Second GOP presidential debate: on Technology

Chris Christie: Pro-innovation: get government off the back of innovators

CHRISTIE: Each time we have shown incredible innovation and progress in this country, what we've done with it is to expand all kinds of opportunities. Yes, we have to do retraining for folks who lose their jobs. And we should have more training available both at the county college level and the local level.

But this is a much bigger issue than that. We can't be afraid of innovation. America has been the great innovator of this world: a technological innovator, a manufacturing innovator, and a freedom and governmental innovator. America has to continue to stand strong in the world, pro-innovation, pro-progress. As president, I will make sure that every innovator in this country gets the government the hell off its back and out of its pocket so that it can innovate and bring great new inventions to our country that will make everybody's lives better.

Nikki Haley: China gets data from 150M people on TikTok

RAMASWAMY: The Republican Party [needs to] reach the next generation of young Americans where they are. [And we should] declare independence from China.

HALEY: This is infuriating because TikTok is one of the most dangerous social media apps that we could have. 150 million people are on TikTok. That means [China] can get your contacts. They can get your financial information. They can get your e-mails. They can get text messages. They can get all of these things. China knows exactly what they are doing. You want China to go make medicines in China, not America? You now wanted kids to go and get on this social media that's dangerous for all of us? You were in business with the Chinese that gave Hunter Biden $5 million. We can't trust you. We can't have TikTok.

Ron DeSantis: Free speech for American tech; free market for Chinese tech

DESANTIS: No. I think you look at how our societies developed, they have huge amount of power over our society. They've cracked down on free speech. We're not saying you don't want them to do business, but you want with it to be a free market. And right now, they're monopolies. But this issue of China is really going to be fundamental. We have subcontracted out so much of our national needs to the CCP [Chinese Communist Party]. We rely on them for a whole host of issues. We need to reshore, and we need to decouple all those important industries. We need to get that back in the United States. They are our top geopolitical adversary by a country mile. [Chinese President] Xi Jinping's got huge ambitions not only in the Asian-Pacific, but as you mentioned earlier, in our region. But ultimately, we've got to beat them on the economy.

Vivek Ramaswamy: I'm not a know-it-all; I listen to challengers & experts

RAMASWAMY: The Republican Party [needs to] reach the next generation of young Americans where they are. But kids under the age of 16 should not be using addictive social media. [And we should] get to declaring independence from China.

I'm the new guy here, and so I know I have to earn your trust. What do you see? You see a young man who's in a bit of a hurry, maybe a little ambitious, bit of a know-it-all, it seems, at times. I'm here to tell you: "No, I don't know it all. I will listen. I will have the best people, the best and brightest in this country, whatever age they are, advising me." Many of the people on this stage included; that's how I built my companies. I want to be challenged. I want people who disagree with me. That's what makes America great because we're not a perfect nation. We're founded on the pursuit of perfection.