Mike Pence, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswami and Nikki Haley during Wednesday's opening debate Photo: Al Drago
US Republican Primary Wednesday's debate was the first thing voters saw in one place about most of the candidates.
Taking advantage of Donald Trump's absence, eight of the remaining 2024 presidential candidates pitched their tents in an attempt to capture some of his runaway figures in the polls .
Most expected Ron DeSantis, Governor of Florida, to use the debate as a chance to secure his position as the runner-up, but it was Vivek Ramaswamy who stole the airtime and the headlines.
Here is the ranking of each of them in the debate by The Telegraph.
Debate Card 08/23/23 — Ron DeSantis
It was expected to be a debate about Ron DeSantis. The Florida governor went into the night under pressure to achieve a stellar turn that would revitalize his stabilization campaign.
His supporters may have hoped that the Harvard-trained lawyer could dominate the scene and bring down the punches . on your opponents. In fact, many of his lines sounded rehearsed and his delivery was stilted at times.
He was often overshadowed by Vivek Ramaswami and missed vital opportunities to get his message across to voters.
However, Mr. DeSantis was expected to take the most arrows on stage. This prediction did not come true. Instead, he escaped any major blunders and came out relatively unscathed.
Debate Card 8/23/23 — Vivek Ramaswami
38-year-old entrepreneur did a lot of not crunching for debate, playing a shirtless tennis player and burpees ahead of Wednesday evening.
The lack of official debate experience worked in his favor and underlined his main attraction — his authenticity.
A number of candidates have attempted to brush off the upstart aspirant as a political newcomer, highlighting his lack of management experience. But Mr. Ramaswami took advantage of his underdog status by laughing at the ridicule and in turn getting a few of his own.
The fast-talking, enthusiastic young multimillionaire caught everyone's attention and attracted the attention of some of them. loudest applause and applause of the evening.
Debate card 08/23/23 — Nikki Haley
Nikki Haley's poll numbers aren't impressive, but her campaign looks like it's finally on fire tonight.
Her aggressive support for Ukraine and condemnation of the «murderer» Vladimir Putin underline her foreign policy authority.
Ms. Hailey quickly got to her feet, gave Mr. Ramaswamy several blows, and received applause when she told him, «You have no experience in foreign policy and it shows.»
The only woman on the scene, she gave an emotional response to the abortion question that deftly straddled the pro-life Republican base while evading the approval of hardline restrictions.
She urged Mike Pence, who supports the federal abortion ban, to be honest about the issue.
that we don't have 60 votes in the Senate,” she said.
The teams of other candidates were rumored to be equally impressed.
Debate Card 23.08.23 — Chris Christie
Chris Christie is no stranger to presidential debates. In fact, his ouster of Marco Rubio in 2016 was attributed to the failure of the Florida senator's campaign.
But despite the hype around him, Mr. Christie has failed to live up to his reputation as the ultimate bully on Wednesday night's debate scene.
While he delivered some of the evening's funniest lines comparing Mr. Ramaswamy to both Barack Obama and AI software ChatGPT, none of them landed a knockout blow.
Mr. Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, has made fighting his former friend Donald Trump the centerpiece of his bid for the White House.
But since the former president was absent and the pro-Trump audience drowned him out from time to time, Christie's appearance only demonstrated the futility of his campaign.
Debate Card 23.08.23 — Mike Pence
In his four years as vice president, Mike Pence has amassed a wealth of experience in public speaking and debate. Still, expectations for his debate performance were relatively low, given his appalling poll results.
But according to the New York Times analysis, he far surpassed them with a powerful, even aggressive, delivery style that earned him the most speaking engagements.
This prompted the Fox moderators to chastise the usually obsequious Mr. Pence.
In several conversations, he referred to his experience in office to argue his point of view.
Mr. Pence wanted to look like a senior statesman on stage, and he succeeded. He received loud applause when he slapped political newcomer Mr. Ramaswamy by saying, «Now is not the time for on-the-job training.»
Debate Card 8/23/23 — Tim Scott
Tim Scott's image as a «good guy» makes it difficult to have an effective debate.
The South Carolina senator stuck to his campaign with positive messages, but it failed when compared to other candidates' noisy remarks.
Scott has an inspiring history and, as the only black Republican in the US Senate, has a unique platform.
But he failed to seize the moment and use all his time.
Debate card 08/23/23 — Asa Hutchinson
According to New York Times analysis, Asa Hutchinson, the former governor of Arkansas, received the fewest speeches among all eight candidates.
Mr. Hutchinson is a social conservative from the southern state who is also a prominent critic of Mr. Trump.
However, the former prosecutor failed to effectively argue his case against Trump in front of a predominantly hostile audience.
Debate Card 23.08.23 — Doug Burgum
For Doug Burgum this night was uneventful. The North Dakota governor sparked interest in his campaign early on with an impressive video showing his career progression from small-town farm laborer to billionaire software executive. But he failed to tell this story to an audience or really engage in dialogue with his opponents.
The biggest drama surrounding Mr. Burgum's appearance occurred the day before the debate, when he suffered a torn tendon after playing basketball with his team.
He endured two hours standing on stage without crutches, despite the fact that he required hospitalization before the performance.
Who won the Republican debate?
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