GOP Presidential Debate: Other Countries Don't Care About What Republicans Had To Say

Republican candidates for president held a fiery presidential debate Thursday night that covered terrorism in the Middle East, China's threat to the United States and immigration rates from Central America. But overseas, the event was a non-factor.

The foreign press largely ignored the first GOP prime-time debate, which could decide who becomes the next president of the United States. While the event was tirelessly scrutinized for any morsel of news by U.S. journalists, international newspapers and news sites largely ignored the Fox News forum. Republican candidates Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Scott Walker, Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and John Kasich all participated in the debate in Cleveland.

The Guardian in the United Kingdom didn’t mention the debate on its front page, likely because the newspaper went to print before the debate ended, at 11 p.m. ET. Its website Friday morning, however, devoted stories to Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton taking a selfie with reality TV star Kim Kardashian and a look at Florida senator Rubio's odds of winning the White House. The Times in London also didn’t spare any ink for the Republican candidates. Its website featured one short paragraph on Trump threatening to run as an independent candidate.

In Latin America, where some have railed about Trump’s offensive comments about immigrants from Mexico commiting rape, the debate also was overlooked. La Razon de Mexico in Mexico City focused on a local crime story. El Informador in Guadalajara, Mexico, went with a story about drug cartels. Its website ignored the debate Friday morning.

Trump has also vowed to be aggressive toward China. But in Asia, no one had time to recap his bombastic remarks. The Wall Street Journal Asia focused on the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 investigation. The website had a brief item on the GOP debate buried on the bottom of its homepage. China Daily looked at the Hiroshima bombing’s 70th anniversary.

In Canada, the Globe and Mail’s top story looked at new NASA pictures showing the moon and Earth. Its website Friday morning featured a brief video clip of Trump, but mostly focused on domestic news. The National Post in Toronto centered on the threat of terrorists in Quebec.