1:30:49] of manufacturer, [1:30:51] a vaccine manufacturer, [1:30:52] cannot be sued [1:30:53] for their product liability. [1:30:54] So I have pledged, [1:30:55] it is part of my [1:30:56] legislative agenda, [1:30:57] we will repeal that, [1:30:58] just like we will repeal [1:30:59] every other form [1:31:00] of crony capitalism. [1:31:02] People who have been harmed [1:31:02] by those vaccines [1:31:03] deserve accountability. [1:31:05] They cannot be forgotten Americans. [1:31:07] And I think one [1:31:08] of the top lessons [1:31:09] we learned [1:31:09] from that COVID pandemic [1:31:10] is that free speech [1:31:12] in this country [1:31:13] is most important [1:31:14] in those alleged times [1:31:16] of emergency. [1:31:17] If we had been allowed [1:31:18] to openly debate [1:31:19] the merits of those vaccines, [1:31:21] they would have been [1:31:21] never mandated [1:31:22] in the way that they were. [1:31:23] And in general, [1:31:24] I don't think [1:31:25] that we should want capitalism [1:31:26] and democracy [1:31:27] to share the same bed anymore. [1:31:28] It's time [1:31:29] for a clean divorce. [1:31:30] Let companies be companies, [1:31:32] but I don't like [1:31:32] the crony capitalism. [1:31:34] This dates back [1:31:34] a long time in both parties. [1:31:36] And I think [1:31:37] that we need to end [1:31:37] the lobbying. [1:31:38] And I personally believe [1:31:39] that if you have been [1:31:40] working in the government, [1:31:41] you should not lobby [1:31:42] that government [1:31:42] for 10 years. [1:31:43] If you have been [1:31:44] a government elected official [1:31:45] doing deals with companies, [1:31:47] be they Boeing [1:31:48] or be they pharmaceutical companies, [1:31:50] you should not join [1:31:51] the board of that company [1:31:52] for 10 years after. [1:31:53] The former chairman [1:31:54] of the FDA, [1:31:55] the leader commissioner [1:31:55] of the FDA, [1:31:56] ended up on the board of Pfizer. [1:31:58] Nikki Haley did deals [1:31:59] with Boeing, [1:31:59] ends up on the board of Boeing. [1:32:00] I don't care [1:32:01] if it's a Republican [1:32:02] or a Democrat. [1:32:03] We need some basic principles [1:32:04] that end the corruption [1:32:06] in government. [1:32:07] That's how we got [1:32:08] the health insurance exemptions. [1:32:09] That's how we got [1:32:10] the pharmaceutical product [1:32:11] liability exemptions. [1:32:12] We end the corruption. [1:32:13] We need, we need a reckoning [1:32:16] for what this government did [1:32:18] during COVID-19. [1:32:19] That includes the MNRA shots. [1:32:21] They put it out. [1:32:22] It was experimental. [1:32:23] People wanted it. [1:32:24] Then the government [1:32:24] started trying to mandate it [1:32:26] to say, [1:32:27] you don't have a right [1:32:27] to put food on your table [1:32:29] if you don't take an MNRA shot [1:32:31] that was under emergency use. [1:32:33] They tried to take nurses away. [1:32:35] Now in Florida, [1:32:36] we blocked that. [1:32:37] We provided protections [1:32:38] for everybody [1:32:38] so that they wouldn't [1:32:39] lose their job. [1:32:40] You also have the FDA [1:32:41] approving an MNRA shot [1:32:43] for six months old babies. [1:32:45] There was no data [1:32:46] to support that. [1:32:48] They're doing it [1:32:48] because big pharma [1:32:50] will make money. [1:32:51] So I'm going to go in there, [1:32:52] CDC, NIH, FDA. [1:32:55] We're going to clean house. [1:32:56] There's going to be a reckoning [1:32:57] because right now, [1:32:58] nobody's been held accountable [1:32:59] for any of the damage. [1:33:01] And they're going to try [1:33:02] to do it again. [1:33:03] When I'm president, [1:33:04] this will never happen [1:33:05] to our country ever again. [1:33:07] Thank you, Governor DeSantis. [1:33:09] We will be in just a few moments [1:33:11] for our closing statements [1:33:13] from our four candidates [1:33:14] at the Republican primary debate. [1:33:17] Welcome back to the News Nation [1:33:32] Republican