Republican presidential candidate and former biotech executive Vivek Ramaswamy gestures at the primary Republican candidates’ debate of the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign in Milwaukee, Aug. 23, 2023.
Brian Snyder | Reuters
Political novice Vivek Ramaswamy’s contrarian aggression won him outsize attention in the primary Republican presidential debate Wednesday night.
But former President Donald Trump remained a central focus throughout the two-hour debate, regardless that he skipped the event and attempted to undermine its rankings.
Ramaswamy, a 38-year-old entrepreneur, defended Trump as he delivered, and received, more attacks than some other candidate on the Milwaukee stage.
Ramaswamy lashed out 16 times, including one moment where he accused all seven of his debate rivals of being “bought and paid for” by special interests. In turn, he weathered attacks from his rivals 11 times, in keeping with an NBC News evaluation.
Despite being considered a protracted shot for the GOP nomination, Ramaswamy stole much of the highlight from higher-profile contenders, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.
DeSantis, who has received massive media coverage as Trump’s apparent top rival in the first field, spent surprisingly little time in his opponents’ crosshairs. He spoke lower than three other candidates and was attacked directly just twice, per NBC.
Former Vice President Mike Pence took up essentially the most speaking time at greater than 12 minutes, while Ramaswamy and his frequent interlocutor, former Recent Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, each spoke for greater than 11 minutes, in keeping with The Recent York Times.
Scott spoke for just over eight minutes, falling behind former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and barely exceeding the speaking times of North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
The candidates clashed over a spread of issues, with abortion policy taking over essentially the most airtime, in keeping with the Times.
However the second-most discussed topic was Trump, the absentee front-runner who boasts double-digit leads over his primary competitors in most national polls.
Trump refused to take part in the talk, arguing that it wasn’t price it to subject himself to attacks from candidates who’re up to now behind him within the polls. As an alternative, Trump pre-taped an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who released the video on social media just before the talk began.
But despite Trump’s efforts to counterprogram the talk, his presence still loomed over it. The previous president was mentioned 23 times within the Milwaukee auditorium, in keeping with NBC.
The controversy moderators spent a complete segment asking the candidates about Trump, who is about to travel to Georgia on Thursday evening to give up on charges linked to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden.
The debaters, who all signed a pledge to support the eventual GOP nominee, were asked to lift their hands in the event that they would support Trump even when he’s convicted of crimes “in a court of law” stemming from his 4 lively criminal cases.
Six hands rose up on the stage. Hutchinson kept his hand down and Christie appeared to wag his finger.