Vivek Ramaswamy was accused of “dumb” statements at the second Republican primary debate, as Donald Trump took flak for skipping it to deliver his own rally.
The 38-year-old entrepreneur, who is currently polling fourth in the GOP race, attracted the most attacks of any candidate in Wednesday’s event at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.
Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor, criticised him for running an account on TikTok while pledging to cut economic ties with China.
She said: “Honestly every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber for what you say”.
Mr Trump, who is leading the polls by around 40 points, was accused of being “missing in action” for refusing to take part in the event in favour of his own campaign rally near Detroit, Michigan.
Although the former president has said he will not debate his rivals before next year’s Republican National Convention, Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor, said he would soon be known as “Donald Duck” if he did not appear to defend his record.
The debate saw the candidates clash on major policy issues including the war in Ukraine, which both Mr Ramaswamy and Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, have pledged to defund if they win the presidency.
Mr Ramaswamy won plaudits for his appearance at the first debate in Milwaukee last month, but appears to have been made the main target of the other candidates, despite an attempt to praise them for being “on the right side of the argument” on migration.
Tim Scott, the South Carolina senator, responded: “We think about the fact that Vivek said we are all good people, and I appreciate that, because at the last debate he said we were all bought and paid for.
He accused him of being funded by the “Chinese Communist Party and the same people that funded Hunter Biden millions of dollars”.
Mike Pence, who served as Mr Trump’s vice president, joked he had only “decided to start voting in presidential elections” in 2018.
Mr DeSantis, who is currently placed second in the polls with the support of around 14 per cent of Republican voters, issued some of his harshest criticism of Mr Trump yet, accusing him of being “missing in action”.
He has previously attempted to ally himself with the former president in an attempt to attract some of his voters in the primary election.
“He should be on this stage tonight. He owes it to you to defend his record, where they added $7.8 trillion (£6.4 trillion) to the debt that set the stage for the inflation that we have,” he said.
Mr Trump used his rally to argue that union bosses should support his presidency, amid an auto workers’ strike that has already cost the US economy more than $5 billion.
Mr DeSantis spoke the most of any of the candidates, opposing Joe Biden’s “blank cheque” for the war in Ukraine and pledging to “use the US military to go after the Mexican drug cartels”.
Ms Haley said that fentanyl imported to the United States via its southern border had “killed more Americans than in the Iraq, Vietnam or Afghanistan wars combined” and argued America should return to its history as a “country of laws”.
But she attacked Mr Ramaswamy over his views on China, as she sought to frame herself as the candidate with the most experience on foreign policy issues.
Mr Ramaswamy had been asked why he has an account on TikTok if he is concerned about the influence of China on the US.
He said he is the only person in the debate who “talks a big game about reaching young people,” adding: “Part of how we win elections is reaching the next generation of young Americans where they are.”
Ms Haley responded: “This is infuriating, because TikTok is one of the most dangerous social media assets that we could have [...] honestly, every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber for what you say.”
She defended her comments in a post-debate interview, claiming Mr Ramaswamy had close business dealings with China.
“You look at the same way he was doing business [...] and then he wants to suddenly go and promote TikTok. I don’t trust it. I don’t trust it,” she told Fox News.
Chaney Denton, her campaign spokeswoman, later told The Telegraph: “I think she really hit on the policies right. I think that her command [of the debate] was probably her strongest part of the night.”
Mr Ramaswamy and Mr DeSantis, who were attacked the most of any of the candidates, later criticised “bickering” and “personal insults” on the debate stage.
5:55AMThat's it from the second Republican primary debate
We are going to close this blog now. Thank you for joining us for the second Republican primary debate.
The next debate is in Miami on November 8. See you there.
5:52AMRon DeSantis challenges Donald Trump to one-on-one debate
Ron DeSantis has challenged Donald Trump to a one-on-one debate after the former president skipped Wednesday’s event to hold his own rally in Detroit.
“Since the former president didn’t come here, maybe he’d be willing to do one with you and I,” he told Fox News’s Sean Hannity. “I think he owes it to our voters to come and make the case.”
He added: “You’ve got to go to the voter. So I’m going to show up everywhere.”
