{"id":2010254,"date":"2023-08-24T00:35:07","date_gmt":"2023-08-24T04:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/b-team-brawl-trump-rivals-tussle-in-first-republican-debate-taking-aim-at-ramaswamy\/"},"modified":"2023-08-24T00:37:39","modified_gmt":"2023-08-24T04:37:39","slug":"b-team-brawl-trump-rivals-tussle-in-first-republican-debate-taking-aim-at-ramaswamy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/b-team-brawl-trump-rivals-tussle-in-first-republican-debate-taking-aim-at-ramaswamy\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump&#8217;s opponents clash in first GOP debate, targeting Ramaswamy."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fb-team-brawl-trump-rivals-tussle-in-first-republican-debate-taking-aim-at-ramaswamy%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2010254&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Republican Presidential Hopefuls Clash at First GOP Primary Debate<\/h2>\n<p>Republican presidential hopefuls not named Donald \u200cTrump quarreled amongst themselves Wednesday at the first GOP primary debate in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n<p>Trump, the indicted former president and commanding frontrunner to\u2063 win the party&#8217;s nomination in 2024,\u200b was physically absent but loomed large over the field of second-tier candidates as \u200dthey worked to persuade\u200b viewers that a\u200b different outcome was even possible.<\/p>\n<p>Asked to address what Fox News moderator \u200bBret Baier described as &#8220;the elephant not\u200c in the room,&#8221; most of the candidates raised their hands when \u200dasked if they would still vote for Trump if he\u2062 is ultimately convicted of \u2063the \u2062numerous crimes for which he has \u2062been indicted.<\/p>\n<h3>Gov. Ron DeSantis Emerges \u200bUnscathed<\/h3>\n<p>Gov. Ron DeSantis (R., \u200cFla.), the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrat-jeff-jackson-drops-out-of-north-carolina-senate-race-clearing-path-to-nomination-for-beasley\/\" title=\"Democrat Jeff Jackson Drops Out Of North Carolina Senate Race, Clearing Path To Nomination For Beasley\">highest-polling candidate<\/a> on stage, held his own \u2064and\u200c emerged largely unscathed as most of his rivals aimed \u200dtheir ire at Vivek Ramaswamy, the 38-year-old entrepreneur \u200dwho has \u2063questioned the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/vivek-ramaswamy-responds-to-backlash-over-his-answer-on-if-9-11-was-an-inside-job\/\" title=\"Vivek Ramaswamy addresses criticism on 9\/11 'Inside Job' stance.\">official narrative surrounding<\/a> the September 11 terrorist\u2064 attacks.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This country \u2064is\u2062 in \u200ddecline,&#8221; DeSantis said in his opening remarks. &#8220;We need to send President Biden back to his basement \u2064and \u200breverse this decline.&#8221; He went on to tout his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, his\u200b efforts to oust George\u200d Soros-funded prosecutors\u200c for being \u200csoft on crime, \u2063and his promise \u2064to wage war on Mexican drug cartels.<\/p>\n<p>Ramaswamy,\u200d a self-made multimillionaire whose poll numbers have risen steadily in recent weeks, cast himself as an &#8220;outsider&#8221; \u200dwho can bring real \u2064change to\u200c Washington.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When you have a broken car, \u2064you don\u2019t turn over the keys to the people who broke it,&#8221; Ramaswamy said. \u200c&#8221;You give the keys\u2062 to a new generation.&#8221; He went on to promote himself as &#8220;the only non-neocon on stage,&#8221; and &#8220;the only person on this stage who isn&#8217;t\u200d bought and paid for&#8221; by super PAC\u200c money, a line that elicited boos from the debate audience.<\/p>\n<p>His rivals were not amused,\u2062 and seemed\u2064 genuinely annoyed by the affect of the first\u200b millennial candidate to run in a Republican\u2063 primary. Mike Pence, the\u200d former \u2063vice president, lashed\u200d out at the young whippersnapper in an effort to cast himself as the \u200dmost experienced candidate on stage. \u2064&#8221;Now is not the time for on-the-job\u2064 training,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We don&#8217;t need to bring in a rookie.