Live from Simi Valley: A Hot Mess of a Debate | The Free Press

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library sits on a stately, sun-dappled perch enveloped by green hills and gorgeous vistas. It is a magical place that evokes the fortieth president s boundless optimism and feels a lot like the movie sets where he made his name. 

The knock against the Republican debate that took place here last night is that it was just that: make-believe. 

That was the subtext of former president Donald Trump who enjoys the support of nearly 60 percent of GOP voters versus the 16 percent who back his closest rival, Florida governor Ron DeSantis skipping the debate.

While Trump was thousands of miles away in Michigan, the other seven candidates seemed a little like people playing president debating fentanyl and the southern border and China and mental health care not running for the presidency.

Trump said as much Wednesday evening during a speech to auto workers near Detroit.

All over television this speech, you know, we re competing with the job candidates. They re all running for a job, Trump said, not bothering to name any of the Republicans trying to wrest the nomination from him. Now they re job candidates. He added: They ll do anything. . . secretary of something, they even say vice president. Has anybody seen a vice president in that group? I don t think so.

via www.thefp.com

I listened to about 5 minutes of the debate on the radio. The format was just ridiculous. I thought DeSantis sounded good, but that doesn’t seem to make much a difference.