Reaction to GOP debate #3: the good, the bad, and the ugly

Last night in Miami, five Republican presidential candidates faced off in the third primary debate. All were vying to be the #2 contender behind Donald Trump, who’s been the clear frontrunner from the get-go despite skipping every debate.

Dave Rubin, who attended the debate, reacts to what he saw at the event.

Unfortunately (but unsurprisingly), the debate was “not the most inspiring thing ever,” he says.

“My general take is that at this point in where we are at in the world, which is ... a problematic place, Donald Trump needed to be there; we have to have it out with all of these people.”

He needs to “be up there defending his ideas,” especially when it comes to the potential of “World War III, the border, [and] Bidenomics,” he explains.

Regardless of Trump’s absence, there was plenty to dissect from the other five candidates.

Vivek Ramaswamy, who Dave thinks mostly “[insults] everybody,” opened up “guns blazing” with a declaration about the state of the Republican Party and Ronna McDaniel.

“We've become a party of losers,” said Ramaswamy, adding that there’s “a cancer in the Republican establishment.”

“Since Ronna McDaniel took over as chairwoman of the RNC in 2017, we have lost 2018, 2020, 2022 ... [and] we got trounced last night in 2023,” he said before suggesting that McDaniel immediately resign.

He then set in on one of the moderators, Kristen Welker, who he accused of being part of “the corrupt media establishment.” “Think about who's moderating this debate. This should be Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, and Elon Musk ... asking questions that GOP primary voters actually care about and bringing more people into our party, [but] we got Kristen Welker here,” he criticized.

“The Trump-Russia collusion hoax that you pushed on this network for years — was that real, or was that Hillary Clinton made-up disinformation? Answer the question. Go,” he fired at Welker.

“That’s good Vivek,” laughs Dave.

Unfortunately, Ramaswamy’s next move took a turn for the worse.

Pointing to Nikki Haley and her path to becoming “a multi-millionaire,” he asked the crowd, “Do you want a leader from a different generation who's going to put this country first, or do you want Dick Cheney in three-inch heels?”

The crowd was “just not into it,” says Dave, adding that Vivek is hypocritically “the same guy who says, ‘Oh, we shouldn't have these scripted insults.”’

Nikki Haley, however, was quick to throw a jab back.

“I am telling you, Putin and President Xi are salivating at the thought that someone like that could become president,” she countered, pointing at Vivek, who takes more of an isolationist approach to foreign policy, before launching into her own ideas regarding what the U.S. should be involved in.

“Here is a freedom-loving, pro-American country that is fighting for its survival and its democracy,” she said of Ukraine. “No, I don't think we should give them cash, I think we should give them the equipment [and] the ammunition to win.”

“The idea that Ukraine is freedom loving, pro-American” is a bit far-fetched, according to Dave, especially since “it's very unclear what's going on there” and is “much more muddled” than, for example, the “unbelievably horrific attack” launched against Israel, who is our ally.

Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley were just getting started though. They also hurled insults at each other over the subject of TikTok, which Vivek thinks was created essentially to target the youth, who make up the majority of TikTok users.

While Dave acknowledges the validity of Vivek’s argument, the reality is “TikTok is Chinese spyware,” he says. Not to mention “the amount of pro-Hamas propaganda is 15x the pro-Israel stuff on TikTok because ... China is going, ‘Boy, this is a pretty good way of going after America.”’

Ron DeSantis was another candidate who stood out, even though he was, and usually is, “somewhat scripted,” Dave admits, but “if you want someone who does what they say they're going to do [and] has a really good track record ... then I think he is your guy.”

Haley was quick to attack the Florida governor with accusations that the state’s Economic Development agency, where DeSantis serves as chairman, “said Florida is the ideal place for Chinese businesses” and the fact that DeSantis owns a company that manufactures “Chinese military planes.”

DeSantis, unphased, responded with a succinct, “I abolished that agency that she’s talking about ... and we banned China from buying land.”

“We’ve recognized the threat, and we’ve acted swiftly and decisively,” he added, as the crowd applauded and cheered.

Dave calls Nikki’s strike a “weak line of attack” on DeSantis because “it is 100% true ... Florida has banned the CCP, has banned the government of China from buying land in Florida; they've closed some other institutions, like nobody has done more on this [than DeSantis],” he says.

Ukraine was another subject where Dave thinks DeSantis performed well.

“We are not going to send your sons and daughters to Ukraine,” he told the audience, but “I am going to send troops to our southern border ... terrorists have come in through our southern border, [and] I'm going to shut it down ... and I’m going to deport the people who’ve come, particularly under Biden ... from the Middle East.”

He also criticized Biden’s demand for $105 billion, much of which is intended to “pay pensions for bureaucrats and salaries” of Ukrainian officials, which he said “is a totally ridiculous use of American tax dollars.”

“Most of the money is money to process more illegal aliens into this country,” he criticized.

Dave applauds DeSantis’ plan, calling it “solid stuff.”

To hear Dave’s full analysis of last night’s third GOP primary debate, watch the clip below.

Want more from Dave Rubin?

To enjoy more honest conversations, free speech, and big ideas with Dave Rubin, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.