Republican debate: Candidates on Trump, competitors on stage
MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee played a role on the world stage, hosting the first Republican presidential debate of the 2024 campaign Wednesday night.
Now, the candidates look for the momentum that started inside Fiserv Forum to keep growing and carry them all the way to the White House.
One of the candidates could return to Milwaukee next summer to receive the party's official nomination during the Republican National Convention. They'd have to be beat the front-runner – former President Donald Trump – to do that. So who won the debate? It depends who you ask.
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How candidates fared
In terms of time spent speaking, former Vice President Mike Pence took the lead with 12 ½ minutes, followed by businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
When it comes to the polls, though, all eight of the Republican candidates are far behind Trump – who is leading the polls by roughly 40 points. They needed moments Wednesday night to break through the crowded field, and one of those moments was Pence and Haley's exchange about abortion.
2024 Republican presidential candidates during the Republican primary presidential debate in Milwaukee on Aug. 23, 2023. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Pence: "A 15-week ban is an idea whose time has come. It's supported by 70% of the American people. But it's going to take unapologetic leadership, leadership that stands on principle and expresses compassion for women in crisis pregnancies. I'll do that as president of the United States."
Haley: "He called my name, so I want to respond to that. So, first of all, I will say it is in the hands of the people, and that's where it should be. But when you're talking about a federal ban, be honest with the American people."
Pence: "I am being honest."
Haley: "We haven't had 45 pro-life senators in over 100 years. So no Republican president can ban abortions any more than a Democrat president could ban all those state laws. Don't make women feel like they have to decide on this issue when you know we don't have 60 Senate votes in the House."
Some other candidates, particularly Christie, took jabs at Ramaswamy.
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Christie: "I've had enough already tonight of a guy who sounds like ChatGPT standing up here, and the last person in one of these debates…who stood in the middle of the stage and said, 'What's a skinny guy with an odd last name doing up here?' was Barack Obama, and I'm afraid we're dealing with the same type of amateur standing here tonight."
Ramaswamy: "Give me a hug just like you did to Obama, and you'll help elect me just like you did to Obama. Give me that bear hug, brother."
Christie: "Same type of amateur."
A FOX6 Insta-Poll from debate night showed three candidates were most impressive to viewers: DeSantis, Ramaswamy and Haley. All other candidates were in the low single digits.
2024 Republican debate FOX6 Insta-Poll results
Some of the candidates were not well know. Did they have a breakthrough moment? If you ask the candidates, they did. FOX6 News questioned them in the Spin Room – which gets its name because it's the area where candidates and their representatives spin just how well they did. One candidate, Ramaswamy, came right out and said he clearly won the debate.
"I was honored to come out, I think, clearly the winner of this thing, just to be really honest of it," Ramaswamy said. "My first time ever on a debate stage, I was prepared for this to be a warmup, the fact we came out as victorious as we did, is really an honor, something that propels me and gives me a sense of duty to see this all the way through to a landslide."
"We’re well known, but we’re not known well," said Pence. "People that know me wouldn’t have been surprised to see my fire. You know, I fought for conservative values in Congress. I fought for conservative values as the governor of Indiana, and I was the leading champion of conservative values in the Trump-Pence administration.
Facing Trump
In the Spin Room, FOX6 asked: How are you going to win when you're trailing Donald Trump so much right now?
"I started at 0.0% in March. I’m now probably a second (in the polls)," Ramaswamy said. "Let’s look at some of the recent polls, we’ll see how things go after tonight. I would call myself the second place in this race. It’s going to be a two-horse race between me and Donald Trump before long, and I’m the only person who can win in a landslide."
FOX6 News asked Ramaswamy how he would beat Trump. He walked away.
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"Well, everybody is in single digits right now," said former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. "The answer is you make your case, like I did tonight, and secondly, Republican voters need to understand we can’t win with Donald Trump."
While Trump was not on the debate stage, his son, Donald Trump Jr., was in Milwaukee and was quick to say his dad is the candidate best-able to beat President Joe Biden.
"How many times did they talk about how they’re actually going to beat the Democrats?" said Trump Jr.
Looking ahead
The big race now is for the candidates to meet the requirements to get on the next debate stage in September. They need 3% in the polls to make it, plus certain fundraising levels.
What started in Milwaukee will end in Milwaukee with the GOP nomination next summer. Wisconsin is one of just four states that Cook Political Report forecasters say are 2024 presidential toss-ups.