After the first Republican presidential primary debate in Milwaukee, surrogates for the various candidates did what any good supporter should: They sought to spin performances into clear-cut wins.
“[Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis] has no peer up there in terms of his conservative consistency,” Ken Cuccinelli, a veteran of the Trump administration who is now with the Never Back Down super PAC that supports Mr. DeSantis’s presidential run, said in an interview with The Epoch Times.
“[Former Gov. Nikki Haley] showed tonight that she can stand toe-to-toe, being the only woman on the presidential stage for 2024,” Katon Dawson, a supporter of Ms. Haley who formerly chaired the South Carolina Republican Party, told The Epoch Times.
Yet, as the dust settles after the two-hour, former President Donald Trump-free spectacle on Aug. 23, it’s crucial to look beyond the spin.
By Drawing Attacks, Ramaswamy Scores Victories
President Trump’s absence from the Fiserv Forum, normally home to the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team, meant that one man stood in as the next best thing: biotech entrepreneur, anti-“woke” investor, and occasional rapper Vivek G. Ramaswamy, whose Trump-like stances and Trump-friendly rhetoric painted a bright target on his back.
On foreign policy, climate change, and other issues, Mr. Ramaswamy took fire from many opponents—most notably, Ms. Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Mr. Christie compared the energetic millennial to ChatGPT. Mr. Pence, meanwhile, dismissed Mr. Ramaswamy as a “rookie,” while Ms. Haley accused him of failing to support U.S. allies.
That pattern contradicted the predictions of some insiders, who told The Epoch Times that Mr. DeSantis would probably attract the most heat as the favorite for the nomination after President Trump. Yet, Mr. Ramaswamy’s rapid ascent in the past few months makes what happened more understandable: Acceleration is easier to spot and attack than a relatively steady velocity.
If Mr. Ramaswamy aimed to win by playing the underdog, he appears to have succeeded. Time and time again, he stole the show, even by drawing a swipe from one rival through effusive praise of the last Republican to reach the White House.
By Nathan Worcester