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and U.S. ambassador to\u200d the\u200d United Nations, struck the same note when she pushed back on Ramaswamy&#8217;s assertion that the only war he would\u200c wage as president is against the administrative\u200b state. \u2062&#8221;You have no foreign policy \u2063experience,\u200c and it shows,&#8221;\u2062 she snapped.<\/p>\n<p>Chris Christie, \u200dthe rotund former governor of New Jersey, also took aim at Ramaswamy, \u200ddismissing him as an &#8220;amateur.&#8221; Ramaswamy, he \u2062said, is just\u2064 another &#8220;skinny guy\u200d with an odd\u2064 last name,&#8221; a \u2064reference to former president Barack \u200bObama.<\/p>\n<p>The former governor did not shy away from\u2063 criticizing Trump, urging Republicans\u200c to &#8220;stop normalizing&#8221; conduct that is &#8220;beneath the office of the presidency.&#8221; The audience expressed displeasure at the thought,\u200c but Christie\u200b was unfazed. &#8220;Booing is allowed, but it doesn&#8217;t change the truth,&#8221; he said. Haley, for her part, urged GOP voters &#8220;to face the \u2062fact&#8221; that the former president is &#8220;the most\u2064 disliked politician in the country, and argued Republican &#8220;can&#8217;t win an election&#8221; \u2062with him on the ballot.<\/p>\n<h3>Sen. Tim Scott Struggles to Stand\u200c Out<\/h3>\n<p>Sen. Tim Scott (R.,\u2063 S.C.) turned in\u2063 a largely forgettable performance, taking a relatively hard line \u2064on abortion while \u2063struggling to assert himself as the loudest and most\u200b aggrieved candidate on stage. Boring lines such as, \u200c&#8221;We need Lady Justice to wear a blindfold,&#8221; fell flat amid the bickering.<\/p>\n<p>Trump, \u200cmeanwhile, hit the airwaves minutes before the debate got underway and it is hard to imagine\u200c he regretted skipping the event. \u2064In a prerecorded interview \u2063with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, he laid\u200c out his thought process: &#8220;I&#8217;m \u200csaying, &#8216;Do I sit there for an hour\u2063 or \u200dtwo hours, whatever it&#8217;s going to\u2062 be, and get harassed by people that shouldn&#8217;t even be running for president?&#8217;\u200d Should I\u2062 be doing that?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The former president insisted once again that the 2020 election was &#8220;rigged&#8221; and accused Democrats \u2064of\u200b conspiring to \u2062steal the election \u2063again in 2024. &#8220;These people are sick,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Trump holds a\u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/b-team-brawl-trump-rivals-tussle-in-first-republican-debate-taking-aim-at-ramaswamy\/\" title=\"Trump's opponents clash in first GOP debate, targeting Ramaswamy.\">daunting 41 percentage point lead<\/a> over the rest of the \u2064field nationally, according to the \u200dReal Clear Politics polling average. He leads by more than 25 percentage points in the early primary\u200c states of Iowa\u2064 and New Hampshire.<\/p>\n<p>Gov. Doug Burgum (R., N.D.), who sported a walking boot after suffering a torn Achilles \u2062during a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bel-air-is-the-latest-example-of-hollywoods-horrible-trend-of-woke-reboots\/\" title=\"\u201cBel-Air\u201d Is the Latest Example of Hollywood\u2019s Horrible Trend of Woke Reboots\">pickup basketball game<\/a> on Tuesday, participated in the debate and \u200cvowed to bring &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/country-music-legend-says-aldean-song-triggers-liberals-you-cant-take-freedom-away\/\" title=\"Country music icon claims Aldean's song irks liberals: 'Freedom is untouchable'\">small-town values<\/a>&#8221; to Washington. Asa Hutchinson, the former governor of Arkansas, was also there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>group of Republicans should lead the party.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":97,"featured_media":2010255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2010254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-free-beacon"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2010254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/97"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2010254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2010254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2010255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2010254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2010254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2010254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}