Most beloved leaders in our nations history. Ronald reagan, the gipper, the great communicator, americas 40th Commander In Chief. He railed against Big Government. The nine most terrifying words in the english language are im from the government and im here to help and sought peace through strength. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall. 40 years after reagans landslide reelection, the Republican Party faces critical questions. What does it mean to be a conservative . We fight for the true. We are not going to worry about what the left and the media say about us. What is the key to a thriving economy . Its innovation, not regulation. America can do for anyone what shes done for me. We will stop the spending. We will stop the borrowing. We will stop the earmarks. What is americas role in the world . We need to build a military fitted to the widening challenges in an ever more dangerous world. Sometimes to avoid war by showing the top and the country faces even more challenges. Would reagan even recognize the country in which we now live . Tonight, candidate seeking the republican nomination converge in california to chart a new path for the grand old party. Now is the time for choosing. Welcome to the second Republican Debate of the 2024 primary. Live from the Ronald Reagan president ial library in simi valley, california, were inside the spectacular Air Force One Pavilion where the stage is set for a showdown. Im Stuart Varney of fox business and i am thrilled to be sitting alongside my comoderator as Fox News Channel dana perino and ilia calderon, univision. Good evening. Well, thank you. Thank you, sward. President reagan famously described america as a shining city on a hill. And tonight, seven candidates will make the case they should be the one to lead that city into a brighter tomorrow. But first, they have to convince you, the voters. Please allow me to welcome our Spanish Speaking audience. Were going to suggest that all this will take place in under Ronald Reagan. Los republicanos tambien buscan salvador. But alas, we might as well party to give any. And good evening. So lets meet the candidates who have qualified and chosen to be on this stage tonight. They are positioned by the order. They rank in the polls with the highest polling candidate in the middle Standing Center stage. Florida governor ron desantis, and the governor entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and the former South Carolina governor nikki haley and South Carolina senator tim scott. Former new jersey governor chris christie. On the wings tonight, former Vice President mike pence and north dakota governor doug burgum. We have questions on a wide variety of issues important to primary voters. Candidates get one minute to answer and 30 seconds to respond. If singled out. When that time runs out, well all hear this. We have a lot of ground to cover, so please keep it civilized. Lets get going. We are in the spacious, sunny place tonight, designed to reflect the very nature and character of Ronald Reagan. Its a place that makes you proud to be an american. Yet today, our nation is drowning in division and instability. Voters say they dread the 2024 election and find politics exhausting, too. In three, americans think the country is on the wrong track. And three in four say they the economy is not in good shape. Prices are up 18 since 2020. More than half of the Us Population now has little access to childcare. 85 of americans say that personal finances are a source of stress. Americans want to believe a leader who says, you can follow me. Ive got you. Dont worry. President biden is trying to do that with bidennomics. And yesterday, he joined the picket lines where autoworkers are demanding more wages and job security. Its not just scott. He recently reacted by praising Ronald Reagan for firing air Traffic Controllers in the 1980s, saying, you strike. Youre fired. Would you fire thousands of striking auto workers today, senator . Obviously, the president United StatesCannot Fire Anybody in the private sector. However, we should look back at the first bill in congress under joe biden. The first bill had 86 billion for the Union Pensions because it continued over promise yet underdeliver. Money. They want more benefits. Working fewer hours. That is simply not going to stand. I said in the finance committee hearing, when a widow came before the committee who has promised pensions from the unions for 1,000 a month. Unfortunately, it had been cut to A Thousand Dollars a month. We must make sure that we honor the commitments that we make. And one of the ways that we do that do not overpromise and then underdeliver and leave the taxpayers on the hook. Ill say this. Joe biden should not be on the picket line. He should be on the Southern Border working to close our Southern Border because it is unsafe, wide open, insecure border, leading to the deaths of 70,000 americans in the last 12 months because of fitting. No. It is devastating. Every county in america is now a Border County because fitting all has devastated americans in every single state. I will also say 6 million illegal crossings since joe biden has taken office and he eliminated title 42. The one thing he should do is finish the wall. Reinstate title 42 and get the job done. Well, i can promise you that we are going to have a lot of questions on the border and immigration. But in the meantime, we do want to talk about the economy and jobs. And especially i want to