primary debate [1:33:33] here in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. [1:33:37] We're going to do one final question [1:33:39] before closing statements, [1:33:40] and we want to get you all in. [1:33:42] So we're going to give you 45 seconds [1:33:43] for this last one. [1:33:45] Governor Christie, [1:33:46] we're going to start with you. [1:33:47] Which former president [1:33:49] would you draw inspiration from [1:33:50] for your own presidency and why? [1:33:53] I would draw inspiration [1:33:54] from Ronald Reagan. [1:33:56] In the last year, [1:33:58] I've spent a lot of time [1:33:59] writing a book about President Reagan [1:34:01] that's going to be called [1:34:03] What Would Reagan Do? [1:34:04] That book's going to come out [1:34:05] early in 2024. [1:34:06] And what I learned more [1:34:07] than anything else [1:34:08] was that Ronald Reagan [1:34:09] was a slave to the truth. [1:34:12] Ronald Reagan stood up for the truth, [1:34:14] whether it was popular [1:34:15] or unpopular at the moment. [1:34:17] In 1964, [1:34:18] he stood up against [1:34:19] the John Birch Society [1:34:20] when it was very unpopular [1:34:21] to the party to do it, [1:34:23] but he would not put up [1:34:24] with our party standing [1:34:26] for lies and deceit, [1:34:28] even it gave him political progress. [1:34:30] That's the kind of president [1:34:31] that I will be, [1:34:33] and I would draw that inspiration [1:34:34] from the 40th president [1:34:35] of the United States, [1:34:36] Ronald Reagan. [1:34:37] Ambassador Haley? [1:34:39] Well, I have to say, too, [1:34:41] I think George Washington, [1:34:42] when you look at [1:34:42] the responsibilities he had [1:34:44] of how do you go [1:34:45] and take on [1:34:46] this great American experiment [1:34:48] and make sure [1:34:49] that the people are protected. [1:34:50] And they always knew [1:34:51] that government was intended [1:34:52] to secure the rights [1:34:53] and freedoms of the people. [1:34:54] It was never meant [1:34:55] to be all things to all people. [1:34:57] And then you look [1:34:57] at Abraham Lincoln [1:34:58] and you look at the challenges [1:35:00] and you look at the division [1:35:01] that happened in our country [1:35:03] and the ability to lead [1:35:05] in spite of the loud noises [1:35:06] and say what will bring out [1:35:08] the best in people [1:35:09] to get us to go forward [1:35:11] is always something [1:35:12] that's important. [1:35:13] And I think we need that [1:35:14] now more than ever. [1:35:15] Governor DeSantis. [1:35:19] Reagan, Washington, Lincoln, [1:35:20] excellent. [1:35:22] One of the guys [1:35:22] I'll take inspiration from [1:35:23] is Calvin Coolidge. [1:35:24] Now, people don't talk [1:35:25] about him a lot. [1:35:26] He's one of the few presidents [1:35:28] that got almost everything right. [1:35:30] He understood the proper role [1:35:32] of the federal government [1:35:33] under the Constitution. [1:35:34] We need to restore [1:35:36] the U.S. Constitution [1:35:37] as the centerpiece [1:35:38] of our national life. [1:35:39] And that requires a president [1:35:41] who understands [1:35:42] the original understanding [1:35:43] of the Constitution, [1:35:44] who has a good sense [1:35:45] of the Bill of Rights [1:35:46] and who knows [1:35:47] how we've gone off track [1:35:49] with this massive [1:35:50] fourth branch of government, [1:35:52] this administrative state [1:35:53] which is imposing its will on us [1:35:55] and is being weaponized [1:35:56] against us. [1:35:57] So Silent Cal knew [1:35:59] the proper role [1:35:59] of the federal government. [1:36:01] The country was in great shape [1:36:02] when he was president [1:36:03] of the United States [1:36:04] and we can learn [1:36:05] an awful lot from Calvin Coolidge. [1:36:08] Over to you, Mr. Ramaswamy, [1:36:10] to conclude our history lesson. [1:36:12] Sure. [1:36:12] Well, I will say [1:36:13] Ron picked a president [1:36:14] who was born on July 4th. [1:36:16] I'll pick one who died [1:36:17] on July 4th. [1:36:18] It's Thomas Jefferson. [1:36:19] He was 33 years old [1:36:21] when he wrote [1:36:22] the Declaration of Independence. [1:36:23] And you all are sitting [1:36:24] on a swivel chair today. [1:36:25] He invented the swivel chair [1:36:27] while he was at it, [1:36:28] while writing [1:36:29] that Declaration of Independence. [1:36:30] That's that founding spirit [1:36:32] that we miss, [1:36:32] that we're the pioneers. [1:36:34] We're the explorers, [1:36:35] the guy who sent him out [1:36:35] on the Lewis and Clark expeditions. [1:36:37] And I think a lot [1:36:38] about what would Thomas Jefferson [1:36:39] say to today's Republican Party. [1:36:41] And I think one thing [1:36:41] he'd remind us of, [1:36:43] we haven't talked about it [1:36:43] as much tonight, [1:36:44] but I think it is [1:36:44] one of the interesting [1:36:46] ideological discussions [1:36:48] we're having in our party [1:36:49] is freedom of speech. [1:36:51] You get to express [1:36:52] your mind freely [1:36:52] no matter how heinous the opinion. [1:36:54] Thomas Jefferson understood that. [1:36:55] He's an inspiration for me. [1:36:56] Thank you, Mr. Ramaswamy. [1:36:58] And believe it or not, [1:36:59] it's time for closing statements. [1:37:03] Governor Christie, [1:37:04] would you like to begin? [1:37:05] Sure, thank you. [1:37:06] I want you all [1:37:07] to kind of picture [1:37:08] in your minds election day. [1:37:10] You'll all be heading [1:37:10] to the polls to vote. [1:37:12] And that's something [1:37:12] that Donald Trump [1:37:13] will not be able to do [1:37:14] because he will be convicted [1:37:16] of felonies before then [1:37:17] and his right to vote [1:37:19] will be taken away. [1:37:21] You know, look, [1:37:23] here's the bottom line. [1:37:25] You can boo about it [1:37:26] all you like [1:37:27] and continue to deny reality. [1:37:29] But if we deny reality [1:37:30] as a party, [1:37:30] we're going to have [1:37:31] four more years of Joe Biden. [1:37:33] When my colleagues here [1:37:34] raised their hands [1:37:35] and said they would support him [1:37:36] even if he was a convicted felon, [1:37:38] the bigger problem with it [1:37:40] is they were confirming the lies [1:37:41] he's told to the American people. [1:37:43] If you're too timid [1:37:44] to take on Trump, [1:37:45] believe me, [1:37:46] others will get, [1:37:47] will see that timidity. [1:37:49] Xi, Putin and the Ayatollah, [1:37:51] the border crossers [1:37:52] on the southern border [1:37:53] and the criminals in our streets. [1:37:55] They'll sense that timidity [1:37:56] and they'll take advantage [1:37:58] of that failure of leadership. [1:38:00] We need to get back [1:38:00] to an old American idea [1:38:01] that every person [1:38:03] is responsible [1:38:04] for their own conduct, [1:38:06] even a president. [1:38:09] I'll be the kind of president [1:38:10] who has the humility [1:38:11] that knows [1:38:11] that you work for the people. [1:38:14] It's not the other way around. [1:38:17] I will earn your trust. [1:38:19] I want to earn your vote. [1:38:20] Thank you, Governor Christie. [1:38:22] Mr. Ramaswamy. [1:38:23] I'll use this to just address [1:38:25] a topic we didn't talk about tonight, [1:38:26] but I think it's one [1:38:27] of the most important topics [1:38:28] that needs to be discussed. [1:38:29] That is this climate change agenda [1:38:31] that is shackling this country [1:38:32] like a set of handcuffs. [1:38:34] I said it at the first debate [1:38:35] and I stand by it. [1:38:36] The climate change agenda [1:38:38] is a hoax [1:38:39] because it has nothing [1:38:40] to do with the climate. [1:38:41] That's what we have to see. [1:38:43] 98% reduction [1:38:44] in the climate disaster-related [1:38:46] deaths in the last century. [1:38:48] Eight times as many people [1:38:49] are going to die [1:38:49] of cold temperatures [1:38:50] this year than warm ones. [1:38:52] Yet against that backdrop, [1:38:54] there's an issue [1:38:54] coming up