Eight Republican candidates took the debate stage on Wednesday night with one big name missing from the room: Donald Trump.
They waved to the crowd as they came out and took their places at the podium. Their order was determined by their standing in the polls with the highest-polling ones at center stage.
It is the first major prime time event for the Republican candidates for president and all of them are aware they need to take advantage of the moment to make their mark.
The first question of the night was about the economy, which voters say is one of their top issues for the 2024 election. It went to Ron DeSantis and he used it to attack Joe Biden and the president’s oldest son Hunter.
‘We need to send Joe Biden back to his basement and reverse American decline,’ the Florida governor said.
‘We cannot succeed as a country if you are working hard and you can’t afford groceries, a car or new home while Hunter Biden can make hundreds of thousands of dollars on lousy paintings. That is wrong.’
The candidates take the stage at the Republican debate: L-R), former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and North Dakota governor Doug Burgum
DeSantis and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy – who are two and three in the polls after Trump – are expected to be the biggest targets of the night.
Joining them on stage is former Vice President Mike Pence, Ambassador Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Senator Tim Scott, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
Haley, who got in several pre-debate attacks on Ramaswamy, is next to him on stage.
Ramaswamy, who, at 38 is the youngest candidate in the race, was asked why voters should consider him given his lack of political experience.
He turned the question into a reason to vote for him, garnering massive applause from the audience.
‘First let me address the question that is on everybody’s mind at home tonight. Who the heck is this skinny guy with a funny last name and what the heck is he doing in the middle of the debate stage?,’ he said.
‘I am not a politician. You are right about that. I am an entrepreneur. My parents came to this country with no money 40 years ago. I have gone on to found multibillion dollar companies. I did it while marrying my wife, raising her two sons, following our faith in God.’
‘That’s the American dream. And I am genuinely worried that that American dream will not exist for our two sons and their generation unless we do something about it. I do think it will take an outsider, ‘he noted.
‘You have a broken car you don’t turn over the keys to the people – you hand it to a new generation That is why I am in this race and we are just getting warmed up.’
Burgum came out wearing a boot on his left leg after suffering a high-grade Achilles tear in a pick-up game of basketball on Tuesday night. He’ll rest on a stool during commercial breaks.
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy waves to the crowd
Former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, and Ambassador Nikki Haley on the debate stage
Trump, meanwhile, had counterprogramming of his own. The former president sat down for a pre-taped interview with Tucker Carlson. He called his critics ‘savages’ and claimed his opponents will try and ‘steal’ the election again, in a preview of the interview posted online by Carlson.
Former Fox News host Carlson asked the former president if the U.S. is heading towards a civil war and if he was worried his enemies want to kill him in the first clip of their conversation that will air at 9pm.
Trump told Carlson he doesn’t think President Joe Biden will ‘make it’ when asked about his health and also accused Mitch McConnell of trying to whip up support to impeach him.
Debate Moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum of Fox News have said they will make sure Trump appears at the event – in video clips they’ll show and in the questions they will ask about the former president’s four indictments.
Additionally, several of the Republican candidates – such as Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson – have vowed to attack Trump while others – like Ron DeSantis – will be wooing his supporters.
Trump has surrogates in the crowd: his eldest son Don Jr., Kimberly Guilfoyle, Kari Lake and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
The four mingled with Trump supporters outside the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, where the debate will take place. About two dozen MAGA fans were outside waving Trump signs and signs calling the debate an audition for Trump’s running mate.
Trump refused to attend the debate but is expected to dominate it – just as he leads his rivals in the polls by double digits.
An armored vehicle and security personnel outside the Fiserv Forum before the start of the Republican presidential debate
Donald Trump Jr. and his partner Kimberly Guilfoyle mingle with attendees as they arrive at the debate hall
People in a Dr Antony Fauci costume (L) and a Donald Trump costume (R) stand outside the Fiserv Forum before the start of the Republican presidential debate
Donald Trump had his own counter programming in the form of an interview with Tucker Carlson
President Biden spoke to reporters during his Lake Tahoe vacation after a workout and while drinking a banana blueberry smoothie, saying he would be watching the debate
In fact he’s so far ahead that even if one of the candidates has a viral moment it may not be enough to gain ground on the former president, who will be back in the news on Thursday when he arrives in Atlanta for his arraignment in Georgia’s election interference case.
‘I don’t think a lot of people Thursday morning are going to be talking about what happens here at this little league game,’ Trump ally Kari Lake told DailyMail.com in an interview Tuesday.
It remains unclear whether any candidate can use the night to make up enough ground to seriously challenge Trump: the former president leads DeSantis by 41 points in the RealClearPolitics polling average and leads Ramaswamy by 49 points.
And those are his two closest challengers.
It’s unclear if Trump will watch the event.
President Joe Biden said he will be tuning in.
But he joked he had no expectations from the night, which is the first formal gathering of Republicans attempting to defeat him in next year’s election.
‘I’m going to try to see — get as much as I can, yes,’ he told reporters Wednesday in Lake Tahoe where he is on a week-long vacation. Biden was carrying a banana blueberry smoothie as he spoke and had just come from Pelodog, a combination pilates and spin class studio.
Asked what his expectations were, Biden smiled broadly and laughed: ‘I have none.’
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