simone sanders-townsend, joined by my coherence, alicia menendez and michael steele. the clock just struck midnight a couple of hours ago. three republican candidates made their case why they should be the republican party s nominee in the 2024 presidential election. former south carolina governor nikki haley and florida governor ron desantis sparred in a debate hedrick university in des moines. meanwhile, the front runner of the republican party, former president donald trump, took a break from court appearances to take questions in a fox news town hall. in this town hall, he said absolutely nothing new. it was the same lies, same talking points and essentially a rally with questions. let me be clear, folks, the only normal aspect of tonight s debate was the presence of podiums. the candidates took the stage just after vocal trump critic, former new jersey governor chris christie, suspended his campaign, refusing to endorse any of his former opponents. in a normal world, a r
There s an immovable block of people, the majority percentage if you look at the polls, that are still going to come out and caucus for the former president. caucuses are things that reward enthusiasm and confidence and energy behind a candidate. because they were quite sitting in gyms or other large spaces with other members of your committee to control and caucus and be together for several hours. but at the same time, i do think there is an opening for someone, obviously not to win here, but sure that trump is not inevitable by using it as a springboard into the next state. of course, that s the strategy that the healy campaign by and large is employing for themselves. but because trump is not on the stage, i do think that a, voters miss out on him defending his record of course. but politically speaking, i think it looks like a savvy decision that he does not have to sit here and get gained upon by the rest of the field. he s been able to float above it and quite frankly look like