My questions for the GOP candidates

Here's what I'd ask the also-rans at Wednesday's Trumpless debate

Ron DeSantis sits in a very large chair (photo by Megan Varner/Getty Images)

I’ve written posts like this for past elections. I’ve compiled lists of questions that I’d like to see someone ask, usually with an emphasis on my beat — questions about issues like post-conviction law, judicial philosophy, or the proper role of police and prosecutors.

This post has some of that. But it’s more about questions that, frankly, no one should need to ask. It’s testament to the clown-show-in-a-dumpster-fire era through which we’re surviving that it’s actually now necessary to ask the leading lights of the Republican Party if, for example, suspected drug smugglers should be executed without a trial. Or if they support lining the border with saw blades and razor wire to mutilate migrants. Or if the former vice president is guilty of treason for following the Constitution. Or if they think Bill Gates drinks the blood of children.

Yet this is where we are, now. Or at least, this is where the Republican Party seems to be.

So here are the questions I’d ask at the debate.

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General questions

— With the exception of Gov. Christie, most of you have been extremely reluctant to criticize Donald Trump, your opponent and the current runaway favorite to win this primary. Most of you have only praised him.

So why are you running against him?

— Do you believe the COVID-19 vaccine saved lives? Were you vaccinated? Would you recommend vaccination for your family and friends?

— Do you believe the vaccine is dangerous? Do you think it may have caused thousands of unnecessary deaths, as some conservative pundits have claimed?

— What do you make of QAnon, the conspiracy theory pushed by many prominent personalities on the right — including President Trump’s former national security advisor Mike Flynn — that celebrities, politicians, and world leaders are engaged in a mass child trafficking operation for the purpose of consuming the blood of their victims?

— Would you welcome the support of QAnon believers? What about the Proud Boys? The Oath Keepers? The Three Percenters? Would you welcome an endorsement by Nick Fuentes? Richard Spencer? Stormfront? Will you specifically reject support from any of these parties?

— In a recent poll, more Republicans said racism against white people is a problem than said racism against black people is. Do you agree — do you think white people face more racial discrimination than black people?

— Do you think Hillary Clinton should be in prison? For what crimes? How about Barack Obama? Joe Biden? Adam Schiff? Liz Cheney?

— We’ve recently seen people prosecuted for acts like leaving water for migrants who traverse the desert to get to the U.S.-Mexican border. We’ve also seen Texas Gov. Greg Abbott place saw blades in floating buoys in the Rio Grande River. We’ve seen Republican governors use migrants as political pawns by putting them on planes or buses to be shipped to Democratic cities, often without telling them where they’re going. And President Trump of course initiated a policy of separating children from their parents and sending each to different parts of the country in order to deter migrants from coming here. Do you think that when people seek asylum in the U.S. — legally or otherwise — they give up their basic human rights? Do you think death, maiming, or the loss of one’s children is an appropriate punishment for seeking a new life in the U.S. in a way that doesn’t conform with U.S. law?

— You all regularly decry illegal immigration. But the Cato Institute and others have pointed out that despite a huge labor demand, it’s nearly impossible for low-skilled workers to come to the U.S. legally. Would you support a streamlined system that makes legal immigration much easier?

— Do you think the recent Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action should also apply to private companies — that is, should private companies be prohibited from considering race and diversity when making hiring decisions?

Elections, democracy, and Donald Trump

— How would you characterize Mike Pence’s decision to certify electors on January 6, 2020:

(A) He did the right thing

(B) He did the wrong thing

(C) He betrayed Donald Trump and the Republican Party

(D) He betrayed the country

(C) He committed treason

— Do you believe former president Trump when he says that the classified documents involved in his criminal indictment were his property, and that he can do what he wants with them? Do you agree that he did nothing wrong in taking them, keeping them, and refusing to give them back? If yes, if you’re elected, do you plan to take any classified documents with you when you leave office?

— Do you think Hunter Biden should be prosecuted for benefitting from his father’s influence?

— If so, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump reported making $172 to $640 million in income while Trump was president, while they were working for the administration in unpaid positions. Soon after leaving office, Kushner also received billions from the governments and royalty of Middle Eastern countries, after he oversaw the Trump administration’s Middle East policy. There’s also persuasive evidence that he inflamed tensions in the Persian Gulf in order to pressure the government of Qatar to invest in his failed real estate venture. Should Jared and Ivanka also be investigated? If not, why not?

