WASHINGTON — A trio of Republican presidential hopefuls serving in the U.S. Senate participated in a quasi-debate Sunday night, where they weighed in on Mitt Romney’s renewed ambitions for the White House, income inequality and stagnant wages, among other topics.
Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky headlined the discussion in Palm Springs, California, which was hosted by the conservative billionaire Koch brothers and attended by hundreds of their wealthy donors. ABC’s Jon Karl moderated the discussion, the video of which was aired on the Internet for the opening 15 minutes. Traditionally, summits organized by Freedom Partners, a Koch-backed group, have been kept private.
–
After a discussion on stagnant wages, however, all three Republicans dodged a question on whether the minimum wage should exist at all.
The discussion capped off a flurry of activity in the prospective GOP 2016 field, the majority of which gathered in the Midwest on Saturday at the Iowa Freedom Summit. The presidential cattle call, which was hosted by die-hard immigration opponent Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), drew over a thousand social conservatives looking to size up potential candidates ahead of the Iowa caucuses.