5:24AMHaley's camp claims victory
Chaney Denton, Nikki Haley’s spokeswoman, is predicting another major boost from the former South Carolina governor’s performance tonight. She told The Telegraph: “I think she really hit on the policies right. I think that her command [of the debate] was probably her strongest part of the night.”
Did Ms Haley spend hours preparing for tonight? Her spokeswoman claims not. “I think, this weekend, it’ll be 100 events in New Hampshire and Iowa and we do not restrict what voters ask her in those town halls. So that’s the best approach she can have. She gets a wide range of things thrown at her,” she said.
Spin room latest: Trump allies feel strangely absent
Donald Trump’s surrogates are much less visible at this debate.
In Milwaukee, they were filling the post-debate spin room to declare the former president the unofficial winner of the night.
Here in Simi Valley, the other candidates have made sure their surrogates are taking up plenty of floor space to make their case.
4:35AMNikki Haley defends comments on 'dumb' Ramaswamy
In a post-debate interview, Nikki Haley has defended her comment that she feels “dumber” every time she listens to Vivek Ramaswamy.
Asked about it by Shaun Hannity on Fox News, she said: “You look at the fact that he was in business with a Chinese company to make Chinese medicines -- not with an American company to make American medicines -- a Chinese company to make Chinese medicines.
“Then you go and you look at the same way he was doing business [...] and then he wants to suddenly go and promote TikTok. I don’t trust it. I don’t trust it.”
Here is a tweet her campaign sent during the debate:
Vivek got rich off of China, and now he wants to throw Taiwan to the communist wolves.
His promise to abandon Taiwan in 2028 sends a dangerous message to our enemies and allies.
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) September 28, 2023 4:31AMTrump hits back at Christie after missing debate
Donald Trump missed tonight’s debate, choosing to address voters in Michigan instead.
But over on his platform, Truth Social, he has hit back at Chris Christie, the New Jersey former governor who spent much of tonight criticising him on stage.
“Chris Christie is talking about the job he did as Governor,” he wrote. “He had a 9 per cent approval rating. N.J. wanted to throw the “bum” out.
“Also, I built almost 500 miles of Wall (not 50, Sloppy Chris!), got Mexico to give us 28,000 soldiers (free of charge!), and had the safest and best Border in U.S. History, with record low drugs coming in!”
He also shared a tweet from a viewer who described the event as “the worst debate I have seen in my lifetime”.
4:24AMSouth Carolina candidates row -- about curtains
One of the most eventful moments of the night came at the end of the debate, when Nikki Haley and Tim Scott tore strips out of each other in a bizarre brawl about curtains.
Mr Scott called into question Ms Haley’s fiscal responsibility by claiming she “put $50,000 on curtains in a $15 million subsidised location” while US ambassador to the UN. She joked: “Bring it, man.” She went on to claim Mr Scott had “bad information” because Barack Obama “bought those curtains.”
The two South Carolinians have enjoyed a friendly relationship in the past but it’s no coincidence they are focusing their attacks on each other tonight. South Carolina is an early voting state and losing in their home state would deal a deathblow to either candidate’s presidential ambitions.
4:20AM'Bickering and personal insults': DeSantis and Ramaswamy reflect on the debate
Speaking to Fox News after the debate, Ron DeSantis says there was a lot of “bickering” between the candidates.
The debate saw a series of rows between the Republicans, including on the war on Ukraine.
“Look, there was a lot of bickering on the stage,” he says. “And you know, we gave our vision, I was able to do that.
“If I was at home watching that, I would turn the channel when I saw that. So we were able to advise about that and deliver a message.”
He is followed on the network by Vivek Ramaswamy, who said he was the recipient of “personal insults”
“That’s okay,” he says. “These are still good people and I respect the policy disagreements that we had, but I’m not running against any of them. I’m running for this country.”
4:15AMUkraine funding was a stark line between tonight's candidates
The divide over funding Ukraine represents a broader split among the Republican Party.
Here at the Reagan library, a piece of the Berlin Wall stands in tribute to the Cold War president’s mantra: “peace through strength”.
But the GOP’s isolationist bent has strengthened in recent years, and many of those on stage are not prepared to keep funding Ukraine when American households are struggling to make ends meet.
