Following the first GOP presidential primary debate on Aug. 23, among possible GOP voters who watched the Fox News broadcast, former South Carolina Gov. and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) gained support, while former President Donald Trump lost support.
Ms. Haley received the biggest bump, a 17-point increase, from 29 percent support before the debate to 46 percent, according to a poll done by FiveThirtyEight/Washington Post/Ipsos promptly after the two-hour debate, which was moderated by Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.
The poll consisted of 775 possible GOP voters who tuned into the debate. It is based on the change seen in respondents’ answers when they were asked who they were considering voting for, both before and after the debate. The poll’s margin of error was plus or minus four percentage points.
Mr. Ramaswamy got the second-biggest bump in the poll, increasing his support by 6 percentage points from 40 percent ahead of the debate, which was at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisc., to 46 percent afterward.
Gov. DeSantis’s bump was by 5 percentage points from 62 percent prior to the debate to 67 percent support in the poll following it,
On the other hand, former President Trump got a dip in support from those potential voters, going from 66 percent support preceding the debate to 61 percent afterward, or a 5 percentage point loss.
The debate, which former President Trump opted to skip, consisted of fireworks as Ms. Haley and Mr. Ramaswamy went at it over foreign policy, especially as it pertained to Ukraine.
Ms. Haley said that the Ukraine conflict is not just about Russia, but also about China.
She referenced Russian President Vladimir Putin going to Beijing and being with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in what was an act of solidarity at the 2022 Olympics, just a month before Russia invaded Ukraine.
Ms. Haley reiterated one of her talking points on the campaign trail that “a win for Russia is a win for China.”
“Ukraine is the first line of defense for us,” she added. She noted that Mr. Putin does not want to stop at Ukraine and next go for Poland, a NATO member, and the Baltics.
Ms. Haley did not hold back in blasting Mr. Ramaswamy over his foreign policy ideas and lack of foreign policy experience.
“He wants to hand Ukraine to Russia. He wants to let China eat Taiwan. He wants to go and stop funding Israel,” she said. “You don’t do that to friends. What you do instead is have the backs of your friends. Ukraine is the frontline of defense.”
Earlier in the week, Ms. Haley went after Mr. Ramaswamy over his stance on U.S. assistance to Israel.
“Vivek Ramaswamy is completely wrong to call for ending America’s special bond with Israel,” she said in a statement.
“Support for Israel is both the morally right and strategically smart thing to do. Both countries are stronger and safer because of our iron-clad friendship. As president, I will never abandon Israel.
“This is part of a concerning pattern with Vivek. Between abandoning Israel, abolishing the FBI, and giving Taiwan to China, his foreign policy proposals have a common theme: they make America less safe,” she said.
In the debate, Ms. Haley reiterated not only her point about Mr. Ramaswamy’s stance on Israel—which calls for ceasing further U.S. assistance to the Mideast country after the 10-year $38.3 billion U.S. memorandum of understanding with Israel expires in 2028—but also that Mr. Ramaswamy would make the United States “less safe.”
“Under your watch you would make America less safe,” Ms. Haley told Mr. Ramaswamy. “You have no foreign policy experience and it shows.”
Mr. Ramaswamy has said that Israel should be in a position to be self-reliant that would include an “Abraham Accords 2.0,” a reference to the accords that were struck under President Donald Trump as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco normalized ties with Israel.
He also said he would have a “friendship,” not a “client relationship,” with them that includes going after Iran, though he did not specify how.
Ms. Haley fired back, blasting him for wanting to cease U.S. assistance to Israel, which is currently $3.8 billion annually, and said, “It’s not that Israel needs America. America needs Israel. They’re the frontline of defense to Iran.”
Mr. DeSantis called on European countries to contribute more to Ukraine before Washington provided further assistance to the Eastern European country.
