Tesla Investor Names This Candidate As 'Big Winner' Of 1st GOP Presidential Primary Debate: 'He Scored Many Big Points'

The first debate among Republican presidential primary candidates aired on Fox News late Wednesday and saw heated exchanges among the hopefuls, who parried on a wide range of topics.

What Happened: Vivek Ramaswamy, who has been the dark horse, was picked by Tesla investor and fund manager Gary Black as the winner of the two-hour-long debate. “IMO, Vivek was the big winner in tonight's debate,” the co-founder of Future Fund said.

“He got knocked down but consistently got right back up. He was the center of attention and scored many good points,” he added.

The 38-year-old Ramaswamy, a first-time candidate, took the spotlight as seven other contenders made their cases. The debate was held at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee and 4,000 people were in attendance.

The frontrunner in the GOP field and former President Donald Trump decided to give it a miss and instead chose to reach people through Elon Musk-owned X social media platform.

See Also: Presidential Hopeful Ramaswamy Predicts US Recession In 2024

Despite being hounded by the rest of the candidates, with former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie calling Ramaswamy's answers as cranked out by ChatGPT, the Indo-American candidate drew the most applause. His views on the Russia-Ukraine war, Mexico border issue, and China relations promoted listeners to brand him as Trump 2.0.

DeSantis Big Loser: Black said he would give the second place to another Indo-American and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.

Former Vice President Mike Pence comes third, according to the Tesla bull. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has lost his standing among the Americans due to his extreme right-wing stances, was the “big loser,” said Black.

Christie, according to the fund manager, came off as too negative and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) was “too boring,” he added.

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