Nikki Haley, Mike Pence and Chris Christie represent the Reaganite wing of the party when it comes to foreign policy and are bullish on continuing to arm Kyiv’s forces.
Vivek Ramaswamy and Ron DeSantis have taken a much more sceptical approach and suggested China is the biggest threat. Mr DeSantis said as president he would “end this war” but gives no detail on how he would achieve that. Instead, he immediately pivoted to talking about the border. “We don’t even have control of our own territory,” he said.
In response, Mr Christie bashed their “naivete”.
4:13AMWho won the second Republican debate?
As the second debate in California tonight draws to a close, who do you think won?
Vote in our readers’ poll here:
4:03AMCandidates refuse to take part in debate format
An attempt to make the candidates vote each other out of the debate has just fallen flat after the candidates refused to take part.
“It’s now obvious that if you all stay in the race, former President Donald Trump wins the nomination,” says Dana Perino, a moderator. “None of you have indicated that you’re dropping out. So which one of you on stage tonight should be voted off the island?”
Both Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy object, telling her it would be “disrespectful”.
Only Chris Christie writes down anything on the board he has been given. Predictably, it’s Donald Trump.
3:58AMTrump attacks Biden on Afghanistan as GOP candidates debate
Back in Detroit, Donald Trump spoke for about 75 minutes before leaving the stage to cheers.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve been preparing my entire life for this battle. We did such a great job four years ago. We were unfairly interrupted,” he says.
He adds: “But in many ways this is better because…they have shown us what a horrible job they do. And we’ll be able to do things that nobody would have thought possible and people won’t be complaining even a little bit.
“Between crime and all of the jobs that have been stolen from us and all of the factories that have been closing, all of the bad things that have been happening with Afghanistan and with Ukraine and with everything. People will say ‘Wow, we want these changes to be made, we want these changes to be be made very quickly’.”
3:51AMRepublicans clash on how to win over moderates
Ron DeSantis and Chris Christie are both asked about how they will win over moderates to take back swing states from Joe Biden in 2024.
Mr DeSantis is asked how he would navigate wedge issues like abortion. He says he has done that in Florida, and rejects the idea that “pro-lifers are to blame for midterm defeats,” adding: “I think there’s other reasons for that.”
Chris Christie says the key to winning on the abortion debate is arguing for pro-life policies on other issues.
“What you need is a leader who can talk to people and make them understand that if you’re pro-life, you have to be pro-life for the entire life, not just the nine months in the womb,” he says. “We need to make sure that for the drug addicted 16-year-old on the floor of the county lockup. Her life is precious too.”
Doug Burgum adds: “I promise you that we’re going to continue to build bridges to every community in this country.”
3:37AMWho is this guy from North Dakota?
If you’re watching at home and you are struggling to figure out who on earth Doug Burgum is, you’re forgiven.
The North Dakota governor is a software billionaire but isn’t well known outside his home state. But the 67-year-old used a creative approach to land a spot on the debate stage, like offering $20 gift cards to anyone who gave at least $1 to his campaign to meet donor thresholds.
Mr Burgum made a splash with his campaign launch video, but his inexperience is showing on stage alongside well practised performers.
The national spotlight is intimidating for newcomers, and Mr Burgum’s nerves are showing. He has been more proactive about carving out speaking time in this second debate, but there is a lack of finesse to his responses.
He’s failed to land a knockout blow or deliver a line that will generate a snappy TV clip.
3:36AMWe should put the 'rogue' Fed back in its place, says Ramaswamy
After the break, the first question is to Vivek Ramaswamy on what he would do about gasoline prices.
He responds largely by talking about the Federal Reserve, which he says has gone “rogue” and is not focussed enough on the stability of the dollar.
“We have to put the Federal Reserve back in its place,” he says.
“This is an agency that has gone rogue. When I have the opportunity as the next commander in chief, we will have a new Chairman of the Federal Reserve who places priority on dollar stability and then most importantly, send packing 75 per cent of the administrative state.”
3:32AMTikTok fights back...in the ad break
There have been regular ad breaks during this debate, and TikTok has had a presence every time. The Chinese tech giant is running glossy ads that promote the app in the US.
