The first Republican debate wrapped up on Wednesday night and even with the former president's absence there was a fair share of fiery exchanges between candidates but who stole the show?
SMU Political Science Professor Cal Jillson said it definitely wasn't the number two guy in the polls, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
"He had an uneven night," said Jillson. "He didn't hurt himself dramatically, but neither did he have the galvanizing moment."
One candidate that did stand out is Businessman Vevik Ramaswamy. The newcomer positioned himself at the center of the debate with his loud and direct responses. However, he also took the most heat being called out for his lack of experience.
"That is a candidate that very few people know very much about but they're intrigued by him because he is articulate and energetic," said Jillson. "And he tends to swing for the fences which can help you in a primary debate."
In terms of this debate, Ramaswamy's lively tactic seemed to steal the show but Jillson says if Ramaswamy goes up next to Trump he's a weak alternative option.
In terms of Texas, voters here in the Lone Star state were probably looking to hear about border control but the conversation on the topic candidates actually had may have been too broad for voters here in Texas.
"When the border was discussed, it wasn't discussed that the buoys and razor wire are our problem or we actually need those defenses at the border which Texans have been thinking a lot about," said Jillson. "It was a much more generic sense that the border needs to be controlled, we need to move more troops there, we need to be more active at the border."
And as for Trump choosing to skip out on the debate and drop an interview as counter programing Jillson says it seems to have been the correct choice for the former president.
"The Trump interview last night didn't make a lot of new news, but it did reiterate a lot of the points that Donald Trump has been making for years about the election in 2020 being stolen from him, about all of these indictments and coming trials being a witch hunt, all of the talking points that he has sort of driven through the skulls of his supporters were made again last night," said Jillson "And I think that, that helps him, not dramatically but it helps him hold his front runner status."
Millions of viewers tuned into the Trump interview that was released just five minutes before the debate and was over 45 minutes long.
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