— Do you believe the January 6th rioters were uniformly or overwhelmingly Trump supporters? Or, as some on the right have suggested, do you think they were primarily Antifa actors or FBI informants engaged in a “false flag” operation?

— If every legal vote had been properly counted and recorded, do you think Donald Trump would have won or lost the 2020 election?

— Are you confident that if he’s reelected next year, Donald Trump will leave the White House voluntarily in 2029?

— Do you think Donald Trump’s rhetoric has encouraged violence against protesters, journalists, or his political opponents? Do you think his rhetoric in this area has been responsible?

— Trump repeatedly threatened Jeff Bezos with tax penalties and other repercussions because he didn’t like how the Washington Post was covering him. Was that appropriate? As president, would you consider government-imposed penalties against media outlets you believe are covering your administration unfairly or dishonestly?

— Gov. Christie, you’re the only candidate on this stage who has publicly said that Donald Trump is unfit for office. But in 2016, you were the first candidate to endorse Trump after dropping out of the Republican primary. Several outlets reported that you hoped for a position in his administration. If Trump was as terrible a president as you say, don’t you bear some responsibility for that? You’ve also said you’ve known Trump for a very long time. It is isn’t as if he has changed. Why did you endorse someone you had to have known wasn’t fit for office? And if, as it seems, it was because you wanted a position in his administration, it would seem that you put your personal ambition over what was good for the country. So why should voters trust your judgment now?

— Vice President Pence, you have criticized Trump for his refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election, and you have rightly defended your own actions on January 6th, correctly stating that you didn’t have the power to single-handedly overturn the election. Yet after performing your constitutional duty, your approval rating among Trump’s supporters cratered. Currently, you’re under 5 percent with Republican voters. Trump is at 50 percent or higher, and his supporters have called you a traitor, a treasonist, have called for your prosecution, and even for your execution. Yet you still seek the support of those very people, and without them you can’t win the primary. And aside from the issue of the 2020 election, you have largely defended Trump’s record as president. What does it say about the current Republican Party that you’re currently seeking the votes of people who think you betrayed them for not illegally overturning an election? What does it say about you that for eight years, you loyally served and defended — and that even today you still mostly defend — the first president in American history to undermine the peaceful transfer of power?

— How many of you plan to pardon the January 6th rioters? How many of you plan to pardon Donald Trump? For which other people and crimes would you consider pardons?

— Mr. Ramaswamy recently suggested that some voters should be forced to pass a civics test before they’re permitted to vote. How many of you agree?

— What other restrictions would any of you put on voting?

— Do you think President Trump handled the pandemic properly? Is there anything you would have done differently?

— A large and ever-growing number of senior-level staffers in the Trump administration— most of whom he hired or appointed — have since denounced him, with many saying he is unfit to hold office. The list includes Rex Tillerson, Mark Milley, Bill Barr, Michael Cohen, James Mattis, Richard V. Spencer, John Bolton, John Kelly, H.R. McMaster, Tom Bossert, Gary Cohn, Ty Cobb, Kurt Volker, Bill Stepien, B.J. Pak, Eric Herschman, Betsy DeVos, Stephanie Grisham, Alyssa Farrah Griffin, and Mark Esper.

Are all of these people wrong about Trump? Do you put any significance in the fact that Trump himself hired so many people who now denounce him, and whom he now disparages?

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The drug war

— Former president Donald Trump has often expressed a fondness for executing drug dealers. Do you support such a policy? If so, for what drugs, and what is the minimum quantity of drugs possessed or sold for which you’d support execution?

— Gov. DeSantis, you recently said that under your administration, if someone with fentanyl in a backpack attempted to enter the country, Border Patrol agents would be empowered to shoot that person “stone cold dead.” How would that work? How would Border Patrol agents know if there was fentanyl in someone’s backpack? Would they have the power to shoot and kill anyone who crosses the border with a backpack on the assumption that it might contain fentanyl? Or is the idea that if Border Patrol agents find fentanyl on someone after detaining and searching them along the border, they’d have the power to shoot that person? Are you aware that the vast, vast majority of fentanyl enters the country through legal ports of entry, and is smuggled by U.S. citizens? Do you think any U.S. citizen suspected of smuggling fentanyl should also be shot on sight?

