Tuscaloosa County Democrats React To GOP Primary Debate

TUSCALOOSA, AL — The Tuscaloosa County Democratic Party on Thursday released its response to Wednesday's Republican Presidential Primary Debate hosted at the University of Alabama, which saw the local arm of the party take a critical stance over the candidate's positions and the noticeable absence of the Republican frontrunner, former president Donald Trump.

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The party said it believes that free speech and debate are essential for democracy and ultimately welcomed the NewsNation Republican Primary debate.

Still, Tuscaloosa County Democrats insisted that the spirit of that debate was undercut by Trump not participating in the event.

“This is really not a debate tonight, folks," former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, an Alabama Democrat, said before the debate. "You can't debate when the front runner's not here.”

Instead, the four candidates on stage were former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.

As Patch previously reported, candidates participating in Wednesday's debate were required to have 80,000 donors and 6% support in at least two American polls.

Democratic Party leaders went on to say that the Republican Party's "2nd Place Debate Team" worked to highlight their unpopular policies for both a national and Alabama audience, but the event was much ado for little actual political impact.

“The Republican policies we saw discussed [Wednesday] night were harmful for the American people,” Tuscaloosa County Democratic Party Chair Judith Taylor said. “The candidates spent more time posturing than on proposing solutions. Alabamians want prosperous, safe, and healthy lives. That is not what Republicans stand for.”

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Taylor then criticized the openly right-wing moderators for the event: Conservative pundit Megyn Kelly, NewsNation's Elizabeth Vargas and Eliana Johnson, the editor-in-chief of the conservative news outlet The Washington Free Beacon.

"There was another tragic mass shooting on a different college campus last night – at UNLV," Taylor said, referring to the killing of three people in a shooting on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "Yet the only discussion about firearms was Vivek Ramaswamy’s unserious proposal to arm the citizens of Taiwan.

“The Tuscaloosa Co. Democratic Party is looking forward to making our case to voters in 2024,” Taylor added. “Democrats stand for freedom – personal freedom, economic freedom, and democratic freedom. As Americans, this is our moment to fight for a better future for all of us, and we invite you to join us.”

Amber Buck, chair of the party's Communications Committee, also offered up a defense of the Democratic Party's presumed nominee in 2024 — President Joe Biden.

"Democrats in Congress have spent the last three years delivering results for the American people, building a 21st Century economy, improving infrastructure, and lowering prescription drug costs,” she said. “Republicans are more interested in banning books and putting government between you and your doctor.”

The Tuscaloosa County Democratic Party's Executive Committee invites anyone interested in learning more about the party to attend its meetings on the third Saturday of each month at 10 a.m. in the Tuscaloosa Co. Courthouse Annex.

The next meeting is set for Jan. 20, 2024.

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