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Target of the debate became newcomer Vivek Ramaswamy as opponents looked to stand out. Jessica Dean reports.

Republican presidential hopefuls faced off for the first time in Wednesday night's Milwaukee debate.

At the debate and on the campaign trail, rivals, pundits and voters have stumbled on his name. (Rhymes with “cake,” he says.)

Supporters of Vivek Ramaswamy at a debate watch party Wednesday night in New Hampshire.

Republican rivals spent more time talking about abortion than any other single issue during the first debate, exposing divisions around a federal ban.

Republicans are largely supportive of the fall of Roe v. Wade, but many have been wary of talking about abortion on the campaign trail because of voter backlash to restrictions on the procedure.

As a Republican member of the House of Representatives from Minnesota and as the state’s governor, he became identified with Christian piety and limited government.

Albert Quie delivering the Thanksgiving Day sermon at Chapel Hills United Church of Christ in Edina, Minn., shortly after the end of his first and only term as governor of Minnesota.

Even though he decided not to attend, the former president cast a long shadow over this week’s debate between his rivals Donald Trump stayed away from Wednesday’s Republican candidates’ debate in Milwaukee. Yet he remained the evening’s dominant presence. The former president’s poll lead among Republican supporters for the 2024 US presidential contest is so strong that he could afford to do this. His absence deliberately belittled both the televised event, as he simultaneously gave an imperiously misleading social media interview to Tucker Carlson, and his eight challengers, who were left vying to impress in a fantasy “What if?” contest over the choice for a party not in fact dominated by Mr Trump. Absence also allowed Mr Trump, on the eve of his latest court appearance in Atlanta and now facing 91 felony counts in four separate criminal cases, to avoid offering himself as a target to his eight rivals. Not that he need have worried about that. Most of them went out of their way all evening to pay him repeated homage. No one did this more shamelessly than the Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who told the audience both that Mr Trump was the best Republican president of the 21st century and that, if elected, Mr Ramaswamy would instantly pardon him for whatever he may have been convicted of in the meantime. Continue reading...

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called out candidate Vivek Ramaswamy at the first 2024 GOP presidential primary debate for a comment that sounded eerily familiar to a speech by former President Barack Obama.

The US has not seen indications that a missile downed the airplane Russian authorities say was carrying Wagner founder Yevgheny Prigozhin, according to four US officials.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Thursday vetoed an election overhaul bill passed by the Republican-controlled legislature last week.

Former President Donald Trump plans to turn himself in and be processed at the Fulton County jail in Atlanta on Thursday after a grand jury indicted him on state charges related to the Georgia election subversion case.

A federal judge on Wednesday denied Democrat presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s request for a restraining order against Google and YouTube that he argued would prevent his primary campaign against President Biden from being further censored on the video sharing platform. U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson, nominated by Biden in 2021, issued an 11-page decision saying RFK Jr. did not meet the threshold for a preliminary injunction to be granted on First Amendment grounds because Google and YouTube are private entities and not state actors as part of the government. Google cited its COVID-19 medical and vaccine "misinformation" policies in taking down three videos of Kennedy shared on YouTube. Those were his speech at New Hampshire’s Saint Anselm College uploaded by Manchester Public Television on March 3, his interview with podcaster Joe Rogan uploaded on June 17, and his June interview with Jordan Peterson. In his complaint filed this month in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Kennedy sought a temporary restraining order to restore those videos and prevent the defendants from using those same policies to remove future videos of Kennedy during his 2024 presidential campaign. JUDGE SCHEDULES EMERGENCY HEARING IN RFK JR'S LAWSUIT OVER YOUTUBE ALLEGEDLY CENSORING HIS CAMPAIGN The lawsuit sought timely relief as Kennedy’s campaign is likely to pick up after Labor Day. Kennedy’s complaint cited the case of Missouri v. Biden, in which a federal judge in Louisiana issued a scathing July 4 opinion that ordered the Biden administration to limit communications with social media companies with regard to First Amendment-protected free speech of Americans. However, Thompson wrote Wednesday that unlike in that Fifth Circuit case, Kennedy is suing private entities and not the government, saying there was no evidence before the court that government officials demanded Google adopt a COVID-19 medical misinformation or vaccine misinformation policy. RFK JR SAYS BIDEN ADMINISTRATION REJECTED HIS REQUEST FOR SECRET SERVICE PROTECTION IN 2024 RACE Thompson based her opinion on a Ninth Circuit decision that ruled Twitter, the social media site now called X, exercised its "own independent judgment" in adopting content moderation policies and enforcing them. The judge said Kennedy "has not shown that he has been irreparably harmed by Google or YouTube because he does not demonstrate urgency or that his speech will be censored on other social media platforms." Thompson further wrote that "a temporary restraining order does not serve the public interest of preventing the spread of illness and medical misinformation." Thompson also said Kennedy has expressed that he is still able to post content on Facebook and X that runs afoul with Google’s policy, and "there are numerous other ways" Kennedy can share video content concerning his viewpoints on vaccinations and COVID-19. Fox News Digital reached out to Kennedy's campaign and Google for comment on the court ruling, but they did not immediately respond. Kennedy testified before the House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government in July with regard to the investigation led by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, into the Biden administration’s alleged collusion with social media companies to censor free speech. Republicans charged that Democrats tried to censor Kennedy during the hearing about censorship.  Google has said Kennedy’s lawsuit is "meritless," telling Fox News Digital that "YouTube applies its Community Guidelines independently, transparently, and consistently, regardless of political viewpoint." The next hearing in the case is set for Nov. 7, when the judge will consider Kennedy’s motion for a preliminary injunction and defendants’ motion to dismiss.

