CALIFORNIA, USA — Candidates are calling out GOP front runner Donald Trump for not taking the stage at the Republican debate in California. It was held at the Ronald Reagan Library on Fox Business Channel.
The candidates also went after President Joe Biden's economy and his recent visit with striking auto workers.
"Biden showed up on that picket line, but why are those workers actually there? It's because of all the spending that he has pushed through in the economy that has raised the inflation," said Nikki Haley, former governor of South Carolina.
"Joe Biden doesn't belong on the picket line. He belongs on the unemployment line," said former Vice President Mike Pence.
However, area Democrats said the looming government shutdown proves Republicans aren't serious about governing.
"The Republican party has become a part of extremes. They're talking about shutting down the government and causing immense pain to the American people. It's one thing to have differences. That's the healthy part of a two party system, but when one party becomes nonfunctional because they refuse to govern and in fact don't adhere to the basic rule of law and rules of democracy then I think the American people should reject that," said Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg. "I think the choice is going to be pretty clear for the American people. No one wants to go back to the chaos of those Trump years."
The debate came at a critical moment in the GOP campaign, with less than four months before the Iowa caucuses formally launch the presidential nomination process. Trump has continued to dominate the field, even as he faces a range of vulnerabilities, including four criminal indictments that raise the prospect of decades in prison.
Several of those onstage blistered Trump for not showing up, a departure from the first debate, which Trump also skipped. DeSantis said just a few minutes in that President Joe Biden was “completely missing in action from leadership. And you know who else is missing in action? Donald Trump is missing in action.”
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has built his campaign around criticizing Trump, said the former president “hides behind the walls of his golf clubs and won’t show up here to answer questions like all the rest of us are up here to answer.”
Trump, meanwhile, made only a passing mention of the debate during his lengthy speech, drawing boos when he said, “We’re competing with the job candidates” and poking fun at them for not drawing crowds as large as his. The former president's competitors are running out of time to cut into his lead, increasing the sense of urgency among some to take him on more directly before an audience of millions.
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