The Horse Race: 'A Courage Issue': GOP Field Expected to Lay into Absentee Trump in Second Primary Debate

with Brittany Bernstein

Wednesday, September 27, 2023

'A Courage Issue': GOP Field Expected to Lay into Absentee Trump in Second Primary Debate

Zach Kessel here, filling in for Brittany Bernstein, who is out this week.

After dancing around "the elephant not in the room" during the first GOP primary debate in August, expect the rest of the GOP field to step up their attacks on former president Trump during tonight's debate at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif.

With Trump holding firm to his overwhelming lead four months out from the Iowa caucuses, his opponents — even those not named Chris Christie — plan to lay into the absent front-runner, who will be delivering a speech to the United Auto Workers in Detroit instead of taking the debate stage.

Former vice president Mike Pence plans to tee off on his former running mate tonight if the chance arises, with a campaign adviser telling National Review there are ample opportunities for an attack on Trump to land.

"The former president is running a different style of campaign because he assumes that he's in an advantageous position," the Pence adviser said. "It shows a lack of respect for the voters, and I think there's a lack of respect for the process. There's definitely a courage issue about not wanting to show up and defend your stances on things which are largely out of step with where conservative voters and Republican voters are."

Referencing Pence's speech earlier this month on what he sees as a war between conservatism and populism within the GOP, the campaign adviser told me that contrast will feature heavily in the former vice president's approach to the debate.

"It's not only Trump that's walking away from conservative values and principles," the adviser said. "There are other people on that stage that are Trump appeasers or Trump-lite. They mimic him a lot in terms of the populist policies that have no foundation in conservative principles, and the opportunity to draw that contrast is one we look forward to taking."

Florida governor Ron DeSantis — the one-time consensus non-Trump pick — has largely avoided criticizing Trump in explicit terms since jumping into the race in June. But after seeing his polling dip in early states, Iowa notwithstanding, he seems to be course-correcting.