— Do the rest of you support this policy suggested by Gov. DeSantis?

— President Trump has repeatedly expressed his admiration for the former president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, and has specifically praised Duterte’s drug policy. Human rights organizations have condemned that policy, and reporting on the ground has found that Duterte essentially authorized the extra-judicial execution of suspected drug dealers. Do you, like Trump, find Duterte’s drug policy praiseworthy? Would you attempt to implement such a policy in the U.S.?

— Do you think marijuana legalization at the state level has been successful? Would your administration . . .

(A) Continue to allow the states to experiment, even though federal law still prohibits marijuana

(B) Work to legalize marijuana at the federal level

(C) Attempt to enforce federal prohibition and shut down legalization in the states?

— Several of you have said that to curb the supply of illegal fentanyl, you’d authorize policies like bombing Mexican drug cartel sites, or sending drones into Mexico to assassinate cartel leaders. The Mexican government understandably views such actions as violations of the country’s sovereignty. Are you prepared to go to war to Mexico over drug prohibition?

— For those of you support such policies, there’s ample evidence that Mexican cartels and Central American gangs often use guns that are manufactured in the U.S. Applying the same logic behind bombing or assassinating drug cartels — that these countries’ failure to control the flow of illegal products is hurting U.S. citizens —would Mexico, El Salvador, or Guatemala be justified in bombing U.S. gun factories or sending drones to assassinate the executives of U.S. gun companies?

Policing and law enforcement

— Former FBI Director James Comey has claimed that then-president Trump demanded that he profess his loyalty to him. Do you think the FBI should be independent of the administration in the White House, or should a sitting president be able to order the agency to investigate certain crimes? If elected, would you demand that the FBI investigate some crimes over others? Would you demand the agency investigate specific people? Will you demand that the head of the FBI or any other federal law enforcement agency pledge loyalty to you, personally?

— Do you think the FBI should be disbanded, as some Trump supporters have demanded? Do you think it’s an overtly left-leaning agency that unfairly targets Republicans? Do you think the FBI violated the constitutional rights of Donald Trump, his supporters, or his allies?

— The Supreme Court recently made it even more difficult to sue federal law enforcement officers. It is now nearly impossible to sue federal law enforcement officers, even when there’s no dispute about egregious abuse and violations of the Constitution. Congress and a sitting president could change this tomorrow. Would you support a bill creating a legal remedy for constitutional violations by federal law enforcement?

— According to multiple sources, Donald Trump wanted to invoke the Insurrection Act to send active duty military troops into cities across the country during the George Floyd protests, and only relented after strong objections from his military advisors. It would have been the most extensive use of the Insurrection Act since Reconstruction. Do you think Trump should have sent active-duty troops into U.S. cities?

— Do you think the George Floyd protesters had legitimate complaints about police brutality and racism or do you think they were unfairly critical of police officers?

— After the protests, many states passed laws providing some criminal and civil liability protections for motorists who run over protesters if they’re blocking streets. Do you support these laws?

— Do you think George Floyd was murdered? Do you think Derek Chauvin’s conviction was justified?

— Do you think the Capitol Police killing of Ashley Babbitt on January 6th was justified?

— After the January 6th riots, various conservative pundits and Fox News personalities mocked the Capitol Police officers who spoke out against the riots and President Trump, calling them cowards, whiners, and traitors. What do you think about those comments? Do you think the Capitol Police acted properly in defending the building on January 6th? Do you consider them heroes, traitors, cowards, or something else?

General criminal justice

— Do you believe the people who have been prosecuted for alleged crimes in the January 6th riots have been treated unfairly? Do you think they’ve been treated worse than a typical defendant in the criminal justice system?

— The Supreme Court has also ruled that so long as a defendant has had a fair and constitutional trial, innocence isn’t a sufficient reason for the federal courts to overturn a conviction, release someone for prison or even to prevent an execution. Do you agree? Should a missed filing deadline or some other procedural issue keep an innocent person in prison, or keep them on death row?

— Do you agree with President Trump’s pardons of former soldiers who were court-martialed for war crimes? Do you agree with his pardon of Joe Arpaio? Roger Stone? Paul Manafort? Charles Kushner? Steve Bannon?

