Fox’s dud of a second GOP debate

Thursday, September 28, 2023:

Happy Thursday (or as I like to call it, almost Friday)!

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Now, here's what's happening today:

Up first: The second Republican debate

In other news: developments in Nagorno-Karabakh, saying goodbye to Michael Gambon, and US unemployment news

UP FIRST

1 winner and 3 losers from Fox's dud of a second GOP debate

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Last night the second Republican debate saw seven Republican candidates spew "canned lines and talking points," writes Vox senior politics correspondent Andrew Prokop. Notably, Donald Trump — who has a massive polling lead over his rivals — was absent from the debate, meaning it is unlikely the event will impact the race in any way.

The lowdown: Here's who won and who lost this debate.

Loser: Vivek Ramaswamy. "Love him or hate him, Vivek Ramaswamy was the focal point of the first GOP debate," writes Andrew. This time, Ramaswamy acknowledged he can seem like a "know-it-all" before being repeatedly attacked over his business practices, supposed ties to China, political inexperience, and vague policy proposals.

Loser: The moderators. In their attempt to maintain control over the seven candidates, moderators Dana Perino, Stuart Varney, and Ilia Calderón cut off any debate and rushed participants through questions, making drawing comparisons between candidates' positions impossible.

Loser: Fox News. Leading up to the debate, the network lowered its ad time slot prices by hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's proof, Andrew wrote, that "Fox needs [Trump] more than he needs them."

Winner: Trump. Despite not participating, Trump is leading over his closest rival by more than 40 percentage points in primary polling averages.

The stakes: Earlier this year there was a chance that a candidate, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, could nab the Republican nomination from Trump. But now, the former president has a clear lead on the rest of the field — meaning any event that doesn't shake Trump is effectively aiding him, Andrew said.

"Debates can matter most when the candidates are little-known and voters haven't made up their minds yet," Andrew told me. "The problem for Trump's rivals is that Trump is very well-known and many GOP voters are already certain to support him."

One of the real deciding factors moving forward will be whether anti-Trump Republicans join together to back one challenger, rather than splitting their support among the candidates who participated in last night's debate. If that were to happen in the next few months, there's a chance Trump could face an actual primary challenge.

"The key moments that could shake up the race are the Iowa caucuses (on January 15) and the New Hampshire primary (for which the date has not yet been set)," Andrew told me. "If Trump wins both he'll likely be unstoppable after, but if he stumbles in one or both there could be a bit of drama."

As of now, the debate was just one more reminder that Trump is the GOP presidential nominee apparent.

Read Andrew's story here.

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NEXT UP

Nagorno-Karabakh's government is dissolved

JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images

Last week, Azerbaijan led a military operation in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. The breakaway region lies within Azerbaijan's borders but for decades operated semi-autonomously. Today, its de facto government announced its dissolution:

Azerbaijan and Armenia have been fighting over the Karabakh region for decades. Between 1988 and 1994, 350,000 Armenians left Azerbaijan and 186,000 Azerbaijanis left Armenia. [Reuters]

Over 70,000 refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh have crossed over to Armenia in recent days. While Azerbaijan claims residents have nothing to fear, more than 80 percent of the 120,000 ethnic Armenians who were living in the disputed region have fled to Armenia. [Al Jazeera]
Nagorno-Karabakh's President Samvel Shahramanyan issued a decree dissolving the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh on Thursday. The decree called for all institutions and organizations (which are not internationally recognized) to shutter on January 1, 2024. [CNN]

VERBATIM

🗣️ "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, you keep doing that. No one up here is going to call you Donald Trump anymore. We're going to call you Donald Duck."
— New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaking to an absent former President Donald Trump during the second Republican debate [NPR]

AROUND THE WEB

Actor Michael Gambon dies at 82. Gambon is well-known for his role as Dumbledore in six of the eight Harry Potter films, as well as his roles in Gosford Park, The King's Speech, and Paddington. [CBS News]
US unemployment benefit applications reached the lowest levels since January. This week claims rose by 2,000 to 204,000 applications. [ABC News]
A murder suspect has been arrested for the killing of Baltimore tech entrepreneur Pava LaPere. Baltimore police arrested Jason Billingsley for the murder of LaPere, 26, who was found dead in her apartment. [NBC News]
Latinas lost the most jobs in the pandemic. Now they're back at work in historic numbers. One in five Latinas were out of work in April 2020, the highest unemployment of any group of women ever. Yet, their unemployment rate now hovers at 4.4 percent, lower than pre-pandemic levels. [The 19th]