talk about this strike for just a moment more. Mr. Ramaswamy, youve said you really empathize with the strikers. Youre standing next to senator scott. You do agree with what he said or do you think hes wrong . I agree with some of what he said, for sure. I like the spirit of it. Ill say that i dont have a lot of patience for the union bosses. I think thats where he and i actually have a common view. I do have a lot of sympathy for the workers. However, people are going through real hardship in this country. Ive been through hardship growing up. My father stared down layoffs at ge under jack welchs tenure at the gm plant in even dale, ohio. My mom had to work overtime in Nursing Homes in southwest ohio to make ends meet and pay off our home loan. So i understand that hardship is not a choice. But victimhood is a choice. And we choose to be victorious in the United States of america. You know what . If i was giving advice to those workers, i would say go picket in front of the white house in washington, d. C. Thats really where the protest needs to be. Disastrous economic policies that have driven up prices, that have driven up Interest Rates and mortgage rates. At the same time, wages remaining stagnant. What we need is to deliver Economic Growth in this country, unlock American Energy, drill, frack, burn coal, embrace nuclear energy, put people back to work by no longer paying them more money to stay at home, stabilize the u. S. Dollar itself and rescind a majority of those unconstitutional federal regulations that are hampering our economy. That is how we unleash american exceptionalism. And thats not a democratic vision or a republican vision. That is an American Vision that we embrace Economic Growth and capitalism is still the best system known to man to lift us up from poverty. And we should not apologize for it. Thats what it means to be an american. Together, the ceos of general motors, ford and Stellantis Make 336 Times the number of rank. The number of rank and file workers. Thats just part of what a wider Income Inequality Trend in the country. The richest 1 now controls one fifth of all income. Vice president pence, last week you said you side with American Workers, but you also support how these companies operate. Which is it . Well, thank you for the question. And i want to thank univision and Fox Business For Assembling such a wonderful forum. Look, i do disagree with something tim scott just said, joe biden doesnt belong on a picket line. He belongs on the unemployment line. I mean, look, im from the second leading manufacturing state in the country per capita. I was governor of the state of indiana. We brought 12,000 factories back to america during our administration. I know something about manufacturing. And ive got to tell you, while while the union bosses are talking about Class Warfare and talking about disparity in wages, i have to tell you, i really believe whats driving that is a biden nomics has failed. Wages are not keeping up with inflation. Auto workers and all American Workers are feeling it and families are struggling in this economy. And joe bidens Green New Deal agenda is good for beijing and bad for detroit. We ought to repeal the Green New Deal, get rid of the mandates and subsidies that are driving american gasoline, automotive, manufacturing into the graveyard. And beyond that, also, as president of the United States, ill be standing with workers all across america, and ill be standing for the right to work of every american to join a union or not join a union as they decide. So, scott, you mention when you catch a response, theres no doubt that joe biden needs to be fired. Thats why im running for president. I look forward to being the next president of the United States. I will also say, i know america can do for anyone what shes done for me. Its why were focusing on restoring hope, creating opportunities and protecting the america we all love growing up in a single parent household. I wondered if the American Dream would work for a kid in the inner city. Ive got good news for every single child, whether youre in the inner cities of chicago or the rural parts of iowa. America and the dream. It is alive. It is well, and it is healthy. God bless these United States of america. Governor haley, the president , i think we need to look at exactly what happened. Biden showed up on that picket line. But why are those workers actually there . Its because of all of the spending that he has pushed through in the economy thats raised the inflation. So when you look at the fact that we are paying higher gas prices, higher grocery prices, 7,000 more a year for families. What we need to do is i came out with an economic plan. Eliminate the gas and diesel tax so that they have more money in their pocket. Lets focus on our going after Middle America and cutting taxes for Middle America and collapsing those brackets. Lets get rid of unfair distortions like the state and local tax that they give to wealthy people. And in blue states and not end paid by red states. And lets make sure we make the Small Business taxes permanent. They only made those temporary. They made the Corporate Taxes permanent. Lets focus on what it takes to get more cash in the pockets of workers. Thats what well be able to deal with. Strikes like this not sitting on a picket line like joe biden is. Thank you, governor haley. We have other questions to get to about the economy. I dont mean to interrupt. Im sorry. Allow me to. Allow me to