Anti-woke businessman Vivek Ramaswamy has been deemed the “real winner” of the first Republican primary debate, according to a J.L.Partners/DailyMail survey released Thursday.
The survey asked registered Republicans, “Who do you think was the REAL winner of the debate?”
Twenty-two percent chose Ramaswamy, followed by 21 percent who said former President Donald Trump, despite the fact that he was not present at the debate. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis followed both Ramaswamy and Trump with 20 percent deeming him the “REAL” winner of the debate. No other candidate came close, as eight percent said former Vice President Mike Pence, six percent said South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, five percent chose former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and three percent said former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum:
The survey also asked respondents whom they believe had the “BEST debate performance.” Again, Ramaswamy took the lead, as 28 percent said he had the best debate performance, followed by DeSantis (27 percent), Pence (13 percent), Scott (eight percent), Haley (seven percent), Christie (four percent), Burgum (three percent), and Hutchinson (two percent).
The survey was taken among 504 registered Republicans who watched the debate and has a +/- 4.4 percent margin of error.
Indeed, Ramaswamy had a few breakout moments, facing off against Haley over her support of financial aid to Ukraine. During the exchange, Ramaswamy asserted that her position makes her a friend of the military-industrial complex, wishing her well in her “future career on the board of Lockheed & Raytheon.”
Ramaswamy also stood as the first candidate to raise his hand when Bret Baier asked candidates if they would still support Trump as their party’s nominee if he were “convicted in a court of law”:
Even Trump thanked Ramaswamy on Truth Social for his line, which generated cheers: “Let’s just speak the truth, okay? President Trump, I believe, was the best president of the 21st century. It’s a fact.”
“This answer gave Vivek Ramaswamy a big WIN in the debate because of a thing called TRUTH. Thank you Vivek!” Trump exclaimed.
Rep. Byron Donald (R-FL) was among Trump’s surrogates at the debate and told reporters Trump won despite his lack of participation.
“It’s not a two-person race at this point. In my view, it’s a one-person race with a lot of other people in the race. And that’s what I think really came out of this debate tonight. That’s why I think in the grand scheme, Donald Trump’s the winner of this debate,” he said. “Nobody on that stage, from what I saw, really galvanized Republicans.”
VIDEO — Byron Donalds: Trump Won the Debate in Absentia: “It’s a One-Person Race”
Joel B. Pollak / Breitbart News
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