Trump Claims Debate Victory, and He Has Some Incredible Numbers to Support the Claim

The Republican debate was Wednesday night, and I have to say I was somewhat disappointed that the debate didn't spend time on the economy, how horrible Joe Biden is, and the weaponization of the government against political opponents and the American people. It seems like the candidates spent more time trying to verbally take on Vivek Ramaswamy than Joe Biden. It was clear that they were concerned about Ramaswamy's numbers when the rest were mainly in single digits,. They were hoping to have that springboard moment off of him. But I think that only focused more attention on him, rather than on them. "Vivek" was trending this morning on C, polls running this morning like the Drudge poll had him polling as the winner.

Here was perhaps one of the funniest moments of the debate when Ramaswamy came back at Chris Christie

Chris Christie just called @VivekGRamaswamy "Obama:"🤔

"I'm afraid we're dealing with the same kind of amateur."

VIVEK: "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 damn hug, brother." pic.twitter.com/7TPromaODg
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) August 24, 2023

However, I think the problem for the folks at the debate was the guy Fox referred to as the "elephant not in the room" --- former President Donald Trump. In the Fox debate format, you don't get the chance to expound on your thoughts. You're given a very limited time to make an impression, sometimes in the. midst of being shouted down or attacked by another candidate. Meanwhile, as we reported, Trump was free to speak at length and benefitted from the long-form interview format.

Here was a hilarious moment where he eviscerated the abilities of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and speculated that other folks might come forward in the primary because those two were so bad.

Donald Trump to Tucker on Kamala Harris: “She speaks in rhyme. It's weird... Well, the way she talks: 'The bus will go here and then the bus will go there! Because that's what busses do!'”

So good 🤣🤣🤣

pic.twitter.com/k89BFal6vK
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) August 24, 2023

One of the things that I found commendable in the Trump interview was that even in the face of four indictments, what was Trump talking about? The concerns about China's movements in our hemisphere, trying to build bases in Cuba, and their influence over the Panama Canal. There was precious little foreign policy in the GOP debate apart from asking about continued funding for Ukraine, which most seemed to be okay with and Ramaswamy wanted to stop.

It's a strategic understanding that we've seen from Trump in the past for example in trying to warn Germany and NATO about being beholden to Russia for their oil. It's something that Biden completely fails at because he doesn't seem at all concerned about America's security.

Did any of the candidates at the GOP debate have that springboard moment to shake up the polls and move past Trump? I don't think so. There might be some minor jockeying around, but they faced an almost impossible task to begin with, with Trump so far ahead. How do you gain on him if he isn't even there?

Trump's team released a statement after the debate.

"President Trump won this evening's Republican debate in dominating fashion," said the statement attributed to Trump campaign senior adviser Susie Wiles. "More people watched President Trump's interview with Tucker Carlson than the rest of the field on the debate stage combined. Tonight, voters saw a clear contrast between President Trump engaging in a thoughtful policy discussion about what his second term will look like versus 90-second canned sound bites and platitudes from the debate stage."
Wiles' statement continued: "What is clear after the dust settles: none of the other candidates looked ready to take on Crooked Joe Biden. Only one leader can Make America Great Again, and that's President Donald J. Trump."

At this juncture, if winning is determined by attention and eyes on you, then Trump has some receipts for the claim. According to the view count, it's almost 200 million views -- 195+ million at this juncture, after not even a full day.