Wednesday night’s Republican presidential primary debate was, if anything, more chaotic than the first. This was due both to the debaters sniping at one another, as well as many of the questions posed.
Although there was no "breakout moment" for any of the presidential hopefuls on the stage, there was one candidate who distinguished himself by avoiding in-fighting and reaffirming to those anti-abortion that he has their back.
That candidate, Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., also called out the moderators when they asked unfair questions.
Observed Mollie Hemingway, editor-in-chief at The Federalist, "Ron DeSantis calls out the Univision moderator for spreading misinformation about Florida's education on black history."
Univision’s Ilia Calderon claimed "This new [Florida] black history curriculum says quote, ‘slaves develop skills which in some instances could be applied for their personal benefit.'"
She continued, "You have said slaves develop skills in spite of slavery not because of it. But many are still hurt. For descendants of slaves, this is personal. What is your message to them?"
DeSantis corrected her.
"First of all, that’s a hoax that was perpetrated by [Vice President] Kamala Harris. We are not going to be doing that. Second of all, that was written by descendants of slaves. These are great black history scholars. So we need to stop playing these games."
He added, "Here’s the deal. Our country’s education system is in decline because it’s focused on indoctrination, denying parent rights.
"Florida represents the revival of American education. We’re ranked number one in the nation in education by U.S. News and World Report."
DeSantis concluded, "We didn’t just talk about universal school choice, we enacted universal school choice.
"We didn’t just talk about Parents Bill of Rights, we enacted the Parents Bill of Rights.
"We eliminated critical race theory and we now have American civics and the Constitution in our schools in a really big way, just like President Reagan asked for in his farewell address back in 1989."
That was just one of a series of inappropriate questions Calderon raised, prompting commentary from syndicated talk radio host Dana Loesch.
"This Univision moderator is wasting all of our time," she tweeted.
"These questions are offensively stupid."
An hour into the event, Calderon’s questions prompted political commentator and former Fox News host Megyn Kelly to ask, "Is this an MSNBC debate?"
But "offensively stupid" questions weren’t limited to the Univision moderator.
Instead of asking the candidates for their closing remarks at the end, Fox News moderator Dana Perino asked the debaters to pretend they were contestants on the CBS reality TV show "Survivor."
"Which one of you, on stage, tonight, should be voted off the island?" she asked.
"Please use your marker, to write your choice, on the notepad in front of you. Fifteen seconds, starting now."
Commented Megyn Kelly, "Holy s**t did that just happen? 'Survivor'?"
DeSantis took the high road: "I’ll decline to do that, with all due respect," he said. "I think that that’s disrespectful to my fellow competitors."
The audience applauded when he suggested instead, "Let’s do some questions."
If there was a breakout moment for the Florida governor, it came when he rejected any notion that pro-lifers were responsible for Republican losses at the polls.
He added, "I think we should hold the Democrats accountable for their extremism, supporting abortion all the way up until the moment of birth. That is infanticide and that is wrong."
At another point in the debate, candidate and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott asked him if he would support a federal ban on abortion after 15 weeks of gestation.
"Yes, I will," DeSantis answered.
His support for the unborn earned kudos from SBA Pro-Life America, which released a statement that very evening.
"We thank Governor Ron DeSantis for his commitment to support minimum federal protections for babies in the womb when they feel pain by 15 weeks, while keeping states free to be as ambitious as possible for life," the statement said.
"This standard reflects the consensus of seven in 10 Americans, in contrast to the Democrats’ no-limits agenda of abortion on demand, paid for by taxpayers, at any time for any reason throughout all nine months of pregnancy. Momentum is growing and all GOP candidates should unify around this offense strategy."
GOP debate 2, hosted by Fox Business, proved to be as big a dumpster fire as Debate 1, hosted by Fox News. Maybe it’s time to find a host other than the Fox family. Newsmax, maybe?
But despite the chaos, Ron DeSantis is turning out to be the strong, steady hand America needs at the helm. If we can only find a way to get former President Trump to meet him on a debate stage.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.
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