Donald Trump looms over second debate despite being absent once again as no rival candidate has managed to narrow his overwhelming lead
Good evening, US politics blog readers, and thanks for joining us as the Guardian’s Maanvi Singh and I cover the second debate of Republican presidential candidates. This evening’s face-off takes place at the Ronald Reagan presidential library in Simi Valley, California, but if you know only one thing about this debate, know this: Donald Trump, who polls show has an overwhelming lead in the race for the GOP nomination, will not attend. The debate stage will instead feature seven candidates, including Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis, Trump’s former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, his ex-vice-president Mike Pence and South Carolina’s senator Tim Scott. We’ll tell you more about who else is there, and what Trump is doing instead, a little later.
That said, there’s still plenty of news to be made at this debate. Here’s what we’ll be watching for:
The federal government is on the cusp of shutting down for the 11th time since 1980 due to a protracted dispute over spending among Republicans, mostly in the House. Will the candidates take sides in the spending battle? And if so, will they support speaker Kevin McCarthy and his attempts to placate all wings of his party, or the insurgent Republicans who disputes over spending, border security and parliamentary tactics may soon grind much of the government to a halt?
Trump has warned his fellow Republicans against stringent abortion bans that keep the procedure off limits in cases of rape, incest or health complications. Will the candidates join his call, or back hardline restrictions – perhaps even a federal ban?
Joe Biden is the target of an impeachment inquiry launched by House Republicans, even though some of their own lawmakers don’t think there’s enough of a case against the president. Do the candidates agree, or do they think House Republicans should press on, even though Democrats’ control of the Senate means there’s practically no chance Biden will be removed from office?
