Things got off to a shaky start at the GOP presidential primary debate in Simi Valley, California, on Wednesday night when Fox Business moderator Stuart Varney struggled to say his co-moderator’s name.
“I am thrilled to be sitting alongside my co-moderators, Fox News [Channel’s] Dana Perino and Ilia Calderón,” Varney said.
He then appeared to doubt his pronunciation of Calderón’s last name and started to say it again, fumbling along. He eventually decided to skip it and just said, “Univision.”
Calderón seemed to take it all in stride and continued introducing the audience to the debate.
Awkward start for Stuart Varney… #GOPDebate pic.twitter.com/MwSwVJj4Kh
— ElectionMuse (@ElectionMuse) September 28, 2023
Calderón is an anchor at the Spanish-speaking network Univision, co-hosting “Noticiero Univision” and “Aquí y Ahora.”
The Colombian native moderated the final Democratic debate between now-President Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders in 2020, Fox News reported.
Seven Republican candidates qualified for Wednesday’s GOP debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
There couldn’t be a better venue for the Second Republican Primary Debate than Ronald Reagan’s Presidential Library!
Tune in this Wednesday at 9pm EST to watch! pic.twitter.com/mX50z6DWok
— GOP (@GOP) September 25, 2023
They were Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
Former President Donald Trump chose to skip the debate, as he did the first one last month in Milwaukee.
Trump spoke to the striking United Auto Workers in Clinton Township, Michigan, on Wednesday night instead.
He said at the gathering, “On Day One, I will terminate Joe Biden’s electric vehicle mandate and I will cancel every job-killing regulation that is crushing American auto workers. I will unleash a thing called American energy.”
The Real Clear Politics average of polls shows Trump with a commanding lead in the race for the Republican nomination.
Trump has 56.6 percent support with DeSantis at 14.4 percent, Haley at 5.8 percent, Ramaswamy at 5.1 percent, Pence at 4.2 percent, Scott at 2.8 percent, Christie at 2.7 percent and Burgum at 0.9 percent.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.