Republican Undercard Debate: Live Coverage

Bobby Jindal says there are a record number of Americans on food stamps. That simply isn’t true. According to the Department of Agriculture, which administers the program colloquially known as food stamps, there were 45.5 million Americans receiving nutrition benefits as of August, down from 46.5 million a year earlier and a peak of nearly 48 million in 2012.

Bobby Jindal is positioning himself as the only candidate who will actually get rid of Obamacare — that’s a smart move. A September Rasmussen poll found that 52 percent of voters, regardless of party, have an unfavorable view of the law, and 37 percent advocated for repealing it and starting again from scratch. Break it down to just Republicans, and just 17 percent have a favorable view of the Affordable Care Act, while 54 percent of likely GOP voters want to repeal the law.

Harry and Jody: Agreed that Christie is doing well on this stage. He has more elbow-room in the undercard debate than he did on the main stage. And with Trump not around, he’s decisively won the “who’s got the big personality” contest of the night. (Co-sign re: his constant refs to Clinton.) So: Will he end up back on the big stage? The next GOP debate isn’t until Dec 15.