It comes after at least two of the candidates tonight have attacked it for its links to the Chinese Communist Party. Even Vivek Ramaswamy, who has an account, says children should be banned from it because it is so addictive.
Did the company know it would feature so heavily in tonight’s discussion?
3:30AMGoing after China is the solution, says Nikki Haley
Nikki Haley, who has made much of her experience in foreign affairs, says the solution is to tackle China.
“This is where President Trump went wrong,” she says.
“He focused on trade with China. He didn’t focus on the fact that they were buying up our foreign land. He didn’t focus on the fact that they were killing Americans. He didn’t focus on the fact that they were stealing $600 billion in intellectual property.
“He didn’t focus on the fact that they put a spy base off our shores in Cuba. They didn’t focus enough on the fact that all of our law enforcement drones in America are Chinese and we’ve got all these little surveillance cells.
“We need to start focusing on what keeps Americans safe. That hasn’t happened in a long time as your president, I will make sure every American is safe. And we’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.”
3:28AMChris Christie: Cuddling up to Putin won't make America safer
Responding to the Ukraine sceptics, Chris Christie says supporting the war takes on an alliance between Russia and China.
“Look, I understand people want to go and talk to Putin,” he says.
“Guess what? So did George W. Bush. So too Barack Obama, so too Donald Trump, and so too Joe Biden.”
“Every one of them has been wrong. And the fact of the matter is, we need to say right now that the Chinese-Russian alliance is something we have to fight against, and we are not going to solve it by going over and cuddling up to Vladimir Putin.”
3:25AMWe can't give Ukraine a 'blank cheque', says DeSantis
Ron DeSantis is challenged on his view that the US government should cut its support for Ukraine.
“It’s in our interest to end this war and that’s what I will do as president,” he responds, adding that he would not give a “blank cheque” to Volodymyr Zelensky.
“We’re going to make the Europeans do what they need to do, but they’ve sent money to pay bureaucrats pensions and salaries and funding small businesses halfway around the world,” he says.
“Meanwhile, our own country is being invaded. We don’t even have control of our own territory. We have got to defend the American people.”
3:18AMI feel 'dumber' for listening to Vivek, says Haley
As the candidates set out their views on China, Vivek Ramaswamy is challenged on his decision to join TikTok, the Chinese tech giant.
“I have a radical idea for the Republican Party -- we need to win elections,” he says.
“Part of how we win elections is reaching the next generation of young Americans where they are.”
He says he is the only person in the debate who “talks a big game about reaching young people”.
Nikki Haley launches an attack, telling him: “Honestly every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber for what you say”.
She adds that TikTok is a “dangerous” app.
3:12AMNikki Haley is doing well tonight
Nikki Haley is having another strong debate. She appears confident and prepared, rapidly firing off statistics on virtually every issue she’s been grilled on.
Her disciplined performance appears to be striking a chord with the audience here at the Reagan Library, which has been clapping loudly following many of her monologues.
The scrapping between some of the others, particularly the attacks from Vivek Ramaswamy, has meant many of the candidates’ lines have been drowned out. Points of this debate have been very hard for the audience to follow.
3:10AMTransgenderism is a mental health issue, says Ramaswamy
Vivek Ramaswamy says that “transgenderism, especially in kids, is a mental health disorder”, as he attacks schools for refusing to tell parents about their children’s transitions.
“I’m sorry, it is not compassionate to affirm a kid’s confusion,” he says. “That is not compassion. That is cruelty.”
Referring to two voters he says told him now regret their transition, he adds: “The fact that we allowed that to happen in this country is barbaric, so I will ban genital mutilation or chemical castration.”
3:08AMTim Scott says capitalism is the solution to racial inequality
As the debate turns to racial equality, Tim Scott says opportunity is the solution, attacking the Democratic administration of Lyndon B Johnson.
“Black families survived slavery,” he says. “We survived poll taxes and literacy tests. We survived discrimination being woven into the laws of our country. What was hard to survive was Johnson’s Great Society where they [...] decided to take the black father out of the household to get a check in the mail.
“If you want to restore hope, you’ve got to restore the family, restore capitalism, and put Americans back at work together as one American family,” he says.
3:01AMHaley says she will take on health insurance industry
Nikki Haley takes on the health industry after a lukewarm response from Mike Pence on Obamacare.
