There was no “Trump Show.”
One of the most widely speculated ideas was that the first Republican presidential primary debate, hosted by Fox News on Thursday, would, by default, be all about Donald Trump. It wasn’t.
Moderators Megyn Kelly, Chris Wallace and Bret Baier said they had a “plan” to deal with Trump, known for his caustic rhetoric and targeted insults. If there was any plan, it was to treat Trump like the rest of the candidates: equal time, critical questions.
More than an hour into the two-hour debate, Trump spoke roughly the same amount as each of the other nine candidates on the stage. The moderators didn’t egg him on to attack the other candidates and he wasn’t given free roam of the forum to speak as he please.
Trump was press on whether, he would run as a third-party candidate if he doesn’t win the nomination, as he has hinted in the past; he was asked to defend his controversial views on illegal immigration; and he was confronted on health care policy, which he has changed his views on over the years.
But Trump wasn’t the star. Kelly and her co-moderators set up Chris Christie and Rand Paul to trade bars on government surveillance, perhaps the moment with the most fireworks. Ben Carson, who has no government experience, was asked how he can go head-to-head with Hillary Clinton, should she win the nomination. And Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, both from Florida, were asked to debate their opposing views on education policy.
Each of the White House hopefuls was asked to legitimize their candidacies and answer for their positions on several policy issues.
Baier, Kelly and Wallace made sure that Trump wasn’t the star.
