After the first Republican debate of the 2024 presidential primary aired on Fox News on Wednesday evening, President Joe Biden took to social media to share his reactions.
The president responded to Republican candidates who indicated they would still support former President Donald Trump as the party’s nominee even if he was convicted.
“A bunch of Republicans on stage. One united, MAGA ideology,” President Biden wrote on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
Eight candidates who qualified for the first debate were North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former Vice President Mike Pence, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.
President Trump announced on Sunday that he would not participate in this week’s debate, claiming that the public “knows who I am.”
When asked if they would support President Trump, Ms. Haley, Mr. Burgum, Mr. Scott, Mr. DeSantis, Mr. Ramaswamy, and Vice President Pence all raised their hands.
Mr. Christie, who refused to raise his hand, said that the right must stop defending the former president’s conduct and that such behavior is “beneath the office of president of the United States.” His comments were met with boos from the crowd.
More jeers erupted after Mr. Hutchinson repeated his view that President Trump had disqualified himself from being president again because of his acts on Jan. 6, 2021.
President Biden’s campaign has reportedly placed a large ad purchase on Fox News prior to the Republican primary debate, using the event to promote his message.
After the debate, President Biden also invited social media users to compare him to the GOP candidates.
“You know, my dad used to say, “Don’t compare me to the Almighty. Compare me to the alternative. So, tonight, compare me to the alternative. And then donate,” he wrote on the X platform.
President Biden also shared a video with the text “What she said,” alluding to Nicki Haley’s video in which she stated that President Trump increased the national debt by $8 trillion.
“You have Ron DeSantis, you’ve got Tim Scott, you’ve got Mike Pence; they all voted to raise the debt, and Donald Trump added $8 trillion to our debt,” Ms. Haley said during the debate. “And our kids are never going to forgive us for this.”
CNN fact-checkers, however, were quick to respond to Ms. Haley, pointing out that the increase in debt during any president’s tenure is not solely the fault of that president. A major portion of any president’s spending is the result of decisions taken by their predecessors, such as the creation of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid decades ago, as well as situations beyond a president’s control, most notably the global COVID-19 pandemic.
President Biden also criticized Republican hopefuls for being climate change skeptics and supporters of social security cuts.
Meanwhile, the president and his economic strategy, Bidenomics, came under fire during the debate.
“Our country is in decline. This decline is not inevitable, it’s a choice,” Mr. DeSantis said during the debate. “We need to send Joe Biden back to his basement and reverse American decline.”
Republican candidates also criticized President Biden for his response to Hawaii wildfires, border policies, and foreign policies.
From The Epoch Times