With Donald Trump absent again, US Republicans trade barbs at messy presidential debate
- Seven US presidential hopefuls tussled over immigration controls and the economy at the second Republican primary debate
- Former US president Donald Trump skipped the debate to woo blue-collar workers in the battleground state of Michigan
Donald Trump’s Republican rivals clashed at a chaotic presidential debate on Wednesday, levelling attacks at the absent former president, Democratic President Joe Biden and one another over issues from China to immigration to the economy.
But as the debate ended, no candidate appeared to have secured the sort of breakout moment that would alter the dynamics of a primary contest that Trump has dominated for months, despite his four criminal indictments.
Trump, who led his nearest rival for the nomination by 37 percentage points in the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, skipped the debate, as he did the first one in Wisconsin last month.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called Trump “missing in action” and blamed him for adding trillions of dollars to the national debt.
“He should be on this stage tonight,” DeSantis said, drawing applause from the audience at the Ronald Reagan presidential library in Simi Valley, California. “He owes it to you to defend his record.”
