By Sean Mueck

Eight Republican presidential contenders faced off at the first presidential debate August 24th in Milwaukee. They spoke to the largest ever recorded crowd on their value to the American people. The eight candidates were 

• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

• North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum

• Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie

• Former U.N Ambassador Nikki Haley

• Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson

• Former Vice President Mike Pence

• Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy

• Sen Tim Scott from South Carolina

Fighting over time in the spotlight, the candidates debated over a wide variety of issues facing the American people. Controversial topics including Abortion, Ukraine, and former president Donald Trump all made appearances throughout the debate. 

Trump, who was notably missing from the debate, opted a different route for his campaign. Instead, airing an interview with conservative icon Tucker Carlson. Tucker, who after being ousted from Fox News in April, has decided to launch his own conservative talk show  series on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter). The interview was aired the same time as the start of the debate. A recent CBS poll found 62% of Republicans support Donald Trump as their presidential nominee, with Ron DeSantis trailing as a far second place, only gaining 16% of support.

The Eight Candidates fought fiercely over air time throughout the entire 2 hour debate. CNN found Mike Pence, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Chris Christie all had the most airtime with 11 to 12 minutes being recorded for all three. While Tim Scott, Doug Burgam, and Asa Hutchinson ended up rounding out the bottom three with the least time all with under 8 minutes. In cut throat presidential debates, time in the spotlight is incredibly important, people need to know who you are.

38 year old entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, had no problem on the hot seat drawing criticism from numerous candidates through the debate. Most notably was Mike Pence who had multiple clashes with Ramaswamy during the debate and said “we don’t need to bring in a rookie,” and “Now is not the time for on-the-job training.” Mike Pence later attended the Northside Conservatives Club where he went on to say “I don’t have any problem with Vivek Ramaswamy. I’ve known him for a couple of years. He’s just wrong. He’s wrong on foreign policy. He’s wrong on American leadership in the world. He’s wrong on how to get this economy moving again.”

Pence wasn’t the only one to criticize Ramaswamy. Nikki Haley who was the former U.N ambassador under the Trump administration fired shots at Ramaswamy over his inexperience in foreign policy. Stating “Under your watch, you will make America less safe.”

Long time second place to Trump in standings, Ron DeSantis was noticeably quiet throughout the debate. Critics hailed that DeSantis wasted his moment, being largely overshadowed by Ramaswamy and others. Though he had his moments on the hot mic when he clashed about Abortion rights, he fell quiet attempting to dodge when moderators asked him about Pence and his role in rejecting Trump’s overturning attempt of the 2020 election. Pence responded by putting DeSantis on the spot stating “The American people deserve to know whether everyone on this stage agrees that I kept my oath to the Constitution that day. There’s no more important duty, so answer the question.” DeSantis responded with “Mike did his duty. I’ve got no beef with him,” attempting to change the question.

Support for the candidates has jockeyed in the aftermath of the first debate. Trump who is still by far the frontrunner is followed by DeSantis with 16% of support, Ramaswamy with 7% of support and Pence and Haley both with 4% of support.