Ben Carson seems to be suffering from hearing loss after missing his cue during the opening of the GOP debate on Feb. 6 in New Hampshire. Carson’s amusing blunder caused Trump to become confused as well, making the debate introduction a complete mess.
Once the debate started, Marco Rubio attacked President Obama every chance he got. Rubio’s constant reference of Obama became tiresome, as he continued to repeat the same rhetoric in several variations throughout the debate.
“Let’s dispel once and for all with this fiction that Barack Obama doesn’t know what he’s doing,” Rubio said. “He knows exactly what he’s doing. Barack Obama is undertaking a systematic effort to change this country, to make America more like the rest of the world.”
However, the highlight of the debate was when Chris Christie criticized Rubio’s lack of knowledge by calling him out on his repetitive and memorized speeches.
“When you’re president of the United States, when you’re a governor of a state, the memorized 30-second speech where you talk about how great America is at the end of it doesn’t solve one problem for one person,” Christie said.
Christie also asserted that Rubio does not have the proficiency to become the next president of the United States, and Christie pointed to his experience as governor of New Jersey as evidence of his own competence.
Nevertheless, the most exciting part of the debate was John Kasich’s refreshing perspective on immigration. He pointed out the problem with deporting millions of illegal immigrants; parents, children and families that have deep roots in the United States would be torn from their homes and sent to a country no more familiar to them at it is to us.
Some illegal immigrants have been living peacefully in the U.S. for decades, working to support their families and paying taxes like the rest of us. Why should they be kicked to the curb like they aren’t humans?
Out of all the Republican candidates, Kasich seems to have the most compassionate and humanitarian yet realistic perspective on immigration.
“I couldn’t even imagine how we would even begin to think about taking a mom or a dad out of a house when they have not committed a crime since they’ve been here, leaving their children in the house,” Kasich said. “I mean, that is not, in my opinion, the kind of values that we believe in.”
On the other hand, Trump promoted a less civilized approach to leadership, and he was vocal about his willingness to bring back various forms of torture. His eagerness on the subject of torture was somewhat alarming but quite ironic, given that he claimed at the beginning of the debate that he would be a levelheaded president.
“I would bring back waterboarding, and I would bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding,” Trump said.
Trump declared that he has the temperament to be the next commander in chief, but his remarks throughout the debate were accompanied by radical and imprudent proposals.
Generally, something that seemed to be lacking on the debate stage in New Hampshire was deliberation of America’s position within global politics. The lack of consideration most Republican candidates showed for the rest of the world in this era of globalization revealed an overall egocentric and negligent tone.