MILWAUKEE — Democratic National Committee senior adviser Cedric Richmond said President Biden was the "clear winner" of the first GOP presidential debate Wednesday night, telling Fox News Digital that Republican presidential candidates are "running to the extreme right" in a strategy that's a "losing proposition" for the 2024 general election. During an interview with Fox News Digital on the sidelines of the first Republican presidential primary debate in Milwaukee, Richmond likened the showdown to a shouting match. BIDEN CAMPAIGN, DNC TO LEVERAGE GOP DEBATE FOR MASSIVE POLITICAL MESSAGING OPERATION "President Biden was the clear winner as Republicans shouted over each other and tried to see who could be the most extreme," Richmond told Fox News Digital. "What they weren’t talking about is how do we improve the daily lives of Americans." Richmond, a former congressman who previously served as a senior adviser to President Biden and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, said Democrats and Biden’s reelection campaign are "going to build from the bottom up and the middle out." Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson took the stage Wednesday night. BIDEN REELECTION CAMPAIGN TO BE HEADQUARTERED IN WILMINGTON, DELAWARE Noticeably absent from the stage was former President Trump, who has a commanding lead over the GOP primary field. But Richmond said that even though Trump wasn’t physically in Milwaukee on Wednesday night, his policies were on display. "His aura was on the stage – they all ran to the right – to his positions," Richmond said. "We view the entire field as running to the right – to the extreme right." He added, "And that is a losing proposition for the general election."

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis moved up her proposal after one of the defendants requested a speedy trial.

A booking photo normally reflects gravity, bewilderment or even surprise. That is not the case with some of the former president’s co-defendants.

Jenna Ellis and David Shafer in their mug shots in Georgia.

