Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy emerged as the main target of his GOP primary rivals during the party’s first presidential debate Wednesday evening, although his controversial performance appears to have gained the approval of former President Donald Trump, who chose to skip the debate.
Republican presidential candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy participates in the first debate of the GOP ... [+]
Ramaswamy, who was called out as a “rookie” and mocked his lack of foreign policy experience by former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie—served as Trump’s most vocal defender on the stage as others targeted the former president.
Ramaswamy’s effusive praise of Trump appears to have endeared him to the former president, who shared a clip on his Truth Social platform of Ramaswamy saying he was the “best president of the 21st century.”
In the post, Trump wrote that this statement gave Ramaswamy “a big WIN in the debate because of a thing called TRUTH.”
Trump was much less charitable about the rest of the field, saying Florida Governor Ron “DeSanctimonious was a ‘BOMB’ tonight,” before claiming he received 1.1 million “more votes” than the governor in Florida.
Trump also targeted Christie—who repeatedly criticized Trump during the debate—by sharing a video of him getting booed by the audience and asking why he was “wasting his time” considering the “crowds reaction to him!”
Despite lavishing Trump with praise during the debate, Ramaswamy dismissed suggestions that he was using the debate as an audition to become the former president’s running mate. Speaking to reporters after the event, Ramaswamy said: “I expect Trump to be one of my most valuable advisers as I take over for the White House in January 2025.” He said he thinks Trump will be able to beat Biden in the presidential election but he believes “it will be narrow” and the party can’t leave it to be “50.1.”
Ramaswamy was called out on social media for appearing to plagiarize a segment of former President Barack Obama’s old speech as he called himself a “skinny guy with a funny last name.” Christie appeared to catch this on stage and compared Ramaswamy to the former president adding: “I’ve had enough already tonight of a guy who sounds like ChatGPT standing up here.”
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