He says her mother refused medicine in the hospital and was told to “take it because you’re paying for it anyway”.
“Why is it that when we got the bill, the insurance company in the hospital negotiated the bill for her without her having anything to do with it?” she asks.
“When I am President, we will break all of it, from the insurance company, to the hospitals, to the doctor’s offices, to the PBMs to the pharmaceutical companies.
“We will make it all transparent because when you do that, you will realise that’s what the problem is.”
2:53AMMass shooters should be given speedy death penalty, says Mike Pence
Some interesting policy just there from Mike Pence, who says America should give an “expedited” death penalty to mass shooters.
“As the grandfather of three beautiful little girls, I am sick and tired of these mass shootings happening in the United States of America,” he says.
“If I’m President of the United States, I’m going to go to the Congress of the United States, and we’re going to pass a federal expedited death penalty for anyone involved in a mass shooting so that they will meet their fate in months, not years.
“It is unconscionable that the Parkland shooter is actually going to spend the rest of his life behind bars in Florida. That’s not justice. We have to mete out justice and send a message to these would be-killers that you are not going to live out your days behind bars.”
2:50AMWhy Univision is co-hosting this debate with Fox News
The inclusion of Spanish-language network Univision in tonight’s debate is a very deliberate choice. Republicans are increasingly making inroads with Hispanic Americans, a voting bloc that is increasingly becoming decisive in close races.
Republicans hope to dramatically accelerate what has been a decade-long drift by Hispanic voters away from the Democratic Party at the next election in 2025. Roughly a quarter of Simi Valley, the venue for tonight’s debate, identifies as Hispanic according to census data.
2:49AMRamaswamy and DeSantis compete on fentanyl crisis
Vivek Ramaswamy and Ron DeSantis have just agreed enthusiastically with each other on the need for harder policing of fentanyl.
“We do have to seal that southern border -- building the wall is not enough,” Mr Ramaswamy says.
“They’re building cartel-financed tunnels underneath that wall. Trucks can drive through them.
“We have to use our own military to seal the Swiss cheese of a southern border.
Mr DeSantis adds: “I refuse to be a passive bystander sitting in the White House like the hollowed-out husk of a current president we have.
“We will step up and address this problem to stand for Americans...as Commander in Chief, I’m going to use the US military to go after the Mexican drug cartels. They are killing our people.”
2:46AMRon DeSantis: Crime shows America is decaying
Ron DeSantis is strong on one of his favourite subjects: the superiority of Florida over California.
“The crime in the cities is one of the strongest signs of the decaying of America,” he says.
“We can’t be successful as a country if people aren’t even safe. Just being in Southern California over the last couple of days, my wife and I have met three people who have been mugged on the street.
He adds: “That would have never happened ten or 20 years ago. In Florida, we back the blue [and] we support the men and women of law enforcement.”
2:43AMDonald Trump? More like Donald Duck, says Chris Christie
Back after an ad break, Chris Christie has just launched the most vicious attack on Donald Trump yet.
I’ll quote his diatribe at length:
“I want to look at a camera right now, and tell you, Donald. I know you’re watching. You can’t help yourself. I know you’re watching.
“You’re not here tonight, not because of polls, and not because of your indictments. You’re not here tonight because you’re afraid of being on the stage and defending your record. You’re ducking these things.
And let me tell you what’s going to happen if you keep doing that. No one up here is going to call you Donald Trump anymore. We’re gonna call you Donald Duck.”
2:39AMUnions should endorse me, says Trump
Over in Detroit, Donald Trump has just told his followers that they should get their union bosses to endorse him.
“Your leadership should endorse me. And I will not say a bad thing about them again and they will have done their job,” he says.
“In fact, if they endorsed me, they will have the easiest labour leadership job anywhere in the country. They’d just have to sit back and watch as our auto industry reignites.”
That seems unlikely. Last week, UAW President Shawn Fain released a statement that said: “Every fibre of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers.”
Mr Biden is again seeking the union’s backing.
Nikki Haley adopts Republican red
At the last debate, Nikki Haley wore a powder blue suit dress that stood out in stark contrast to the wall of dark blue suits worn by her male rivals.