sort of have to jump in because were missing the point. And every other network is missing the point. The reason why people are striking in detroit is because joe bidens interference with Capital Markets and with free markets. The subsidies, were subsidizing the auto makers and were subsidizing the cars and a particular kind of car. Not every car. Were particularly were subsidizing electric vehicles. And when you decide that were going to take all of your taxpayer monies, take 1,000,000,000, subsidize a certain type of vehicle, and the batteries come from china. China controls 85 of the rare earth minerals. Theyre called rare earth because theyre measured in parts per million. China is moving £100,000 of earth in indonesia. In africa, theyre literally destroying the planet so that we can they can make a battery thats in a car, subsidize it here. Thats why theyre striking, because they need two thirds less workers to build an electric car. Joe biden, this strike is a joe biden speech were going to meet. But allow me to put the question to governor christie. The government will shut down if congress does not reach a deal by the end of this week. Vice president pence warns that politics of, quote, trumped populist priorities like mr. Ramaswamy are a road to ruin for the gop if the government shuts down. Should voters blame populist republicans ferociously . Everybody whos in washington, d. C. , they get sent down there to do the job, and theyve been failing at doing the job for a very long time. And lets be honest about this with the voters. You know, during the trump administration, they added 7 trillion, 7 trillion in National Debt. And now the Biden Administration has put another 5 trillion on and counting. They have failed and theyre in the spot theyre in now because none of them are willing to Tell The Truth. None of them are willing to take on the difficult issues. They just want to keep kicking the can down the road. And the inflation that nikki spoke about is absolutely right. And its caused by government spending. And thats why people all across this country are suffering tonight. And yet we dont get any answers because joe biden hides in his basement and wont answer as to why hes raising the debt the way hes done. And donald trump, he hides behind the walls of his golf clubs and wont show up here to answer questions like all the rest of us are up here to answer. He put 7 trillion on the debt. He should be in this room to answer those questions for the people you talk about who are suffering. And if the government and if the government closes and if the government closes about that, its the blame. It is to the blame of everyone in washington, d. C. , who has failed to do their job and just plays to the grandstand. The next question is, what about greensburg . We want to go where . Heres what all we can go to washington. We must fight back. Please respect the time. We can get it done. The government isnt this. You havent spoken. Please, the people in washington are shutting down the American Dream with their reckless behavior. They borrowed, they printed, they spent. And now youre paying more for everything. They are the reason for that. They have shut down our National Sovereignty by allowing our border to be wide open. So please spare me the Crocodile Tears for these people. They need to change whats going on. And wheres joe biden . Hes completely missing in action from leadership. And you know who else is missing in action . Donald trump is missing in action. He should be on this stage tonight. He owes it to you to defend his record, where they added 7. 8 trillion to the debt that set the stage for the inflation that we have. Now, i can tell you this, as governor of florida, we cut taxes. We ran surpluses. Weve paid down over 25 of our state debt. And i vetoed wasteful spending when it came to my desk. And as your president , when they send me a Bloating Spending Bill thats going to cause your prices to go up, im going to take out this veto pen and im going to send it right back to them. You mentioned me and the question i just want to address one question that is on the minds of a lot of moms and dads and americans. And i know that youve been thinking about it because childcare costs, they are up. Theyre topping 10,000 per month. Some families are spending up to half of their income on childcare and theyre having to decide assistance that fell apart last year. And for the moms and dads out there who, what can you tell them if you werent able to get it through the congress, how could you do it as president . Certainly one of the things i did as a member of the congress was to make sure that we protected the Head Start Programs around the country, giving people the opportunity to pick and choose the place that they send their children. The challenges that we see today under the Biden Administration is that the costs for daycare has gone over 15,000 per child and the build back broker plan, he called it a build back better plan. It was going up to 29,000 the way we fix that problem is to make sure that we actually cut and give more americans their money back. When i help write the tax cuts and jobs act, we actually lowered a single mothers taxes by 70 on the federal level for dual income households by 60 . Then we went a step further. We doubled the child tax and made it refundable. By doing that, more parents had more resources to make the decisions how to take care of their family. The one thing we should do is let the A