*Former Republican Party Logo (Wikipedia)*

Here are reports about the first Republican presidential candidate debate:

Republican Presidential Candidates, Minus Trump, Spar Sharply
August 24, 2023
Eight Republicans who want to be president of the United States shared a stage Wednesday night in Wisconsin for their party’s first debate ahead of next year’s election.
The two-hour televised debate, the first held by Republicans in this election cycle, featured spirited exchanges about what one of the moderators called “the elephant who is not in the room” – the absent party front-runner, former President Donald Trump, who decided he is so far ahead in the polls he did not need to be on the stage. …
Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley declared, “Trump is the most disliked politician in America. We can’t win a general election that way.”
However, political novice Vivek Ramaswamy, rising in the polls, stood by Trump, saying he believed he was “the best president of the 21st century.”
Other Republican presidential contenders, while acknowledging Pence’s role on Jan. 6, 2021, in rejecting Trump’s demand to stop congressional certification of Biden’s victory, described the prosecution of Trump as the political weaponization of the Justice Department overseen by Biden.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared, “This election is not about January 6. We’ve got to focus on your future, look forward.”
Only two of the eight candidates on the debate stage, Christie and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, said they would not support Trump if he were convicted and still won the Republican presidential nomination.
Trump leads by about 40 percentage points over his closest Republican presidential challenger, DeSantis, with all the other Republican opponents getting less than 10% apiece in national polls.
Ramaswamy on Wednesday evening stood apart in questioning American support for Ukraine, saying China is a bigger threat to the United States than Russia. Several other candidates, including Haley, also a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, expressed strong support for Ukraine in defending itself against Russian forces.
Others on the debate stage were South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum. https://www.voanews.com/a/republican-presidential-candidates-minus-trump-spar-sharply/7239075.html
Polls: With Trump Above 50%, GOP Debate Is Contest for Second
August 23, 2023
Here’s a sobering fact for the Republican candidates on tonight’s debate stage: Almost every day since early April, Donald Trump has drawn at least 50% support in aggregated polls of GOP voters nationally. … Given Trump’s formidable lead, the contest is of now essentially a battle for second place. https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/gop-republican-debate-milwaukee-trump-desantis-ramaswamy/card/polls-with-trump-above-50-gop-debate-is-contest-for-second-BbHI6SM3BBwtdU9UL2ha
August 24, 2023
More than a few political prognosticators who do not have a favorite Republican candidate told Newsmax on Wednesday night that the true winner of the first GOP presidential debate was actually the contender who sat it out.
“The winner was [former President] Donald Trump and the losers were all candidates not named Donald Trump,” said historian and Chapman University Prof. Luke Nichter. “And the key moment was when the others tried to be combative and Trump-like to try to break through.”
Nichter, author of the critically acclaimed new book “1968: The Year That Broke Politics,” added that “the bottom line is that the debate did not change the momentum.” https://www.newsmax.com/john-gizzi/gop-debate-donald-trump/2023/08/24/id/1131874/

Well, eight people did debate, but they all currently have little chance of attaining their party’s nomination. I watched parts of the debate last night and heard probably all of them speak. Some had good things to say, some were insulting, some were arrogant, some claimed they could do things as president that the president of the USA cannot do. Some were a combination of what I just wrote.

The Fox moderators, in my view, were out-of-line with how they asked certain questions. Be that as it was, some polls I saw yesterday before the debate pointed to Donald Trump having a 61-62% preference among likely Republican voters. That roughly means that Republicans favor Donald Trump to be their nominee almost twice as much as all the other candidates combined.

Unless something dramatic happens to or from Donald Trump, the others running against him currently do not stand a chance.

So, at this instant (and assuming that Joe Biden does not die, become totally incapacitated, or otherwise drop out), the 2024 election looks to be a rematch of the 2020 election.

As at least one of the Republican candidates mentioned last night, the divide between the people and the parties in the USA is growing.

This is not good for the USA. As Jesus said:

25 Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. (Matthew 12:25)
17 Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. (Luke 11:17)

This divide is growing as many of its sins (including hypocrisy) become more blatant.

What is happening is a ‘recipe for disaster’ for the US no matter who wins (Republican or Democrat or ?) in 2024.

Within a decade or so, the US will be taken over (cf. Daniel 11:39) and debt and sin will be factors (Habakkuk 2:6-8) (see USA in Prophecy: The Strongest Fortresses and Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End?).

Pray for the Kingdom of God to come (Matthew 6:10). Also pray as Jesus taught:

34 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. 35 For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:34-36)

We can expect troubles and tribulation before Jesus returns (Mark 13:8-20).

And that will happen no matter which party, or which of the declared candidates, wins the 2024 US Presidential election.

The USA needs repentance and the Kingdom of God. None of the candidates (including Donald Trump) advocates that.

Related Items:

Might the U.S.A. Be Gone by 2028?

Is the USA prophesied to be destroyed by 2028?

Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End?

6000 Years: When will God’s Kingdom Come?

There is a Place of Safety for the Philadelphians. Why it May Be Near Petra

Physical Protection During the Great Tribulation

Might Petra be the Place of Safety?

Should a Christian Vote?