Republican debate: Trump wasn't on the stage, but his name came up just the same

Former President Donald Trump's expectation that he would lord over Wednesday's GOP presidential debate in absentia turned out to be a no-show, too.

Over two hours on a stage in Milwaukee, the Fox News televised encounter gave eight presidential candidates alternating opportunities to shine, utter rehearsed soundbites, lure applause and fire salvos at each other. But more than anything, they stood out for the first time in a campaign trail that has been dominated by Trump.

Trump's campaign team had sought all along to keep the former president, who skipped the debate but will appear in Atlanta to answer to an indictment on Thursday, at the center of the debate's attention. Earlier Wednesday, Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita predicted that "everything is going to be about him" citing what he said was a lack of original ideas by the eight rivals who accepted the invitation to Milwaukee.

“In fact, tonight’s Republican undercard event really shouldn’t even be called a debate, but rather an audition to be a part of President Trump’s team in his second term,” the statement said.

But that wasn't the case.

Here are 10 takeaways, including the sharpest blow on Trump, "the elephant not in the room," as Fox co-moderator Brett Baier put it.

On the country's fiscal crisis, Trump gets almost equal blame with Biden

One of the few direct mentions of the former president came early, in the first segment of questioning about the country's economy, debt and deficits. Specifically, moderators Baier and Martha MacCallum noted the Trump White House added $7.4 billion to the national debt, including $3.5 billion before COVID emergency spending.

After stating he had supported the December 2017 Trump administration tax cuts, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina was reminded of the trillions in red ink Trump fiscal policies contributed to the U.S. debt. Scott replied the tax cut boosted the economy, driving joblessness down to 3.5% and setting employment records for Blacks, Asians and Hispanics.

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Chris Christie? Nah, Nikki Haley got the sharpest hit on Trump

Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador, said the "truth is our Republicans did this to us, too" singling out former Vice President Mike Pence, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Scott for repeatedly supporting increases in the nation's debt ceiling.

Then she took aim at Trump.

"Donald Trump added $8 trillion to our debt and our kids are never going to forgive us for it," she said.

Mike Pence touts Trump administration, not Trump

Pence rattled off a number of achievements during his term as vice president in the Trump administration, from the tax cuts to the U.S. Supreme Court justices that overturned Roe v. Wade. But he barely mentioned his former boss.

"With all due respect to my friends on this stage, and even to one who is probably looking on, I think I am unquestionably the best prepared, the most tested, the most proven and qualified conservative in this race," Pence said.

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"The elephant not in the room" and Trump's criminal cases

Raising the issue of the four separate indictments and 91 criminal charges that have been filed against Trump, Fox's Baier called Trump "the elephant not in the room" for his absence.

The segment started with one of the oddest hand-raisings in debate history. The question was whether the candidates would support Trump if he were to win the nomination despite being convicted of any of the felony counts against him.

Half the candidates, including businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and Haley, immediately raised their hands. DeSantis and Pence then meekly lifted theirs. Former governors Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson refused to do so.

The topic let Christie take on Trump on an issue that has been a central talking point in the former New Jersey governor's stump speeches.

"Someone's got to stop normalizing this conduct," Christie said. "Whether or not you believe the criminal charges are right or wrong, the conduct is beneath the office of President of the United States."

But Ramaswamy ripped into Christie.

"Honest to God, your claim that Donald Trump is motivated by vengeance and grievance would be a lot more credible if your entire campaign were not based on vengeance and grievance against one man," said the GOP rising star.

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Christie shot back by quoting Trump saying he would "suspend" parts of the U.S. Constitution, lecturing Ramaswamy on the presidential oath to defend and protect and not "suspend" the American government's founding document.

Booing of Christie forces debate stoppage time

While Christie's attacks on Trump did garner cheers, it also drew the most prolonged booing and jeering of the evening.

At one point, Baier turned to the audience and admonished the crowd for their heckling and interruption of the New Jersey governor. He said the longer they kept Christie, or other candidates, from being able to talk, the more time would be lost for all the candidates to speak.

And those fireworks came before GOP candidates debated Jan. 6

The bantering and verbal jousting continued as moderators asked whether they believed Pence had acted correctly on Jan. 6, 2021, a question that even sparked jousting between DeSantis and moderator Baier.

DeSantis refused to answer.

"This election is not about Jan. 6, 2021. It's about Jan. 20, 2025 when the next president takes office," the governor said while embarking on a soliloquy on the Biden administration, the American people and the priorities for the next president.

DeSantis' deflection got called out by the moderators and his rivals on stage, including Christie who said Pence deserved the nation's thanks for upholding the Constitution and not "grudging" gratitude.

DeSantis then relented, saying: "Mike did his duty, I have no beef with that."

But Baier didn't leave it at that, singling out DeSantis for a public upbraiding for complaining about the question.

"Let me just say, Gov. DeSantis, we spent an hour talking about policy, former President Trump is beating you by 30, 40 points in many polls so it is a factor in the GOP primary," Baier said.

One more Jan. 6 reference to Trump ... the "P" word

Businessman Ramaswamy called on the seven other GOP presidential candidates on the stage to join him in pledging to pardon Trump. None did.

In fact, Ramaswamy again got lectured, this time on the fact that a pardon is offered to those who have been convicted of or have pleaded guilty to a crime and have expressed remorse for their wrongdoing.

Wait, who built the wall? Trump or Pence?

During an exchange on border security, including immigration and drug trafficking challenges, Pence, with all "humility," took credit for what has been Trump's long-standing signature policy: the wall.

Pence insisted he played a major role during the 2018-2019 government shutdown in pressing the new Democratic House majority for a spending measure he said included money for the border wall.

"I was negotiating on Capitol Hill around the clock," Pence said.

He also took credit for the implementation of a border policy where people seeking entry into the United States had to remain in Mexico until their petitions were resolved. He said he procured support from Mexico to send that country's national guard to the border for added security.

As president, he said he would again engage the Mexican government and military to fight the drug cartels.

Trump didn't show up, but Ronald Reagan did get invoked

Before their closing statements, the Fox telecast showed the Ronald Reagan presidential site in Simi Valley, California, noting that it will be the site of the next debate in September. Reagan, the 40th president, was invoked several times during the debate.

In his closing statement, former Arkansas Gov. Hutchinson said the solution to America's woes was neither another four years of President Joe Biden or Trump. Hutchinson said he would lead with "bold ideas" and a renewal of "optimism" and "bring out the best of Americans."

"A president's number one responsibility is to bring out the best of our people," he said. "That's what Ronald Reagan did."

Was Trump not debating a mistake?

Former Trump press secretary Kayleigh McEnany this week called Trump's decision to skip the encounter a “huge political miscalculation,” as reported by The Hill and HuffPost.

McEnany said that in not debating, Trump would "give others the opportunity to shine. You give others two hours to throw lobs at you.”

Will that turn out to be the case? Stay tuned to see what post-debate polls say.

Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Debate takeaways: Who attacked absent Trump at GOP debate?