The Biden administration blocked off millions of acres of federal waters from an upcoming oil and gas lease sale as a result of its settlement with environmental groups over wildlife protections. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), an Interior Department subagency tasked with managing offshore energy development, published a final notice of sale for Lease Sale 261 late Wednesday, including six million fewer acres than it previously scheduled. The Gulf of Mexico lease sale is set to take place in late September and marks the final planned federal oil and gas sale. "The biggest impact will be on the reduced acreage that is going to be offered in the lease sale," National Ocean Industries Association President Erik Milito told Fox News Digital in an interview ahead of the announcement. "That is a massive amount of highly-prospective acreage that could lead to energy production, especially when you consider that there are producing facilities in the proximity of some of that acreage." Milito added after the announcement that BOEM's decision to strip millions of acres from the sale and issue other restrictive conditions on companies "poses a real barrier to America’s energy production capabilities, at a time when they’re needed more than ever, with inflation driving up the costs of everything for Americans, including gasoline at the pump." BIDEN ADMIN MAKES STUNNING ADMISSION ON CLIMATE AGENDA IN LEAKED INTERNAL MEMO Overall, BOEM said it would offer 12,395 blocks across approximately 67 million acres in multiple regions of the Gulf of Mexico, less than the 13,620 blocks across 73.4 million acres it originally planned to offer. According to industry, the acreage stripped from the sale included potentially oil-rich tracts located in the middle of the lease area. Offshore lease sales often span large swaths of federal waters, but earn bids on a fraction of blocks projected by companies to contain more resources and to have a higher return on investment. For example, BOEM auctioned off 73.3 million acres during Lease Sale 259 in March, but received bids worth $263.8 million for 313 tracts spanning 1.6 million acres. BIDEN ADMIN UNVEILS SWEEPING NEW ACTIONS INCREASING COSTS FOR OIL, GAS LEASING "With this announcement, the administration is removing approximately 6 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico and adding new and unjustified restrictions on oil and gas vessels operating in this area, amounting to a lease sale in name only," said Holly Hopkins, the American Petroleum Institute's vice president of upstream policy.  "Today’s announcement leaves American energy developers in a period of extended uncertainty, with no future offshore lease sales scheduled," Hopkins continued. "This action defies Congress’ mandate in the Inflation Reduction Act, jeopardizes U.S. energy security and violates the Biden administration’s energy obligations to the American people." In addition to removing acreage from the sale, BOEM also imposed restrictions on oil and gas vessel traffic associated with the leases set to be auctioned. Among the requirements, BOEM said specially-trained visual observers must be aboard all vessels traversing the area, all ships regardless of size must travel no quicker than 10 knots and vessels should only travel through the area in the daytime. "These restrictions are not supported by the record and target the men and women of the oil and natural gas industry operating in this region, ignoring all other vessel traffic," Hopkins said, arguing the restrictions only apply to fossil fuel companies that operate just a portion of vessels traversing the area. BOEM's restrictions came in response to the Biden administration's settlement last month with a coalition of four environmental groups led by the Sierra Club. BIDEN ADMIN QUIETLY DELAYS MAJOR OIL, GAS LEASING DECISION In a federal stipulated stay agreement filed on July 21, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) agreed to a number of conditions requested by the groups which, in response, agreed to temporarily pause litigation in the related case. The case dates back nearly three years when, in October 2020, the environmental coalition sued the NMFS for failing to properly assess the oil industry impacts on endangered and threatened marine wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico.  The groups pursued the lawsuit after the NMFS coordinated a multiagency consultation studying the effects all federally regulated oil and gas activities would have on species listed under the Endangered Species Act in the Gulf of Mexico over the next 50 years. The groups argued in the original complaint that the NMFS' biological opinion resulting from its consultation was not based on the best science. The settlement specifically expands protections for the Rice’s whale, a species listed as endangered. NOIA and API both argued the decision Wednesday contravenes the congressional intent of the Inflation Reduction Act, which reinstated multiple lease sales, including Lease Sale 261, after the Biden administration axed them in May 2022. In the sale's record of decision, it is mandated to be region wide while its environmental analysis didn't acknowledge risks it may pose to the Rice’s whale.

Trump wanted to distract from the Republican debate. But the slobbering snoozefest interview was ‘low-energy’ Scientists recently revealed that they revived a worm that was frozen in the Siberian permafrost 46,000 years ago. This was obviously a totally unnecessary and reckless exercise. Because barely a month later Tucker Carlson would revive the semi-frozen carcass of an ex-president from the Twitter permafrost that is now weirdly known as X. Anyone who has watched a Jeff Goldblum movie knows how badly these experiments can turn out. Richard Wolffe is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

CNN Senior Data Reporter Harry Enten shares some most googled moments and related polling numbers.

Donald Trump will surrender at the Fulton County jail on Thursday evening, with a bond agreement already agreed on. This is his fourth criminal indictment. Nick Valencia reports.