Ms Haley likes to emphasise that she is the only woman in the GOP race and often uses her outfits to stress that fact.
Tonight, however, she looks far more subdued in dark red. All of the men are wearing dark suits and red ties. Tim Scott stands out a little with a striped red tie.
Ron DeSantis, as the second highest polling candidate, is standing centre stage. Ms Hayley and Vivek Ramaswamy stand either side of him. Next along are Chris Christie and Mr Scott. Mike Pence and Doug Burgum flank the stage.
2:35AMMike Pence defends the Trump government record on migration
Several candidates have criticised Donald Trump’s record in government on migration.
Mike Pence, who was Mr Trump’s vice president, has quite an interesting defence of the failure to build a border wall, as promised in their 2016 campaign.
“I negotiated the ‘remain in Mexico’ policy with the with the Mexican government,” he says. “We used economic power to bring the Mexican government to the table.
“We built hundreds of miles of border wall. And despite what was said here today, we reduced illegal immigration and asylum abuse by 90 per cent.
“And as President of the United States, I can do it again. And the truth is, the truth is we need to fix a broken immigration system and I’ll do that as well,” he says.
Vivek Ramaswamy is playing diplomat tonight
Twice now on stage, Vivek Ramaswamy has praised the other candidates on stage with him.
“These are good people,” he says, adding that they are on the “right side of the argument” on migration.
As Tim Scott points out, the last time he stood next to them, he said they were “bought and paid for” by big donors.
This sparks a row between the two men, the biggest scrap of the debate so far, and the Fox News moderator is forced to intervene.
2:27AMNikki Haley: We must be a country of laws
Striking claim from Nikki Haley just now: she says fentanyl has “killed more Americans than in the Iraq, Vietnam or Afghanistan wars combined”.
She talks tough on borders -- saying the US should end federal aid to its neighbours until the borders are secure from migrants and drug trafficking.
“We need to make sure that we are a country of laws,” she says.
2:23AMDebate turns to migrants after 20 minutes on the economy
The next big topic for tonight’s candidates is illegal migration. This month the number of migrants crossing into the US from Mexico looks set to equal the all-time record.
“What we have to do now is first, treat this like the law enforcement problem it is,” says Chris Christie.
“Our laws are being broken every day at the southern border -- every day.
He claims Mr Biden is “doing nothing about enforcing that law”.
2:21AMThis is already more heated than the last debate
We’re only 20 minutes into this debate but it’s already far punchier than the last. Ron DeSantis is out of the gate with a jibe at the absent Donald Trump, declaring him “missing in action”.
Meanwhile Tim Scott and Doug Burgum, who hardly got a word in at the last debate, have already made their voices heard.
2:20AMChris Christie is the first person to mention Trump
Sixteen minutes since the start of this debate, Chris Christie has just mentioned Donald Trump for the first time.
Mr Christie is the most anti-Trump candidate in this race, so that isn’t much of a surprise.
“Donald Trump hides behind the walls of his golf clubs, and won’t show up here to answer questions like all the rest of us. are,” he says.
Much more interesting is the response from Ron DeSantis -- previously a Trump supporter -- who attacked him on the same grounds.
“Donald Trump is missing an action,” he says. “He should be on this stage tonight. He owes it to you to defend his record, where they added 7.8 trillion to the debt that set the stage for the inflation that we have.”
2:17AMThe solution to economic woes is cutting tax, says Nikki Haley
Nikki Haley says the twin causes of economic problems in the US are inflation and high rates of taxation.
“Let’s focus on on going after middle America and cutting taxes for middle America and collapsing those [tax brackets,” she says.
“Let’s get rid of unfair distortions like the state and local tax that they give to wealthy people in blue states and not in red states.
She adds that a tax break for small businesses should be made permanent.
“Let’s focus on what it takes to get more cash in the pockets of workers. That’s when we’ll be able to deal with strike like this, not sitting on a picket line like Joe Biden.”
2:14AMMike Pence attacks Biden on green subsidies
Mike Pence starts by attacking Joe Biden’s flagship green subsidies in his Inflation Reduction Act.
“While the union bosses are talking about class warfare and talking about disparity in wages, I have to tell you, I really believe what’s driving that is [that] Bidenomics has failed,” he says.
