The third Republican presidential debate was more sedate and more substantive than the previous two — but, unfortunately for the candidates onstage, it does not seem likely to be any more consequential.
The lineup was winnowed down to five candidates, each of whom got to make their pitch. The NBC News moderators — Lester Holt, Kristen Welker, and Hugh Hewitt — kept proceedings under control, and asked mostly decent, issues-based questions.
But it was hard to see why any of it mattered. Here’s one telling stat: If supporters of the five candidates onstage were all combined, they’d make up 33 percent of the national Republican electorate, according to polls. Donald Trump, in comparison, has the support of 56 percent of Republicans, meaning he has a massive lead over, well, everyone else put together.
So it was hard to see how this debate was any more worthwhile than, say, a policy discussion with five Republican politicians chosen at random. No one particularly helped their chances of taking down Trump. Really, they all lost — just as they’re all losing the presidential primary. But they lost in different ways.
Loser: Vivek Ramaswamy
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Now that the novelty of Ramaswamy’s candidacy has worn off, the businessman has struggled to come up with ways to remain relevant, and he rolled out a few new tricks during the debate.
Ramaswamy used part of his scattershot opening statement to try to attack Welker, the moderator, demanding she answer whether she now believes the Trump-Russia scandal was a hoax. (Welker didn’t engage.) He also said that, rather than NBC News, the debate should have been moderated by Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, and Elon Musk. (“Vivek aides are really hoping for a big donation from Elon Musk,” Teddy Schleifer of Puck News tweeted.)
Later, while debating foreign policy, Ramaswamy continued to…
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