The House Committee on the Judiciary is probing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis regarding her motivations for prosecuting former President Donald Trump. The investigation was announced Thursday via a publicly released letter from Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, who wrote to Willis claiming her "indictment and prosecution implicate substantial federal interests, and the circumstances surrounding [her] actions raise serious concerns about whether they are politically motivated." TRUMP TO BE BOOKED AT FULTON COUNTY JAIL AFTER CHARGES STEMMING FROM 2020 ELECTION PROBE In the letter, Jordan alluded to Willis's recent fundraising efforts highlighting her case against the former president. "It is noteworthy that just four days before this indictment, you launched a new campaign fundraising website that highlighted your investigation into President Trump," Jordan wrote.  He continued, "Additionally, the forewoman of the special grand jury you convened to investigate President Trump earlier this year bragged during an unusual media tour about her excitement at the prospect of subpoenaing President Trump and getting to swear him in." GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE EXPECTS SUBPOENA AS MARK MEADOWS SEEKS TO MOVE TRUMP ELECTION CASE TO FEDERAL COURT Trump will turn himself in Thursday night at the Fulton County jail in Atlanta, Georgia, after he was charged with 13 counts stemming from the state probe into his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state. The court set Trump’s bail at $200,000, and he is expected to be quickly processed and released. Fox News Digital has learned his formal arraignment, where he is expected to plead not guilty, will take place sometime early next month.  It is expected that Trump will be required to take a mugshot. Others charged out of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ probe, like former Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis and more had their photos taken during processing.  TRUMP SAYS GEORGIA INDICTMENT COMES DURING 'DARK PERIOD' FOR US, VOWS TO FIX IT BY WINNING House Republicans are justifying the oversight of Georgia state indictments by pointing to news reports claiming Willis utilized many of the same witnesses and materials as Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith.  "News outlets have reported that your office and Mr. Smith ‘interviewed many of the same witnesses and reviewed much of the same evidence’ in reaching your decision to indict President Trump," the committee letter reads. "The House Committee on the Judiciary (Committee) thus may investigate whether federal law enforcement agencies or officials were involved in your investigation or indictment." The committee is demanding the district attorney's office turn over all documentation of its use of federal funds, communications with the DOJ or it's components, and any records of cooperation with officials of the Executive Branch. The district attorney's office is asked to produce all requested materials by 10:00 a.m. on September 7, 2023.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice on Wednesday appointed the wife of his chief of staff to a vacant judge’s position. Stephanie Abraham was picked to fill a Kanawha County circuit judge opening following the retirement of Judge Duke Bloom, whose term expires in December 2024. Abraham is the wife of Brian Abraham, Justice’s chief of staff. Abraham is the legal counsel for the state Board of Education. She also was a law clerk for the state Supreme Court and taught business law at the Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College. Abraham graduated from Syracuse University in 2000 and has a law degree from the University of Maryland in Baltimore. STUDENTS PROTEST WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY’S PROPOSAL TO CUT ACADEMIC PROGRAMS, FACULTY "We’re not going to penalize a great candidate and somebody that’s as qualified as she is just because she’s a hard worker and the wife of my chief of staff," Justice said during a media briefing Wednesday. "There is no possibility we’re going to penalize this great girl. Her career speaks for itself, and she is a great woman that has done great work. And she’ll continue to do exactly that." CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP A news release later issued by the governor's office on the appointment did not mention Brian Abraham by name.

Abortion has been a losing issue for GOP since end of federal right but Pence, Scott and Hutchinson urged tightening restrictions Eight Republican presidential hopefuls clashed over the future of abortion access on Wednesday night in the first debate of the 2024 election cycle. Without the specter of Roe v Wade looming overhead, the candidates faced a new litmus test on abortion: whether or not they support a nationwide ban on the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Continue reading...

The Biden administration’s massive expansion of food stamp benefits is linked to at least a 15% rise in grocery prices, a new study said on Thursday.  President Biden’s Department of Agriculture rolled out revised nutritional standards for federal food benefits in 2021 that expanded the program by roughly 25% from pre-COVID pandemic levels.  Overall spending on the Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program (SNAP) more than doubled between 2019 and 2022, according to findings from the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) previewed by Fox News Digital. It went from $4.5 billion in 2019 to $11 billion in 2022, the study said. PORTLAND RESIDENT WARNS ADDICTS ARE USING FOOD STAMPS TO BUY FENTANYL: ‘ZOMBIES ON OUR STREETS' The group has argued that the increased spending on food stamps has helped fuel the price hikes that everyday Americans have contended with during a time of high inflation.  "USDA cooked their books to hike food stamp benefits by 27% — the largest permanent increase in program history. And they bypassed Congress to do it," said Jonathan Ingram, Vice President of Policy and Research at the Foundation for Government Accountability.  LAWMAKERS BLAST ARMY SOLDIER FOOD STAMP SUGGESTION AMID BIDEN'S STUDENT LOAN HANDOUT: ‘OUTRAGEOUS’ "Data show the Biden administration's overreach led to massive spikes in grocery prices. They're feeding inflation, not stopping hunger." The study cited research from the World Bank that "found that a one percent increase in per-capita food stamp benefits increased grocery store prices by 0.08 percent." "Put another way: Food prices increase by one percent for every 12.5 percent increase in food stamp spending," the study said. The Foundation For Government Accountability also estimated that Congress could claw back more than $193 billion in taxpayer funds if lawmakers repealed Biden’s food stamp expansion.  TOP MCCARTHY DEBT LIMIT NEGOTIATOR SAYS GOP WON'T CAVE ON WORK REQUIREMENTS: 'HELL NO' Food prices on average are expected to increase 5.8% over 2023, according to the Department of Agriculture’s website.  It’s a slower pace compared to 2022 but still higher than "historical-average rates," the department said. Food stamp spending is likely to take center stage in Congress’ expected upcoming battle over reauthorizing the Farm Bill, which sets a range of spending from food benefits for urban populations to rural broadband. Republicans are pushing to rein in SNAP spending, while Democrats are wary – particularly after striking a deal with House Republicans to implement work requirements for some food stamp beneficiaries, a condition of raising the federal debt limit earlier this year.

