The candidates were clashing and the Milwaukee crowd was getting rowdy.
After an hour of policy discussion, the first Republican primary debate of 2023 had turned chaotic when the Fox News moderators brought up “the elephant not in the room.”Donald J. Trump was not onstage on Wednesday, but the mere mention of his name created fireworks.
Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor, urged Republicans “to stop normalizing” the former president’s conduct.
His rival Vivek Ramaswamy responded that Mr. Trump was “the best president of the 21st century.” A sleepy debate had yielded to a gloves-off battle over the future of the Republican Party.
As the audience drowned out Mr. Christie with boos, Bret Baier, one of the moderators, paused and turned in his chair.
Persons:
” Donald J, Trump, Chris Christie, “, Vivek Ramaswamy, Christie, Bret Baier, ”
Organizations:
Milwaukee, Fox, New, Republican Party
Locations:
New Jersey