First 2024 Republican presidential debate: A look at the closing statements of all the candidates

Eight of Donald Trump’s competitors fought for second place Wednesday night since he skipped the opening Republican presidential primary debate in 2024.

Alongside Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the middle of the stage, 38-year-old entrepreneur and first-time candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was the focal point for the majority of the evening.

A boisterous audience of around 4,000 people watched the debate at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. The Fox News moderators were occasionally drowned out by the audience’s emotions, which included boos and jeers when contenders criticised Trump.

In his closing statement, Gov. Doug Burgum said he understands America is hurting because “Biden’s inflation is choking us.”

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“Our economy is being crushed by Biden’s energy policies, which are raising the costs of every product you buy,” Burgum said. “One thing that I will do as president, I will secure the border. I will get this economy sprinting, not crawling like it is right now.”
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said the country needs new leadership and a president who will bring out the best in America.

“The solution is not four more years of Joseph Biden. The solution is not four more years of Donald Trump,” he said to some boos from the crowd at the mention of the former president. ”The solution is new leadership that can bring bold ideas to America and to bring out the best of America.”
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott detailed lessons he said his mother taught him during his closing statement.

“She taught me that if you’re able-bodied in America, you work. If you take out a loan, you pay it back. You commit a violent crime, you go to jail. And if God made you a man, you play sports against men,” he said.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said “we have a country to save,” adding that if she were elected president, “we will make sure we have an America that is strong and proud.”

“I will strengthen our economy and we’ll bring this inflation down,” said the former US ambassador to the United Nations. “We will put transparency in the classroom, we will secure our borders, we will have the backs of our law enforcement and we will make sure we have a strong national security.”
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said his experience as a Republican elected official in a blue state is why he is the most qualified to beat President Joe Biden.

“Everybody on this stage wants to be the next president of the United States. And the only way that is going to happen is if we beat Joe Biden. I’m the only one on the stage who has ever beaten a Democratic incumbent in an election,” Christie said.

Former Vice President Mike Pence used his closing arguments to pitch himself as a proven leader who can “move a conservative agenda forward.”

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He said that when he was serving as vice president, the administration showed “we could turn this country around and I have faith we will again,” but said that “different times call for different leadership.”
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy used the closing remarks to double down on what he described as “common ideals” — including “there are two genders,” “open border is not a border” and “parents determine the education of their children.”

“I grew up into a generation where we were taught to celebrate our diversity and our differences so much that we forgot all of the ways we are really just the same as Americans, bound by a common set of ideals that set this nation into motion in 1776,” Ramaswamy said. “And this is our moment to revive those common ideals.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis described next year’s election as “make or break “

“We will send Joe Biden back to his basement and we will reverse the decline of this country,” he said, noting that as governor he “made promises and I delivered on all of those promises.”