What GOP Candidates Said About Immigration, Abortion and the Economy in the Debate

The top 10 Republican candidates hoping to call the White House home in 2016 duked it out Thursday night for the first presidential debate of election season.

Stealing the primetime slot from the seven lower-polling candidates, the top group jockeyed for attention to spotlight policy positions in an attempt to standout among the crowded bunch.

The candidates who made Fox News’ final cut included former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, businessman and reality TV host Donald Trump, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

The group discussed issues ranging from the Iran deal to abortion, touting resumes and rattling off proposed policy plans to sell their presidential qualifications.

Here are some of the most notable stances of the night.

Immigration

Bush discussed his plan to provide a path to “earned legal status” for illegal immigrants already in the county.

He said he would support E-Verify to address those who move to the U.S. with a legal Visa and overstay, but took an empathetic approach to illegal immigration, calling it “an act of love.”

“I believe the people coming here illegally have no other option. They want to provide for their family, but we need to control our border,” Bush said.

Rubio took a similar stance, bypassing Republican criticism of his 2013 leadership in drafting a comprehensive immigration plan that included a path to citizenship.

“This is the most generous country in the world when it comes to immigration. There are a million people a year who legally immigrate to the United States,” he said. “The people that call my office, who have been waiting for 15 years to come to the United States. And they’ve paid their fees, and they hired a lawyer, and they can’t get in.”

Trump veered in the opposite direction, advocating a wall that “has to be built quickly.”

“I don’t mind having a big, beautiful door in that wall so that people can come into this country legally,” he said. “But we need…to build a wall, we need to keep illegals out.”

Obamacare

Despite the recent Supreme Court decision, repealing and replacing Obamacare remained a key selling point for the Republican hopefuls as the candidates repeatedly vowed to take on the healthcare law if they were to arrive at the White House.

Though Trump called Obamacare a “complete disaster,” he touted the success of a nationalized single-payer healthcare system in other countries.

“As far as single payer, it works in Canada. It works incredibly well in Scotland. It could have worked in a different age, which is the age you’re talking about here,” he said.

Asked about his Medicaid expansion in Ohio, Kasich noted he funneled the money into rehabilitation programs and treatment for mentally ill prisoners. He connected healthcare to criminal justice, saying it costs his state $22,500 a year to keep mentally ill prisoners behind bars.

“I’d rather get them their medication so they can lead a decent life,” he said, adding that 80 percent of those in Ohio prisons are addicted to drugs. “We now treat them in the prisons, release them in the community and the recidivism rate is 10 percent.”

Economy

The economy overwhelmingly remains the top issue priority for voters, but the subject was only briefly touched on during the debate.

Rubio ran through a concise checklist of his policy proposals, including a 25 percent tax rate for businesses, a regulatory budget and a repeal of Dodd-Frank, which he said is “eviscerating” small businesses.

Paul, Walker and Huckabee advocated tax cuts while Christie briefly outlined a plan to raise the Social Security retirement age by two years to reduce entitlement spending.

Bush focused on reforming “job killing” regulations, using energy policy—such as the XL Pipeline—to create “high, sustained” economic growth, and “fixing our immigration system and turning it into an economic driver is part of this as well.”

Carson, meanwhile, pushed a flat tax, contending it would get rid of “deductions” and “loopholes.”

“Once you have economic growth, it is important that we reach out to people who live in the shadows, the people who don’t seem to ever think that they get a fair deal,” he said. “And that includes people in our minority community; that includes people who feel as though they don’t have a chance to move up.”

Iran Deal

As Congress enters its August recess to weigh President Obama’s Iran deal, the Republican candidates remained uniform in their hardline opposition.

Walker said he would “terminate” the accord the first day he took office and reinstate U.S. sanctions.

“This is not just bad with Iran, this is bad with ISIS,” he said.

Huckabee, meanwhile, said the U.S. “got nothing” while Iran got “everything they want,” contending the Obama administration conceded on “anywhere, anytime” inspections and “gave up” on blocking Tehran from maintaining a nuclear capacity.

“When someone points a gun at your head and loads it, by God, you ought to take them seriously,” he said.

ISIS

Moderator Megyn Kelly asked Cruz how he would destroy ISIS in 90 days, echoing a question the senator posed to General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in February.

Cruz called Dempsey’s claim that a military solution would not destroy the terrorist group “nonsense.”

“We need is a commander in chief that makes clear, if you join ISIS, if you wage jihad on America, then you are signing your death warrant,” he said.

Paul, who has blamed ISIS’s rise on Republican foreign policy hawks, said the U.S. needs to stop sending arms to ISIS’s allies, referring to the U.S.’s plan to arm the Syrian rebels.

“ISIS rides around in a billion dollars worth of U.S. Humvees,” he said. “We didn’t create ISIS—ISIS created themselves, but we will stop them, and one of the ways we stop them is by not funding them, and not arming them.”

Abortion

Noting the five undercover videos showing top Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of aborted fetal tissue for research (Planned Parenthood has denied wrongdoing), Walker touted his record for defunding the organization more than four years ago.

“I’ve always been pro-life. I’ve got a position that’s consistent with many Americans out there, in that I believe that that is an unborn child that’s in need of protection out there,” he said.

Huckabee also referenced the videos, vowing to invoke the Fifth and 14th amendments to legally recognize personhood beginning at conception.

“It’s time that we recognize the Supreme Court is not the supreme being, and we change the policy to be pro-life and protect children instead of rip up their body parts and sell them like they’re parts to a Buick,” he said.

Rubio pushed a pro-life position, but his stance on a rape and incest exception remained hazy following questioning on his support. He denied ever “advocating” the exceptions, but did not clarify his stance.

He noted that he believes “all human life” is entitled to legal protection.

“Future generations will look back at this history of our country and call us barbarians for murdering millions of babies who we never gave them a chance to live,” he said.

Gay Marriage

On the heels of a Supreme Court loss for advocates of traditional marriage, the candidates said little on the subject.

Kasich said he would accept the decision even though it contradicted his “traditional” marriage views.

“If one of my daughters happened to be that, of course I would love them and I would accept them. Because you know what? That’s what we’re taught when we have strong faith,” he said.

Paul addressed the issue as one of religious liberty, echoing his campaign mantra, “I don’t want my marriage or my guns registered in Washington.”