Sex, gender, and reproductive rights

— As president, would you sign a federal ban on abortion? If so, what penalty should be imposed on women who illegally obtain an abortion? What penalty should be imposed on the doctor who performs the procedure?

— Do you believe the abortion pill should be banned? What about the morning after pill?

— Do you think women should also be prosecuted for self-induced abortions? Should prosecutors have the power to charge women with a crime if they believe they’re trying to miscarry, or are failing to nurture a pregnancy?

— Should states have the power to prohibit or restrict access to the birth control pill? Other hormonal birth control? IUDs? Diaphragms? Condoms?

— Recently, conservative pundits and influencers like Matt Walsh and Stephen Knowles have ratcheted up their anti-trans rhetoric, arguing that transgender people should not be recognized in government data, or even that adults should be prohibited from transitioning. Some state legislatures have followed with laws along these lines. Do trans people have the right to exist? Should gender transitions be banned entirely? Do trans people have the same right to express themselves as non-trans people? Do you think they should be barred form using public bathrooms?

— Do you agree with the Lawrence v. Texas, the Supreme Court decision that overturned laws against consensual, adult non-procreative sexual activity? Should states be permitted to criminalize homosexuality?

The death penalty

— The Trump administration executed more people in its last 18 months than the federal government executed in the previous 30 years. The Biden administration has halted federal executions. Would you resume them? Would you work to execute federal prisoners at a similar pace as Trump?

— Do you believe any innocent people have been executed since the Supreme Court reinstituted the death penalty in 1976?

— Gov. DeSantis, you have pushed to limit appeals and speed up executions in Florida. More people have been exonerated form Florida’s death row than any other state. How do you reconcile those two things? Are you confident that Florida is no longer convicted innocent people? If so, why? What has changed?

— For the rest of you: Are you confident that the justice system as it exists today has adequate protections to prevent the execution of an innocent person?

— As far as I know, all of you support the death penalty. But all of you are also Republicans who claim to support limited government. If you don’t trust government to, say, regulate the environment or promote public health, why do you trust the government to justly, fairly, and competently take a life?

The First Amendment

— Do you think the press has too much freedom in the United States?

— Should private tech platforms should be forced to post content they find objectionable — or that they believe their users will find objectionable? Should the government have the power to force them to publish said content? I

— Is there any content they should be allowed to prohibit? If so, what sort of content would that be? Who gets to decide which content tech companies must publish and which content they can prohibit?

— Does the First Amendment give anyone the right to publish whatever they want on social media platforms owned by other people?

— Trump repeatedly threatened Jeff Bezos with tax penalties and other repercussions because he didn’t like how the Washington Post was covering him. Was that appropriate? As president, would you consider government-imposed penalties against media outlets you believe are covering your administration unfairly or dishonestly?

— Do you believe the media is the “enemy of the people?” Are there any circumstances under which you think it would be appropriate to arrest and imprison a journalist or publisher over something they’ve written, broadcast, or published?

— Do you believe Saudi Prince Muhammad bin Salman ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi?

— Do you think government should have the power to punish private companies for implementing DEI policies, expressing support for LGBTQ+ people, or backing liberal or “woke” political causes or candidates? What about private companies implementing vaccine requirements? If so, how is any of that consistent with the idea free enterprise and free markets? Should Democratic politicians be allowed to punish private companies for backing conservative causes?

And finally . . .

— Here’s a partial list of people and groups whom Donald Trump has accused of treason: former FBI agents Peter Strzock and Lisa Page, the FBI more generally, the Hillary Clinton campaign, Barack Obama, the Democratic party, people who favor more liberal immigration policy, James Comey, Andrew McCabe, the New York Times, the Washington Post, journalists who criticized his praise of Kim Jong Un, Democrats who didn’t applaud during his State of the Union address, a Black Lives Matter leader, Adam Schiff, the attorney for the person who blew the whistle on Trump’s phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Adam Schiff, and the author of an anonymous op-ed in the New York Times.

Do you think any of these people or groups are guilty of treason? Is it treason to criticize, demean, ridicule or even unfairly or wrongly accuse the sitting president?

Trump has acknowledged that he understands that the Constitution allows for those convicted of treason to be executed. Do you think any parties on this list deserve to be executed?

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