Former President Trump — the commanding frontrunner in the GOP field — may not have been on stage, but he dominated the first half of the debate… Read more: Seven of eight Republican candidates raise hands to say they'd support Trump as nominee even if convicted …MARK PENN: TRUMP FINDS NO RIVAL AT FIRST DEBATE: No likely Republican candidate emerges from debate to take on Trump …PENCE PRAISED BY RIVALS: Republican candidates agree Pence 'did the right thing' on Jan. 6 First-time candidate Vivek Ramaswamy took the most attacks, from all sides — from former VP Mike Pence calling him a "rookie" to former Gov. Chris Christie saying he sounded like an AI generated candidate… Read more: Republicans react to first GOP debate performances: 'Vivek was the lightning rod' …MILD-MANNERED MIKE: Ramaswamy, Pence clash after former VP calls GOP newcomer a 'rookie': 'This isn't complicated' Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gained a lot of praise from pundits, though strategists are far from a consensus on which candidate won the debate… Read more: Biggest winners and losers of 'aggressive,' 'messy' first Republican debate, according to top GOP strategists …FAUCI OUCHY: DeSantis jabs Trump with Fauci line at Fox News debate: 'Why are we in this mess?' …COUNTRY CROSSOVER: DeSantis’ response to viral ‘Rich Men’ song question gets loud reaction from crowd Unsurprisingly, the GOP candidates took swipes at President Biden while sparring on major issues… Read more: DeSantis warns America might never 'recover' from another 4 years of Biden …. ABORTION DUST UP: Haley calls for 'consensus' on issue of abortion, as Pence says that is 'the opposite of leadership' …UKRAINE IN THE MEMBRANE: GOP candidates clash over Ukraine War funding: 'this is disastrous' A Democratic figure used obscenity to react to the GOP showdown... Read more: Big-name Dems rage against candidates at first GOP presidential debate: 'A**hole" PSAKI BOMBED: Biden's former press secretary Jen Psaki stepped in it with her abortion-themed debate tweet… Psaki torn apart for claiming 'no one' supports abortion through birth: 'You worked for the man who does!' MISSED THE FIRST DEBATE? Watch the full Republican primary debate on Fox News CATCH UP ON THE LATEST DEBATE NEWS: Head to Fox News' election center for the latest debate coverage and news from the campaign trail.

Republican-led states are challenging a Biden administration policy that allows up to 30,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans to enter the U.S. each month.

