CLEVELAND (WJW/WXMI) -- The seven candidates whose poll numbers prevented them from taking part in Thursday's main debate, took the stage earlier that evening instead to take part in a 'second-tier' debate.
Invitations to what was dubbed the 'happy hour' debate were extended to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal,businesswoman Carly Fiorina, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, former New York Gov. George Pataki and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore.
The Fox News Channel and the Ohio Republican Party hosted the debates at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. The candidates’ rankings were determined by an average of polls from Fox News, Bloomberg, CBS News, Monmouth University and Quinnipiac University.
The seven candidates addressed important issues like the economy, ISIS and border control.
“We have to put the personnel on that border in the right places,” former Texas governor Perry said. “I will secure that southern border.”
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Fiorina was asked about the recent nuclear deal with Iran. She said on her first day in the Oval Office she would make two calls: One to her friend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to promise America’s support and another to Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei.
On the issue of American dependence on government assistance programs, Graham took the question in a different direction.
“For all the Americans that want a better life, don’t vote for Hillary Clinton,” Graham said. He called electing the former Secretary of State giving Obama a third term.
Santorum said the United States needs more better-paying jobs and a return to manufacturing, while Jindal criticized Ohio Gov. John Kasich for taking federal dollars and expanding Medicare. Pataki boasted about lowering the unemployment rate while governor of New York.
On the the issue of abortion, Perry, Jindal and Graham said Planned Parenthood should be de-funded, while Gilmore took aim at the U.S. Supreme Court.
“We should be appointing Supreme Court justices who will follow the law, not make the law,” Gilmore said.
Following the debate, chatter on social media andamong pundits suggested Fiorinawas the stand-out of the early evening debate.
Asked early on in the debate about the 'huge disparity' between Donald Trump's poll numbers and her own and whether Trump was 'getting the better of her,' Fiorina snapped back.
“I don’t know, I didn’t get a phone call from Bill Clinton before I jumped in the race. Did any of you guys get a phone call from Bill Clinton? I didn’t," she said.
“He’s tapped into an anger, they’re (voters) sick of politics as usual."
During questioning about the United States' recent nuclear deal with Iran, Perry suggested he'd rather have Fiorina negotiong the deal as his Secretary of State instead of John Kerry.
