‘Vivek was center stage’: 4 takeaways from the Trump-less first Republican primary debate
Eight Republicans attempting the daunting task of dislodging Donald Trump as their party’s presidential standard-bearer for the third time sparred amongst themselves Wednesday night at the first primary debate of the 2024 campaign season, mostly ignoring the absent former president unless prompted by the moderators.
Vivek Ramaswamy, the only contender on stage who hasn’t held elective office, mixed it up early with his competitors and leaned into his outsider status by taking direct aim at “professional politicians,” describing them as “super PAC puppets.” Aggressive and pugnacious, Ramaswamy filled the role that is usually played by Trump as the epicenter of attention.
“Vivek was center stage tonight and he proved why. His understanding of the issues and pulse of the base of our party is spot on,” said Michael Biundo, a veteran Republican strategist who has worked on past GOP presidential campaigns.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis largely took the opposite approach, keeping his criticism trained on President Joe Biden’s economic record, liberal district attorneys for failing to alleviate crime and the media for antagonizing Republicans. His hands-off approach — he spoke less than three other candidates — earned the praise of some Republicans. “DeSantis reset his campaign with a strong performance,” said Chad Connelly, former chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party.
READ MORE: DeSantis fights for attention while candidates tussle
Trump wasn’t invoked by Fox News’ moderators until 53 minutes into the debate. Asked if they would still support Trump as the nominee if he’s convicted of a felony, six of the eight GOP contenders raised their hands, with only former governors Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson declining to do so.
The image illustrated the massive hold Trump continues to have over a Republican Party he has now dominated for the last seven years.
Wednesday’s debate took place in the same Milwaukee sports arena which will host next summer’s Republican National Convention and crown the 2024 GOP nominee.
Trump is sitting on a 23-point lead in the first voting state of Iowa according to the latest survey there, and it’s unlikely this debate drastically dented his advantage.
But it did showcase the escalating and increasingly bitter battle to become the last standing candidate against Trump.
Here are 4 takeaways:
THE RAMASWAMY PILE-ON
The 38-year-old Ramaswamy set the tone early as he tagged his string of older and more politically seasoned opponents as beholden to special interests and tone deaf to concerns of regular Americans.
By the end of the night, Ramaswamy looked like a front-runner by one metric: how many attacks he incurred.
“It’s going to take an outsider,” he proclaimed, describing himself as a skinny guy with a funny last name, parroting language used by Barack Obama during his first run 16 years ago.
Christie perhaps landed the most memorable zinger of the night, turning the glancing resemblance to Obama against Ramaswamy.
“I’ve had enough already tonight of a guy who sounds like ChatGPT standing up here … The last person in one of these debates, Bret, who stood in the middle of the stage and said, ‘What’s a skinny guy with an odd name doing up here?’ was Barack Obama and I’m afraid we’re dealing with the same type of amateur standing on the stage tonight.”
“Give me a hug just like you did Obama,” Ramaswamy replied.
Later, it was Nikki Haley who earned notice by confronting Ramaswamy’s position of cutting off future aid to Ukraine’s war with Russia.
“You will make America less safe. You have no foreign policy experience and it shows,” Haley asserted.
Ramaswamy ended up in the middle of most of the heated exchanges on the stage, driving the conversation but also earning the disdain of his opponents and some of the in-person audience, who began to jeer him during later answers.
(MOSTLY) KID GLOVES ON TRUMP
One of the burning questions going into Wednesday night was which candidate — if any — would confront Trump and his record directly and assertively?
The answer, unsurprisingly, was not many.
DeSantis, who polls show is Trump’s most formidable competitor, steered clear of almost any talk of the former president. The Florida governor even hesitated and checked his opponents’ reactions before lifting his own arm to signal he would still support Trump if he’s convicted of a crime.
Ramaswamy, who has been gaining on DeSantis in some polling, went as far as to champion Trump as the “greatest president of the 21st century,” the most emphatic defense that immediately endeared him to the conservative audience.
It was the longer shot candidates who took bigger swings at Trump.
In declining to pledge to support Trump in a scenario in which he is convicted, Christie declared his conduct “beneath the office of president” regardless of whether it is proven to be criminal.
The debate hall swiftly filled with boos.
“Booing is allowed, but it doesn’t change the truth,” Christie replied.
But it was Haley — the only woman on the stage — who arguably compiled the most stinging attacks on her former boss.
HALEY LEAVES HER MARK
The former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador has failed to break out of low single-digits in polling since her launch in mid-February.
But on Wednesday night she made her best effort for a breakout, by not only tangling with the rising Ramaswamy, but by tossing arrows at Trump and most of the men around her.
She framed Trump as “the most disliked politician in America,” and said Republicans couldn’t win a general election with him at the top of the ticket.
Without a record of her own Washington votes to defend, Haley also laced into her competitors for contributing to the nation’s climbing deficit.
“Biden didn’t do this to us, our Republicans did this to us too. You have Ron DeSantis, Tim Scott, Mike Pence, they all voted to raise the debt. Donald Trump added $8 trillion to our debt,” she said.
Observers noticed and said her exchanges would earn lots of replay on televisions the rest of the week.
“Nikki Haley had a good night. She spoke truth, commanded the stage when making her points, and was not afraid to lock horns with her peers on issues of critical importance to Republican primary voters. She stood out, which is exactly what she needed to do,” said Jimmy Centers, an Iowa-based GOP operative.
A DIVIDE ON ABORTION
The thorny politics surrounding abortion policy 14 months after the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Roe v. Wade was showcased in an exchange between Pence and Haley. While Pence leaned into a hardline moral-driven position, calling a 15-week ban “an idea whose time has come,” Haley argued that Pence’s vision isn’t politically palatable.
“You know we don’t have 60 Senate votes.”
While an overwhelming majority of Americans believe abortion should be legal, Republican primary voters hold a more conservative view in line with the high court’s ruling that sends the decision to individual states.
The latest Des Moines Register poll of Iowa caucus-goers found that 59% of Republicans believe abortion should be legal in most or all cases.
But these debate moments may not last in the media atmosphere as long as they would under normal circumstances without Trump’s legal challenges. Trump is set to turn himself in to Fulton County, Ga., law enforcement on Thursday to post bond in the case charging him with leading a criminal enterprise to overturn his 2020 defeat in the state.
“Tonight’s Republican undercard event really shouldn’t even be called a debate, but rather an audition to be a part of President Trump’s team in his second term,” said Chris LaCivita, Trump senior adviser.
This story was originally published August 23, 2023 at 10:59 PM with the headline "‘Vivek was center stage’: 4 takeaways from the Trump-less first Republican primary debate."