From first-time candidate Vivek Ramaswamy grabbing the most attention to a usually mild-mannered former Vice President Mike Pence repeatedly on the attack, the first Republican presidential nomination debate of the 2024 election cycle tossed out the expected script and offered up plenty of fireworks and surprises. "It was a little messy at times because I think there’s been so much pent-up angst for this debate," longtime Republican strategist David Kochel, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns, told Fox News minutes after the conclusion of the Fox News-hosted debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Kochel, who sat in the debate hall audience, highlighted that the showdown "comes a little bit late in the cycle. You could tell that everybody was just rearing to get out and go. It was a pretty aggressive debate." RAMASWAMY ATTACKED FROM ALL SIDES IN FIRST GOP 2024 DEBATE With former President Donald Trump — the commanding front-runner in the GOP nomination race as he makes his third straight White House run — skipping out on the debate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was expected to bear the brunt of the attacks. DeSantis sits at a distant second to Trump in most polls, but is ahead of the rest of the large field of contenders. CHINA, UKRAINE, TRUMP, FENTANYL AND MORE ON THE DEBATE STAGE AGENDA But during the two-hour debate, Ramawamy — a multi-millionaire biotech entrepreneur, best-selling author and culture wars crusader — ended up being the candidate taking the most incoming fire from his seven rivals on the stage. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who's making his second White House run, and former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley took shots at Ramaswamy. But it was Pence who landed the most blows. In one viral moment, Pence blasted Ramaswamy, saying "now is not the time for on-the-job training. We don't need to bring in a rookie. We don't need to bring in people without experience." Kochel argued that "Ramaswamy was just an absolute punching bag and probably deserved it because he comes across as so slick and packaged and everybody just wanted to take swings at him. You could sort of feel all the animosity towards him on the stage." WATCH: HALEY CLASHES WITH RAMASWAMY OVER U.S. AID TO UKRAINE Ramaswmay grabbed plenty of applause for repeatedly defending Trump.  Longtime Republican consultant Dave Carney told Fox News that "Ramaswamy started out very strong — he’s the best performer." But Carney, a veteran of plenty of GOP presidential campaigns over the past four decades, argued that Ramaswamy's "shtick didn’t last all two hours. I think he hurt himself a lot. Nikki Haley really took the wood to him…They showed he can’t take a punch." Ramaswamy also grabbed plenty of headlines for claiming that "climate change is a hoax."  "The reality is more people are dying of bad climate change policies than they are of actual climate change," he added. Ramaswamy's comments were booed by some in the crowd — and they were slammed by Christie, who jabbed, "I’ve had enough already tonight of a guy who sounds like ChatGPT standing up here."  RAMASWAMY WINS CONSERVATIVE PRAISE ON SOCIAL MEDIA FOR THIS COMMENT While he received the most incoming fire, Ramaswamy was far from a human punching bag. He repeatedly counter-attacked and served up plenty of populist one-liners as he stood out as Trump’s chief defender on the stage. And he made himself the center of conversation. Speaking with Fox News' Sean Hannity immediately following the debate, an upbeat Ramaswamy spotlighted that "this is my first time in a political debate and I am thrilled with how it came out. We over exceeded my expectation."  Haley, the only female among the major candidates running for the Republican nomination, was the first contender on the stage to come out swinging, targeting DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, and Pence early in the debate for supporting legislation that raised the national debt. And she was the first to target Trump over his perceived electability liability, arguing the former president was the "most disliked" politician in the country. "I thought Nikki was very strong," Kochel said. "She showed a lot of strength." Carney added that "Nikki Haley punched above her weight more than anybody else and did herself a lot of good." Pence was also repeatedly in the spotlight, with over 12 minutes of speaking time, which was more than any other candidate. That was due in part to his numerous interruptions. DESANTIS ON PENCE JAN. 6, 2021 ACTIONS: ‘I HAVE NO BEEF WITH HIM’ "Pence was larger figure on stage," Kochel noted. And Carney said that "Pence came up a little bit" during the debate. "They had a strategy to be relevant and I think he did a good job." Most of the candidates also came to Pence's defense for the then-vice president's actions in upholding his constitutional duties by certifying the 2020 election results amid the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL DeSantis, who's ten minutes of speaking time was fourth behind Pence, Ramaswamy and Christie, grabbed mixed reviews. "I thought DeSantis was very strong. He was able to work lots of his stump speech into moments of the debate, which is what he wants because he’s got one of the better stumps in the field, Kochel said. "He didn’t have to get into any bickering. He just came in and delivered the message that he had. I think that’s to his benefit," Kochel added. "DeSantis did everything he needed to do." But Carney disagreed, saying "I think Ron DeSantis sort of disappeared." "I think many people think DeSantis is falling and finished, and he didn’t do anything to change the trajectory," Carney argued. "He was OK, but he didn’t score any points." Scott grabbed roughly eight minutes of speaking time, barely more than former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, the lowest polling of the conteders who stood on the wings of the stage. "Scott is good. He’s just very quiet and is just not a fighter," Carney said.  Carney added that Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate and a rising star in the GOP, "made some impassioned pleas on education and abortion. But he missed an opportunity to really break through." Kochel added that "Tim Scott disappeared. I don’t know where he was the entire debate. We’ll see if he has a better debate next time." Kochel said that "Christie did the Christie act the way you sort of expected. He’s real. He’s authentic. He’s got a lot of communications ability. But clearly the way he’s approaching Trump, Republicans just aren’t comfortable with it." Pointing to Christie’s high unfavorable ratings with Republicans, Kochel added that "you could tell. He’s kind of getting booed down when he was talking about Trump's indictments." But the strategists said Trump was one of the winners of the debate, even though he was far from the stage. "Trump won because he’s still the front-runner. He didn’t lose any votes tonight," Carney emphasized. And Kochel added, "I think Trump benefited from not being on the stage. He was probably better off not being there. Trump’s probably feeling pretty good about it." The showdown in Milwaukee was the first of monthly debates organized by the Republican National Committee.  The next debate — a FOX Business-hosted showdown — will be held Sept. 27 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.