 Campaign Report |
Campaign Report |
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Republicans step around the 'elephant not in the room' |
Eight candidates took the stage Wednesday in Milwaukee to make their cases to a national audience for the first time. The White House hopefuls mostly steered around discussing the GOP front-runner. |
© Win McNamee/Getty Images |
The Hill's Julia Mueller reports on the biggest takeaways from the night, including former Vice President Pence playing a surprisingly central role during the forum, while entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy was notably target number one for the other contenders on stage. There were also a number of memorable moments from the debate, including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie saying Ramaswamy "sounds like Chat GPT." The Hill's Jared Gans has more of those notable moments here. The Hill's Niall Stanage wrote about the winners, losers and mixed performances of the night. Pence, Christie, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, and Fox News moderators Brett Baier and Martha MacCallum were among Niall's winners. Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson were among Niall's losers. Ramaswamy, on the other hand, got mixed reviews. "It's easy to see why his supporters could make the case that he shone. He's clearly different, he withstood some heavy verbal blows and he offers a candidacy uniquely in step with the sensibilities of a new, younger generation," Niall writes of Ramaswamy. "But the entrepreneur also seemed shallow at times, especially on Ukraine and in his craven promise to pardon Trump of any convictions if elected president." Notably absent, former President Trump had hardly been mentioned until halfway through the debate. That's when moderator Bret Baier said he wanted to take a brief moment to talk about "the elephant not in the room" — Trump and his four criminal indictments. Still, some Republicans argue he won the night. As the eight candidates battled it out on stage, an interview of Trump with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson aired. Trump was also a presence at the debate itself too. His campaign sent a number of surrogates, including Reps. Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene to make his case. And on stage, the candidates were asked whether they would still support the former president if he won the nomination again and was convicted of a crime. The majority of the candidates raised their hands. |
Welcome to The Hill's Campaign Report, we're Julia Manchester, Caroline Vakil, and Jared Gans. Each week we track the key stories you need to know to stay ahead of the 2024 election and who will set the agenda in Washington. |
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Key election stories and other recent campaign coverage: |
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Republican strategist Sarah Chamberlain said Nikki Haley's debate performance Wednesday was akin to one aimed at a general election audience, while Vivek Ramaswamy "ran a primary debate." Chamberlain, the president and CEO of Republican Main Street Partnership, said GOP candidates need to appeal to Republican voters — especially supporters of former President Trump — to lock up the nomination before they can start … |
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Former Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) called his campaign rival Vivek Ramaswamy a "pretty bad lounge act" of former President Trump, following the conservative entrepreneur's performance at the first Republican primary debate on Wednesday. "I think he's a pretty bad lounge act of Donald Trump and is trying to … thinks that he's going to be able to be a new version of Donald Trump," said Hurd, who did not qualify for the debate, … |
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| Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy called his GOP rivals’ various attacks on him a "badge of honor” following the first GOP primary debate. The Hill Elections 2024 coverage When CNN’s Dana Bash asked Ramaswamy if he expected the onslaught of attacks, he said, "I took it as a badge of honor as the 38-year-old outsider in this race who's never been in a political debate." "To be at the center … |
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Upcoming news themes and events we're watching: |
- 51 days until Louisiana's gubernatorial primary
- 75 days until Kentucky and Mississippi's gubernatorial generals
- 438 days until the 2024 general election
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Trump to surrender in Georgia |
© Matt Rourke/Associated Press |
Former President Trump is set to turn himself in on Thursday after he was indicted last week on 13 charges related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia. He is facing charges of racketeering, conspiracy to commit forgery, false statements and writing and solicitation of a violation of an oath by a public officer, among others. Trump has denounced the charges as politically motivated and is expected to eventually plead not guilty to all charges, as he has done in the other three criminal cases against him in recent months. But the former president is not expected to enter a plea on Thursday, as each of the 19 co-defendants charged in the case will appear in court at a later date to enter their plea. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has charged each of the 18 other co-defendants in the case with racketeering and other crimes. She has given the defendants until Friday at noon to turn themselves in, and many of them already have. Trump's bond was set at $200,000 in an order signed off by a judge, so he will be able to be released after going through the booking process and posting bail. He is likely to have a mug shot taken, along with a medical screening and fingerprinting. Trump turning himself in comes just a day after the first GOP debate that notably did not include him, since he declined his invitation. Instead, the prerecorded interview he did with Carlson was posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, when the debate started. Trump will now be back in the news again on Thursday to face his fourth indictment in just about five months. He has built up a lead as large as 30 points or more in the polls over his Republican challengers and has also seen his numbers improve among Republican primary voters following the indictments, especially the first one in Manhattan in the spring. Time will tell if Trump sees a similar boost after he turns himself in and is arraigned shortly after, or if a candidate's performance in the debate might overshadow it. |
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Branch out with a different read from The Hill: |
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Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Thursday she was "surprised" the Republican presidential candidates did not talk more about former President Trump at Wednesday night's GOP primary debate. "I don't think they talked about President Trump that much, that did surprise me," McDaniel said in an interview on "Fox and Friends." "I thought that was going to be more of it." "I just thought if he's … |
George Conway, a conservative lawyer and frequent critic of former President Trump, said Thursday he expects many of Trump's 18 co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case to take plea deals, noting the financial struggles they seem to be experiencing and the difficulty some are apparently having in finding legal representation. "All of these people, a lot of them, are going to end up having to plead," Conway said … |
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Local and state headlines regarding campaigns and elections: |
- In turnabout, DeSantis, other GOP candidates avoid mention of 'woke' (Miami Herald)
- Cleveland Browns, Columbus Crew owners get involved in Ohio's 2024 Senate race (The Cincinnati Enquirer)
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Election news we've flagged from other outlets: |
- Trump crowns Ramaswamy the debate's winner — for praising him (Politico)
- Trump gambles on finding strength in indictments instead of debate (The Washington Post)
- First Republican debate speaking times: By the numbers (CNN)
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Key stories on The Hill right now: |
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Former President Trump is opposing an effort to move the trial for his election interference case in Georgia up to October, asking to sever his case from that of a co-defendant who asked for a speedy trial. The notice from Trump came after co-defendant Kenneth Chesebro filed a motion for a speedy trial and Fulton County District Attorney … Read more |
| MILWAUKEE — A stormy Republican clash here Wednesday kicked off the 2024 debate season — even if the biggest name wasn't on the stage. Former President Trump's decision not to participate in the Fox News debate at Fiserv Forum overshadowed the event and likely lowered its ratings. Trump did not entirely cede the spotlight, though. His … Read more |
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Opinions related to campaigns and elections submitted to The Hill: |
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