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The Stakes with John Harwood

The Republican Debate I Moderated Previewed the Trump Shitshow Today

When I moderated a GOP presidential debate in 2015, Trump denied reality as his Republican rivals bent the knee.

John Harwood's avatar
John Harwood
Oct 30, 2025
∙ Paid
Donald Trump speaks during a CNBC Republican presidential debate on October 28, 2015, in Colorado. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Ten years ago this week, I lived through a shitshow as a moderator of a presidential debate. Sadly, it foreshadowed the national shitshow we’re all living through now.

That evening at the University of Colorado Boulder displayed it all: the lies, anger, grift, and denial of reality that now define Donald Trump’s Republican Party. And even though Trump was only a candidate then, his putative rivals bent the knee.

In late October 2015, Barack Obama still sat in the White House. Hillary Clinton led the Democratic race to succeed him; Joe Biden had just declined to run. The Republican Party had not determined its path forward.

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