Republican Presidential Contenders Clash in First Debate, Trump Absent
MILWAUKEE, Aug 23 (Reuters) – The first debate among Republican presidential contenders took place on Wednesday, with several candidates exchanging sharp attacks as they vied for position behind the absent frontrunner, Donald Trump, for the party’s 2024 nomination.
Vivek Ramaswamy, a 38-year-old tech entrepreneur and political newcomer who has gained unexpected strength in recent polls, faced a series of insults from more experienced rivals. Former Vice President Mike Pence criticized Ramaswamy as a rookie, while former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie compared him to artificial intelligence.
Ramaswamy fired back, emphasizing his outsider status and accusing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis of being a “super PAC puppet,” referring to independent political action committees that often raise large sums of money from corporations and individuals.
The heated exchanges between the candidates highlighted the opportunity each one had to make a national impression. However, there is a risk that their attacks on each other may further solidify Trump’s lead in opinion polls, as they focus on tearing each other down rather than the former president.
Despite facing four criminal indictments, Trump remains the clear frontrunner among Republican voters more than 14 months ahead of the election.
Trump chose to skip the debate at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, the host city for next year’s Republican National Convention. Instead, he opted for a pre-recorded interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, which streamed on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. The interview garnered approximately 74 million views during its 46-minute duration.
During the debate, the candidates also took aim at Democratic President Joe Biden, with questions about the U.S. economy posed by Fox News hosts Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier.
Governor DeSantis criticized the state of the economy, stating that it is in decline and calling for a reversal of “Bidenomics” to provide opportunities for middle-class families to succeed.
Despite a resilient economy and a strong labor market, polls indicate that many voters, including a majority of those who supported Biden in 2020, believe that the economy has worsened during his presidency due to persistent inflation.
Without Trump’s presence, other Republican candidates such as former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and U.S. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina sought to position themselves as the most viable alternative to DeSantis.
The debate presented an opportunity for DeSantis to redirect the narrative away from recent campaign turmoil, including significant staff changes, as he has experienced a decline in the polls.
The timing of the debate coincided with Trump’s plans to surrender in Atlanta to face charges related to his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state. This will put him back in the spotlight just as his rivals hope to gain more attention.
A senior Trump campaign adviser predicted that the candidates would spend a significant amount of time discussing the former president and dismissed the debate as an “audition” to be Trump’s vice president.
Navigating the topic of Trump’s criminal charges is challenging for his rivals, as most Republicans view them as politically motivated, according to polls.
The eight participants in the debate included Scott, Ramaswamy, Pence, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, Haley, DeSantis, Christie, and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.
According to the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll released this month, Trump holds 47% of the Republican vote nationally, with DeSantis seeing a six-percentage-point decline from July to 13%. None of the other candidates have managed to break out of single digits.
Reporting by Nathan Layne in Milwaukee; Additional reporting by Gram Slattery, Alexandra Ulmer, Rami Ayyub, Kanishka Singh, Susan Heavey, and Joseph Ax; Editing by Ross Colvin and Howard Goller