In first debate, GOP candidates talk Trump, ISIS, and immigration

The seven Republican presidential candidates who did not qualify for the Fox News prime-time debate took to the stage Thursday evening to participate in the so-called "happy hour" debate.

Carly Fiorina, Bobby Jindal, Rick Santorum, Jim Gilmore, Rick Perry, George Pataki, and Lindsey Graham reiterated several of the same points that they made during the Voters First Presidential Forum held Monday in New Hampshire. Graham again discussed losing his parents in his early 20s, and Perry touted how he "deployed the National Guard" to secure the Texas border, while Pataki and Gilmore both stated multiple times they were governors during Sept. 11.

The elephant who wasn't in the room — Donald Trump — was brought up early in the debate. Perry asked how Trump could "run for the Republican nomination and be for single-payer healthcare," and Fiorina got in the first jab of the night: "I didn't get a phone call from Bill Clinton, did any of you get a phone call from Bill Clinton? Maybe because I didn't give money to a foundation or donate to his wife's senate campaign." Later, she added, "He changed his mind on amnesty, health care, and abortion. What are the principles by which he would govern?"

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Regarding ISIS, Pataki said he would "destroy their training and recruiting centers," and "will not put one American life at risk unless absolutely necessary; to destroy ISIS it is necessary." Graham stated he would send troops to Iraq and Syria "to keep us from being attacked here... I can't tell you how much our country is threatened."

On immigration, Santorum said "the compassion is in our laws," and the U.S. is "not a country of people who do whatever they want. When we treat everyone equally under the law, that's when people feel good about being Americans." Jindal took a hard line approach, saying, "They need to come here legally, they need to learn English, adopt our values, roll up their sleeves, and get down to work."

The prime-time debate will start at 9 p.m. ET Thursday on Fox News.