'Donald Duck': Republican candidates attack Trump in debate

The absence of Donald Trump played a central role in the second Republican primary debate of the 2024 election season, as seven White House hopefuls tried and mostly failed to shake up a race in which the former president remains the clear frontrunner. Two of Trump’s rivals, Chris Christie and Ron DeSantis, attempted to capitalise on his absence by criticising him for skipping the debate, held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute in Simi Valley, California.