COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — Most of the top republican candidates were on stage in Milwaukee Wednesday night for the first 2024 GOP Presidential Debate.
Voters 3 News Now spoke to who tuned in said there was a lot to like from the candidates and surprisingly, they were happy that the top polling candidate didn’t show up.
Wednesday night was the first real opportunity for many of the candidates on stage to set themselves apart from the pack in a race that has developed an out sized focus on who sits in second place.
“I guess I was glad they all got a chance to speak and voice their opinions and answer some of the questions. It got a little hairy once in a while but not often,” said Kathleen Kruse, a voter from Council Bluffs.
The most contentious moments at Wednesday’s debates were mostly focused on one candidate, 38-year-old businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.
Ramaswamy clashed with nearly every other candidate on stage but several folks we spoke to said they were impressed with how he handled himself.
“I don’t even know how to say his name or spell it ... I didn’t know anything about him and I think he got some good points across. They are all picking on him because he is not a politician,” said Bill Kruse, Kathleen’s husband.
On top of Ramaswamy one other name kept coming up when it came to impressive performances.
“Kind of what I expected that none of them did much for themselves. Nikki Haley it sounded like she did pretty good for herself she was about the best one,” said Tammy Hall, a GOP voter from Florida who was visiting family in Council Bluffs.
Not every candidate though gave voters a good impression.
“There were a couple I thought really didn’t stand out, the North Dakota Governor and Asa Hutchinson, I really didn’t think they stood out much,” said Bill.
“Desantis I thought was gonna be okay but … I don’t know,” said Tammy.
The biggest story though from last night’s debate isn’t how the candidates performed but who showed up.
Former President Donald Trump, who has a significant lead in GOP polling, decided to do a one on one interview with Tucker Carlson instead.
That interview has been viewed over 234 million times on Twitter, eclipsing the estimated 20 million who watched the GOP debate.
We asked folks if they were bothered by Trump’s absence and surprisingly, most told us they wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“I thought that was good he was not there. That way they didn’t all pick on him and they were able to get their points across without him overshadowing. So I thought it was good he was not there,” said Bill.
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