“Joe Biden’s Green New Deal agenda is good for Beijing and bad for Detroit.
“We ought to repeal the Green New Deal and get rid of the mandates and subsidies that are driving American gasoline automotive manufacturing into the graveyard.”
2:11AMWorkers should strike outside the White House, says Ramaswamy
Next up is Vivek Ramaswamy -- the man many thought won the last debate in Milwaukee last month.
He says that striking auto workers should really take their fight to Washington, not their employers, and blames the Democrat administration for low growth.
“You know what, if I was giving advice to those workers, I would say go picket in front of the White House in Washington DC,” he says.
“That’s really where the protests needs to be. [Biden’s] disastrous economic policies have driven up prices, have driven up interest rates and mortgage rates, and at the same time wages remain stagnant.
“What we need is to deliver economic growth in this country.”
His one-minute opening gambit receives healthy applause from the crowd in Simi Valley.
2:08AMTim Scott: Biden should be on the border, not picket line
It turns out Rozina’s prediction was spot on: the first question is about the economy and striking workers.
Tim Scott is asked whether, as president, he would fire the thousands of workers striking in the auto sector.
“Obviously, the President of the United States cannot fire anybody in the private sector,” he replies.
He goes on to attack Mr Biden for his focus on the picket lines instead of on illegal migration.
“Joe Biden should not be on the picket line,” he says. “He should be on the southern border, working to close our southern border, because it is unsafe, wide open and insecure, leading to the deaths of 70,000 Americans in the last 12 months.”
2:04AMCandidates smile and wave
The seven candidates have each been introduced by the three Fox News hosts.
Now a quickfire round of questions, with candidates limited to one-minute answers.
2:04AMExpect a question on the auto workers strike tonight
The major strike by car factory workers across the US has posed a dilemma for Republican candidates. Historically, the GOP has not been supportive of trade unions. But the party is trying to refashion its image as a champion of the working class.
Donald Trump has been a major factor in that transition. It was blue collar workers, including some former Democrats, who powered him to victory in 2016. It helped him flip the Rust Belt, including voters in places like Michigan, the state at the centre of the strikes.
Mr Trump is campaigning in Michigan as his rivals are on stage tonight.
Some Republican candidates have taken an uncompromising stance, such as Nikki Haley and Tim Scott. “You strike, you’re fired,” Mr Scott has said. Will they hold to that? Let’s wait and see.
2:02AMDoug Burgum’s main goal tonight
I’ve been speaking to the North Dakota governor Doug Burgum’s team. What can we expect from the software billionaire tonight?
“I think you’ll hear him talk more about his record as a business leader,” one staffer says. “I expect he will say he’s created more jobs than everyone else on the stage combined.”
2:00AMGive us your thoughts
Have you got strong views on the candidates in tonight’s debate? Send me your take and I’ll post some readers’ views at half time.
1:50AMTen minute warning
Get your popcorn ready. Ten minutes to go.
1:49AMThe three things Republicans will use to attack Biden
As well as criticising each other, we can be pretty certain that the seven candidates on stage tonight will spend a lot of time slating Joe Biden.
Here are three of the main GOP attack lines the president faces in California.
1:45AMWhat are the qualifications for tonight?
It isn’t actually that easy to make it to the stage in a Republican television debate.
The seven candidates who have qualified for tonight’s event had to prove they have at least 50,000 donors, including at least 200 per state in 20 US states or territories.
They must also have polled at three per cent in two national polls or in one national poll and one early state poll. This is a higher threshold than the first debate, and the threshold will rise higher still for the third debate in Miami in November as the Republican National Committee attempts to winnow the field.
1:44AMCrowd boos as Trump claims Joe Biden wants to destroy their jobs
Over in Detroit, Donald Trump is whipping up support from blue collar voters.
Having told the crowd of autoworkers that before entering politics he spent his life “working alongside Americans just like you”, Mr Trump claims the Democrats’ push for green energy will destroy jobs for people making petrol engine vehicles.
“You’re negotiating a contract. You’re all on picket lines and everything, but it doesn’t make a damn bit of difference what you get because in two years, you’re going to be out of business. You’re not getting anything,” he says.
