Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said his performance at the debate Wednesday evening exceeded even his “own expectations.”
During the first Republican primary debate, Former Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie targeted Ramaswamy by painting him as an “amateur.” Ramaswamy told reporters afterward he had “exceeded even” his “own expectations,” The Spectator reported.
“To come out as the winner tonight when it was my first ever political debate is something that, frankly, exceeded even my own expectations,” Ramaswamy told reporters after the debate.
I’m the outsider on this stage. I’m not a politician. My parents came to this country 40 years ago with no money, and I’ve gone on to found multibillion dollar companies. I did it while getting married to my wife Apoorva and raising our two sons. That’s the American Dream. For a… pic.twitter.com/NH0wcuSGh7
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) August 24, 2023
“I think the race really just started tonight,” Ramaswamy said, per The Spectator. “And I think it’s going to be a quick path to getting to a two-horse race between Trump and myself.” (RELATED: Trump Says That Ramaswamy Gained ‘Big Win’ In The First Debate)
Ramaswamy described himself as an “outsider” and clashed with his political opponents for what he says is them prioritizing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine instead of the crisis at the southern border. Ramaswamy also sparked a crowd response when he said the “climate change agenda is a hoax.”
Google Trends data showed searches for Ramaswamy surged after the debate, reaching “peak polarity” around 11:20 p.m. Searches for Ramaswamy exceeded those of other candidates, with former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and former President Donald Trump coming in second.