It’s not an exaggeration to say that the Fox Business GOP Presidential debate was a train wreck.

You were treated to almost two hours of leftist talking points by the moderators. They not only did not control the debate but also ignored their own rules, allowing candidates to attack each other without the chance to rebut.

Emmy award-winning leftist Univision Moderator! Ilia Calderon, who had difficulty speaking English clearly, asked questions about Dreamers, and DACA and turned the questions into speeches condemning GOP immigration policies.

Including one of the moderators. https://t.co/hI6yEIuQOY

— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) September 28, 2023

She also attacked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis repeating a hoax by Kamala, claiming Florida’s educational standards were racist.

DeSantis calls out Univision moderator for spreading @VP Harris’ “hoax” that Florida teaches slavery is beneficial pic.twitter.com/bYRF6s0R8V

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) September 28, 2023

DeSantis was asked by another moderator how Republicans can expect to win if they are against abortion limits. DeSantis slapped down that claim by noting that he won Florida with a landslide, and made his purple state red. He even won a previously Democrat-stronghold county.

Dana Perino asked a stupid question to the end, asking which candidates should be removed from the GOP’s “island”, in order to clean the field. DeSantis called her out and said that she asked a question without substance during what was supposed to be a serious discussion. DeSantis was quickly backed by the other candidates, who nodded their heads.

What was left out of the debate? Covid is arguably the most important issue in the last four-year period. No one was asked if they wanted masking back or if they supported school closures and compulsory vaccines, now that the virus has re-emerged. You would have loved to compare the answers with past statements and positions of candidates. It would have been interesting to hear Mike Pence, who stood silently by Anthony Fauci at his pandemic press conference after press conference, debate DeSantis. DeSantis opened up his state quickly, refused to mandate vaccinations and masks, sent children back to school earlier, and was a strong opponent of mandatory vaccines.

There seemed to be no rules. The rules were supposed to allow each candidate a 30-second response to an attack by their opponent. However, this didn’t happen. Ron DeSantis was denied the chance to respond twice prior to the first break. DeSantis was not asked any questions until 20 minutes after the start of the debate. This is despite the fact that he has the highest polling position, behind only Trump.

The debate format is clearly broken in the United States and must die quickly (yet painfully). The debate format is designed to maximize revenue for the network rather than reveal the truth or the beliefs of the candidates. Did anyone learn anything Wednesday night? Were we able to better understand the candidates’ positions on Republican issues? Answer: resoundingly no. It is not enough time for candidates to spout a talking point, much less explain their convictions on serious issues that are plaguing our country.

We need to return to the Lincoln Douglas debate format. We may not need seven debates lasting three hours like in 1858. But is it too much to expect that the candidates have 20 minutes each to explain their position, followed by a 15-minute rebuttal? Some of you may say that Americans do not have the attention span for such a thing. That’s possible. Maybe we have trained them to only expect neatly packaged programs with predictable talking points. The RNC and DNC continue to schedule these fake debates in order to enrich the media networks. Why?

We must demand more of our national parties, and the national parties should demand more of their candidates. Ron DeSantis is right to suggest that Donald Trump be debated tonight. It shouldn’t just be a Hannity-directed three-ring show; it should have a serious discussion with a serious host. The other candidates also need to have a one-on-one discussion. I don’t believe that Trump should not have to defend himself and his actions because he is the most popular. He should have to earn Republican votes just like any other candidate.

We must be serious about saving our country. The “conventional knowledge” and the “way we’ve done things in the past” don’t work. It would be good to start with a new format of debate that is more serious.

I have explained that we will not be putting our thumbs down in the GOP primaries. We haven’t and won’t endorse a candidate. We think your vote is very important. Until those votes have been cast and the Republican nominee has been made official, we will let the process run its course.

We’re all in this together. If a Democrat wins the next presidential election (and, God forbid, the Senate, too), we’ll all hang go to the gulags together, so we’d better start figuring out how to work together.