“What’s they’re doing to the auto industry in Michigan and throughout the country is absolutely horrible and ridiculous. Hundreds of thousands of American jobs, your jobs, will be gone forever because crooked Joe Biden is selling out.”
The woman drawing donors from Trump could be the one to watch
Nikki Haley – who has been preparing for the debate by listening to the Killers – is expected to have a target on her back tonight.
Ms Haley drew praise for her performance in Milwaukee last month, making hay from her foreign policy experience.
As Susie Coen reports, she has also been drawing in some Trump donors, who are convinced she may be the sensible candidate the party has been looking for.
1:37AMFive things to watch out for at tonight's debate
Just tuning into tonight’s debate? Here are five things to watch out for.
1:35AMWhat would Reagan have made of all this?
The choice of venue for the second Republican debate is a little ironic. The Reagan library may have hosted GOP primary debates in 2012 and 2016, but the party has dramatically transformed in the post-Trump era. This is no longer the party of Ronald Reagan.
No issue illustrates that more clearly than the Ukraine war. The highest polling candidates on stage - Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy - are sceptical of the high cost the US is bearing in countering Russian aggression.
Polls suggest the majority of the Republican voter base agrees. That’s not to say everyone on stage does. Expect Nikki Haley and Mike Pence to espouse President Reagan’s foreign policy outlook tonight. We’ll be paying close attention to the audience’s reaction for an indication of just how divided the party is on this issue.
1:34AMMixed reviews for Republican primary contenders from California
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library -- the setting for tonight’s debate -- has been thronged today with people waiting to see the Republican primary contenders.
They have received mixed reviews. Photographs from the site show a large contingent of Donald Trump supporters.
Flying overhead was a plane with a banner that read: “GOP 2024: A race for the extreme MAGA base”.
Air Force One looms over tonight’s debate
The second GOP debate is taking place in Simi Valley, a sun-kissed conservative enclave around 40 miles from Los Angeles. It is known as one of the most beautiful suburbs on the Pacific Coast.
When the seven Republican candidates take the stage tonight, they’ll be facing one of the Ronald Reagan library’s biggest attractions: a decommissioned Air Force One.
The jet will be overhanging the candidates’ panel, and may be in shot of the camera at points during the live coverage of the debate. It’s a vivid reminder, as if it were needed, of just what is at stake in this contest. Nothing short of a shot at the US presidency is on the line.
1:25AMTrump takes the stage in an attempt to steal the limelight
Donald Trump has just taken to the stage at Drake Enterprises, an automotive manufacturing plant in Clinton Township, outside of Detroit.
The decision of Mr Trump to speak to non-union workers in Michigan was carefully planned.
Michigan is also one of the most crucial of the battleground states, and a day earlier, Joe Biden stole some headlines in the area by meeting members of the United Automobile Workers union at their strike in Detroit, becoming the first president in history to join a picket line.
In 2016, Mr Trump flipped Michigan by little more than 10,000 votes, one of three states he won from Democrats.
In 2020, Mr Biden won it back, by around 150,000 votes, drawing much of his support from union member households – which make up as much as 20 per cent of the electorate.
Here is a video from one of Mr Trump’s campaign advisers showing his arrival:
Can Ron DeSantis pull it back?
Tonight’s debate could well be the last opportunity for Ron DeSantis to inject some momentum into his flagging campaign and convince voters -- and donors -- he has what it takes to beat Donald Trump in this race.
A year ago the Florida governor looked like the man who could deny Mr Trump a second term, launching an energetic campaign fuelled by a war on wokery and his own brand of tax-cutting conservativism.
Speaking to The Telegraph, he said America was in a “malaise” worsened by Joe Biden’s “ideological agenda” and pervasive wokery in federal institutions.
Now, more than 40 points behind Mr Trump, it looks like the momentum has shifted to other challengers like Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley. Can he pull it back tonight?
Republicans wait in the wings ahead of second primary debate
Good evening and welcome to The Telegraph’s live coverage of tonight’s second Republican primary television debate.
We’ll be bringing you the latest from Simi Valley, California, where seven candidates will line up on stage at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Rozina Sabur, our Deputy US Editor, is at the debate.
We’ll also have some updates from Donald Trump’s campaign rally near Detroit, Michigan.
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