--- title: GOP Debate Stage Hot Topics: Abortion, Ukraine and Trump description: Here's where the Republican candidates stand on three issues almost certain to come up during Wednesday night's debate canonical: https://time.com/6307365/republican-debate-fox-news-ramaswamy-desantis/ author: Mini Racker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-08-22T20:14:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:50:58.395Z article:section: Politics og:title: Hot Topics for the GOP Debate Stage: Abortion, Ukraine, Trump og:description: Donald Trump is skipping the debate but his presence will be unavoidable. og:url: https://time.com/6307365/republican-debate-fox-news-ramaswamy-desantis/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt285dfc4fbc29a47b/698a3fbecabb1d66e6e51b07/GettyImages-137239841.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: GOP Presidential Candidates Debate In Myrtle Beach og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hot Topics for the GOP Debate Stage: Abortion, Ukraine, Trump twitter:description: Donald Trump is skipping the debate but his presence will be unavoidable. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt285dfc4fbc29a47b/698a3fbecabb1d66e6e51b07/GettyImages-137239841.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 3 Issues Likely to Be Hot Topics at the First GOP Debate > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: 2024 Presidential Candidates Campaign at the Iowa State Fair [Watch (HLS stream): 2024 Presidential Candidates Campaign at the Iowa State Fair](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7DH5kdUH.m3u8) (3:16)  _Published 2023-08-14. A host of 2024 presidential candidates visited the Iowa State Fair to mingle with voters ahead of the state's first-in-the-nation nominating caucuses._  by [Mini Racker](https://time.com/author/mini-racker/)  ## Mini Racker Aug 22, 2023 8:14 PM UTC  Workers prepare the stage for a GOP presidential debate hosted by Fox News, the Wall Street Journal and the South Carolina GOP on January 16, 2012 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Workers prepare the stage for a GOP presidential debate hosted by Fox News, the Wall Street Journal and the South Carolina GOP on January 16, 2012 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Joe Raedle—Getty Images  by [Mini Racker](https://time.com/author/mini-racker/)  ## Mini Racker Aug 22, 2023 8:14 PM UTC The Republican presidential primary began months ago, but Wednesday’s debate may as well be the starting gun. At the first GOP debate, the eight candidates who[made the stage](https://time.com/6306277/republican-debate-which-candidates-qualify/) will include relative unknowns as well as current governors and a former Vice President. They all will try to distinguish themselves and [gain ground on the frontrunner](https://time.com/6306091/2024-republican-primary-race-iowa/), former President Donald Trump, who is shunning the event. On the campaign trail throughout the spring and summer, [the candidates](https://time.com/6256382/who-is-running-for-president-2024/) have worked to promote their personal brands and policy platforms. But on Wednesday, many may be forced to describe and defend specific views and plans for the first time since entering the race. Here are three major issues to listen for. ## Trump’s indictments Despite his absence from the stage, Trump will be an invisible presence Wednesday night. On the campaign trail, his rivals have fielded constant questions about his legal troubles. The candidates have mostly split into two camps: those focused on suggesting that the prosecutions are political witch hunts, and those who are highly critical of the former President’s actions. The first camp includes Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, South Carolina Governor Tim Scott, and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. Some among them, like Ramaswamy, have committed to [pardoning Trump](https://time.com/6288861/donald-trump-pardon-2024-candidates-desantis-pence/) if he’s convicted of federal crimes; DeSantis has also [signaled as much](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/ron-desantis-suggests-pardon-trump-federal-charges-rcna96930), though he hasn’t made the same explicit promise. Scott and Haley, meanwhile, have sought to redirect the conversation away from Trump. In the other camp are former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, anti-Trump contenders who have framed the allegations against him as disqualifying. Somewhere in the middle of the two groups is former Vice President Mike Pence, who suggested President Joe Biden was weaponizing the Justice Department following the first two indictments against Trump. Later, after Trump’s third and fourth indictments, which are centered around the validity of the 2020 election results, Pence reaffirmed the election’s security and condemned the former President for raising doubts about it. ## Abortion After the fall of _Roe v. Wade_ last year, many Republicans have been hesitant to directly say whether they would pursue federal legislation further limiting abortion access. Meanwhile, a leading nationalanti-abortion group, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, has made [support for a national limit on abortion](https://time.com/6263960/abortion-ban-2024-republicans-campaign/) after fifteen weeks of pregnancy a litmus test for the Republican nominee. Despite identifying as “pro-life,” Ramaswamy, Christie, and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum have all suggested the issue shouldbe left up to the states. This summer, SBA Pro-Life America slammed DeSantis, who signed a six-week ban in Florida, after he dodged a question on federal limits, and implied abortion policy should be left up to the states. Others, like Haley and Scott, have indicated they’d support federal legislation restricting abortion after fifteen weeks without providing more details. Pence, an evangelical Christian, has staked out the most extreme position on the issue among the eight candidates in the debate, saying he would sign “any pro-life legislation that Congress would take up” and signaling he is willing to pay short-term political costs to restrict abortion. He has called on his rivals to join him in backing a 15-week federal limit, advocated pulling the abortion pill mifepristone from the market, and suggested last month that he would ban abortion even for nonviable fetuses. ## The war in Ukraine As the United States continues to aid Ukraine in its war with Russia, it has become a dividing line among Republican presidential candidates. Both DeSantis and Ramaswamy have suggested that it’s not the United States’ responsibility to continue to put money and resources to boost Ukraine. The Florida governor walked back his characterization of the conflict as “a territorial dispute,” but has continued to suggest he would handle the conflict differently than Biden. Ramaswamy has suggested the U.S. should orchestrate an end to the war through an agreement in which Ukraine would cede territory to Russia and be prohibited from joining NATO. Others, including Scott, Haley, Pence, and Christie, continue to support aid to Ukraine and have slammed Biden for not doing enough, though they have offered few specifics on how their own plans would differ. Both Christie and Pence emphasized their support for Ukraine this summer by traveling to the war-torn country to meet with Zelensky. Hutchinson and Burgum, meanwhile, have advocated for continuing aid, but with audits to keep better track of how it is being spent. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6307365/republican-debate-fox-news-ramaswamy-desantis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6307365/republican-debate-fox-news-ramaswamy-desantis/"},"headline":"3 Issues Likely to Be Hot Topics at the First GOP Debate","datePublished":"2023-08-22T20:14:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:50:58.395Z","description":"Former President Donald Trump is skipping the debate but his presence will be unavoidable.","url":"https://time.com/6307365/republican-debate-fox-news-ramaswamy-desantis/","keywords":["republicans","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt285dfc4fbc29a47b/698a3fbecabb1d66e6e51b07/GettyImages-137239841.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mini Racker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mini-racker/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt285dfc4fbc29a47b/698a3fbecabb1d66e6e51b07/GettyImages-137239841.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GOP Presidential Candidates Debate In Myrtle Beach","caption":"GOP Presidential Candidates Debate In Myrtle Beach","creditText":"Joe Raedle—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/republicans/","name":"republicans"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6307365/republican-debate-fox-news-ramaswamy-desantis/","name":"3 Issues Likely to Be Hot Topics at the First GOP Debate"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"2024 Presidential Candidates Campaign at the Iowa State Fair","description":"A host of 2024 presidential candidates visited the Iowa State Fair to mingle with voters ahead of the state's first-in-the-nation nominating caucuses.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/7DH5kdUH/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-08-14T20:01:40.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7DH5kdUH.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6307365/republican-debate-fox-news-ramaswamy-desantis/","duration":"PT3M16S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6307365/republican-debate-fox-news-ramaswamy-desantis/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```