in Iowa. [1:38:55] It's core to Iowa farmers. [1:38:57] I met Kim Junker, [1:38:58] Kathy Stockdale, [1:38:59] and other farmers [1:39:00] who are about to have [1:39:01] a carbon capture pipeline [1:39:02] built across their land [1:39:04] using eminent domain to do it. [1:39:07] That's unconstitutional [1:39:08] and it's wrong. [1:39:09] And if you thought COVID was bad, [1:39:11] what's coming with this climate agenda [1:39:13] is far worse. [1:39:14] We should not be bending the knee [1:39:16] to this new religion. [1:39:17] That is what it is. [1:39:18] It is a substitute [1:39:19] for a modern religion. [1:39:21] We are flogging ourselves [1:39:22] and losing our modern way of life, [1:39:24] bowing to this new God [1:39:25] of climate. [1:39:26] And that will end [1:39:27] on my watch. [1:39:28] Thank you, Ambassador Haley. [1:39:28] It's the most critical issue [1:39:29] that's coming up. [1:39:29] Thank you. [1:39:30] Thank you very much. [1:39:34] Our country is in chaos. [1:39:36] We see it on the southern border. [1:39:39] We see it on our streets [1:39:41] and our cities. [1:39:41] We see it on college campuses. [1:39:44] We feel it with our economy, [1:39:45] with inflation and with debt. [1:39:47] And we feel it around the world [1:39:48] with wars in Europe [1:39:49] and within the Middle East. [1:39:50] We have to stop the chaos. [1:39:53] But you can't defeat [1:39:55] Democrat chaos [1:39:56] with Republican chaos. [1:39:58] And that's what Donald Trump gives us. [1:40:01] My approach is different. [1:40:04] No drama, [1:40:05] no vendettas, [1:40:07] no whining. [1:40:08] I envision an America [1:40:10] where we're protected [1:40:12] from illegal immigration [1:40:13] and Chinese infiltration. [1:40:15] I envision an America [1:40:16] where we unleash our economy [1:40:19] and we reject socialism. [1:40:21] But more importantly, [1:40:22] I envision an America [1:40:23] where we rediscover [1:40:25] our national purpose [1:40:26] and our pride. [1:40:27] Thank you. [1:40:28] I crush Joe Biden [1:40:30] in the polls. [1:40:30] Thank you. [1:40:30] And if you give me this chance, [1:40:32] we will crush him in November [1:40:34] and take our country back. [1:40:35] Thank you, Governor. [1:40:35] Go to Nikki Haley.com. [1:40:36] Thank you, Ambassador Haley. [1:40:37] We are in jeopardy [1:40:47] of being the first generation [1:40:49] of Americans [1:40:49] to leave to our kids [1:40:50] and grandkids [1:40:51] in America [1:40:51] less prosperous [1:40:52] and less free [1:40:53] than the one we inherited. [1:40:55] I refuse to sit idly by [1:40:57] and let that happen. [1:40:58] But we've got to have people [1:40:59] that are going to be willing [1:41:00] to fight the people [1:41:01] that are doing this to us. [1:41:02] You can't be these [1:41:03] establishment Republicans [1:41:05] that just cave [1:41:05] at the first sign of opposition. [1:41:07] I'll fight for you. [1:41:08] We also need to win again [1:41:10] as a party. [1:41:10] Yes, win the election, [1:41:12] which we've struggled to do, [1:41:13] but also win on these big issues. [1:41:15] And nobody has defeated [1:41:16] these people more [1:41:18] than what I have done [1:41:18] in the state of Florida [1:41:19] on issue after issue. [1:41:21] We have won [1:41:22] and we have won big. [1:41:23] And that's what we'll do for you. [1:41:24] We also need leadership. [1:41:26] Leadership is not [1:41:27] about doing what's easy. [1:41:28] It's about being willing [1:41:29] to set out that vision [1:41:30] knowing they're going [1:41:31] to shoot arrows at you. [1:41:32] They're going to come at you. [1:41:33] I will fight the good fight. [1:41:35] I will keep the faith [1:41:36] and I will finish the race. [1:41:37] Thank you and God bless you. [1:41:38] Thank you, all of you. [1:41:39] Thanks, all of you. [1:41:40] Thanks so much for watching. [1:41:49] Go to joinnn.com [1:41:51] to find NewsNation [1:41:52] on your television provider. 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