This article is part of HuffPost’s bi-weekly politics newsletter. Click here to login.
Republican presidential debates have been a circus ever since Donald Trump entered them. In today’s debate, the first of the 2024 campaign cycle, we’ll see if things get even more chaotic in his absence.
Trump – who chose to simultaneously air an attention-grabbing interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson rather than join the debate – is way ahead in the polls and, by all appearances, is still the clear favorite for the nomination four criminal charges.
The eight candidates who gather on the stage in Milwaukee at 9 p.m. Eastern time cannot ignore Trump entirely: at the very least, they must grapple with how they, as president, might deal with their predecessor’s unprecedented multiple indictments.
But when one of them becomes president, they have to deal with a variety of issues, which means they have to make decisions about their principles and priorities, and how to deal with real-world tradeoffs. These tricky questions are a lot harder – but also a lot juicier – to answer than just giving contestants room to attack an opponent.
With that in mind, we asked the HuffPost staff what She I would ask the candidates if they would call the shots in Milwaukee tonight. A few that came to mind were things like: If one of your children told you they were transgender, queer or non-binary, would you support them?
And, Do Vaccines Cause Autism? show of hands
or, Would you pardon the January 6 defendants?
Check out some of our other burning questions below.
- Did Mike Pence do the right thing on January 6th? show of hands
- Pandemic relief programs resulted in a firmly fall in poverty in America – a drop disappeared if these programs Expired. Given how successful they have been, why not make these pandemic-era relief programs permanent?
- If one of your children told you they were transgender, queer or non-binary, would you support them? show of hands
- Have you ever asked a loved one for an abortion because you didn’t want your affair to be public?
- Lauri Carleton was killed in Southern California last week a man who law enforcement said made “several snide remarks about a rainbow flag” outside her store and who referred towards Carleton with “homophobic insults”. What should the next Republican Party leader do to stem the tide of anti-LGBTQ hatred that Republican candidates and officials have promoted and wedged?
- Many of you express skepticism about climate change and the need to take significant steps to slow or stop it. What if you’re wrong?
- The Inflation Reduction Act gave the federal government the power to negotiate drug prices under Medicare. The announcement of the first ten negotiable drugs is expected next week. But every Republican in Congress voted against the IRA, and since its passage, several senior Republicans have said they want it cancellation this provision. Do you also support repeal, yes or no – and why?
- If Joe Biden ran for President while facing four criminal charges, would he be ineligible to run? And if so, would it make sense for Democrats to nominate another candidate with less legal baggage?
- Republicans tried for years to abolish Obamacare. That includes one of you (former Vice President). Mike Pence), who endorsed these efforts from the Trump White House and two of you (Governor Ron DeSantis and Sen. Tim Scott), who voted in Congress to repeal. Most of you rhetorically supported the idea. So who among you still thinks Obamacare should be scrapped? show of hands?
- Would you be okay with enforcing yours? 13-year-old daughter about to give birth to her rapist’s baby?
- Some of you support a federal ban on abortion with no exceptions for fatal fetal abnormalities. What is “pro-life” about carrying a non-viable fetus to term?
- Name one negative thing about Donald Trump and one positive thing the Democrats have achieved with control of both chambers of Congress and the presidency
- Where do you get your news from?
- This is a Second Amendment case that the Supreme Court has accepted for next year. If someone has a domestic violence restraining order, does the federal government have the right to ban that person from owning a gun?
- Do you think childcare has become too expensive? As President, what would you do about it?
- The US is literally the only economically advanced nation There are no laws or programs that guarantee new parents any form of paid leave. Do you think that’s okay? As President, what, if anything, would you do to make paid vacations more available?
- Many of you support the repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act, but many of the clean energy policies it contains will increase manufacturing investment in rural areas and red states. Would you agree to scrapping all of this investment in communities that need jobs?
- Under President Donald Trump, the Republican Party lost the House of Representatives, the Senate and, yes, the White House. It was the first time anything had happened to a party in 90 years. What would you have done differently to win?
- Donald Trump says he won’t cut Social Security or Medicare. Joe Biden too. Do you agree, or would you reduce benefits, raise the qualifying age, or otherwise change the conditions for current and/or future retirees?
- Do Vaccines Cause Autism? show of hands
- Anti-abortion activists are urging the next Republican president to use the Comstock Act of 1873 as a vehicle to further restrict abortion services across the country. Would you invoke the Comstock Act to ban abortion drugs from being sent through the mail, and if so, would you do the same for other medical instruments or drugs used by abortion providers?
- Did Trump lose the 2020 election? show of hands
- Many Republicans have argued that the GOP is now a labor party. What will you do to protect workers’ right to form a union?
- define wakefulness.
- Russia is the dominant exporter of nuclear reactors and processed uranium fuel. China is reacting more than any other country and could start exporting soon. Should the US compete more directly in nuclear energy?
- Republicans have long supported nuclear power. What would you do to make building new reactors cheaper and easier?
- In his approval of the case overturning Roe v. Wade, Judge Clarence Thomas suggested that the court should “reconsider” other precedents based on the same legal basis as Roe, including decisions affecting birth control, same-sex intimate relationships, and same-sex relationships legalized. sex marriage. Do you think the court should review these precedents and that you think they should be overturned?
- During Trump’s final weeks in the White House, he rushed to execute 13 people, ending a 17-year de facto moratorium on federal executions. This moratorium was reinstated under the Biden administration while the Justice Department reviews capital punishment policies and procedures. Would you resume federal executions?
- Would you pardon the January 6 defendants?
- Would you pardon Donald Trump and his fellow conspirators?
- The statewide electric vehicle “battery belt” is forming in all republican states, especially in Georgia. Are Republican governors like Georgia’s Brian Kemp wrong in endorsing federal funding for electric vehicle and clean energy supply chains?
- Four states — Florida, South Dakota, Iowa and Kentucky — are refusing to apply for climate funds under the Inflation Reduction Act, so the Environmental Protection Agency is sending money to their largest cities instead. Doesn’t that mean that the municipalities don’t have the administrative and regulatory capacities of a state and that the money is being badly spent?
- With the increase in power outages in the US, particularly in states like Texas where the power grid is isolated from other power grids, do you support building more transmission lines between the country’s power distribution grids?
- If you are the candidate and lose the general election, will you still attempt a violent coup to seize power?
