Wednesday night was the first Republican presidential primary debate and according to a CNN focus of Iowa Republicans, the clear winner of the debate was newcomer conservative businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. The debate took place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where eight candidates were eligible after meeting the Republican National Committee's (RNC) debate qualification criteria. The CNN focus group included 15 Iowa Republican voters of which seven believed that the winner was Vivek Ramaswamy, with the runner up being former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, followed by only two voters who chose the winner as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“I was reminded of the time when Vivek was talking about the national identity situation, and I know Pence brought up that that wasn’t really an issue, but I think it was a generational problem because Vivek understands that young folks don’t really understand that people my age don’t really love America, and if you don’t love it, you can’t protect it,” said a voter who chose Ramaswamy as the winner. “And I think if we fix that problem, then people will, as a natural byproduct, want to protect America and what it stands for.” According to the focus group, not one Iowa voter believed former Vice President Mike Pence, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former New Jersey Gov. Christ Christie, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson or North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, had any chance of winning the debate. Former President Trump decided to skip the first primary debate and held a pre-recorded interview with Tucker Carlson immediately at the start of the Fox News debate, which many believe to be the right move for the former president as he is way ahead in the national polls. The latest poll numbers from the RealClearPolitics (RCP) average of polls show Trump leading the group by over 40 points, then DeSantis with 14.3%, and Ramaswamy with 7.2%.