Patrick Basham, director of the Democracy Institute think tank, told Sputnik on Saturday that US businessman Vivek Ramaswamy has emerged as a top contender for the 2024 Republican nomination after outshining competitors in the first presidential debate. 

The 38-year-old candidate took part in a televised debate in Milwaukee, on Wednesday, during which he competed for Republican support against eight other primary candidates. 

These included former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and others.  

"Ramaswamy will be helped significantly by his performance in the first Republican debate. He performed well, certainly better than the far better-known Republicans on the stage — and his fellow candidates' focus upon him gave his candidacy credibility, thereby elevating his candidacy to the top tier of candidates competing against Trump," Basham said.  

He added that Ramaswamy was possibly the only one of all candidates who realized voters did not want to move away from Trump's platform. 

For instance, DeSantis has lost considerable momentum in the polls after resorting to the Trump-skeptic minority to support his campaign strategy. 

Read more: The Republican debate recap for the 2024 presidential race

"He is … far too critical of Trump to be able to garner support from the majority of Republican voters who are pro-Trump. These problems result from DeSantis originally having made the incorrect strategic decision to target anti-Trump Republicans. Unfortunately for DeSantis, they are only a small minority of Republican primary voters," the expert said.  

He further compared Ramaswamy's communication and presentation skills with those of DeSantis, saying that the latter had "scripted, rehearsed" and "inauthentic" answers when addressing important political questions.

"It was a poor night for DeSantis. He was largely ignored by the other candidates, something that would have been unthinkable a few months ago. He was ignored because his candidacy has become irrelevant, as he may now be competing for second or third place, at best, in the primaries," the expert predicted.

Although Ramaswamy emerged as a top contender, Trump's absence loomed large over the debate. 

Because of this, the show was not as interesting as it should have been, Basham pointed out. 

"When Trump, the charismatic candidate who is going to be the nominee is not on the stage, what happens on that stage is insignificant compared with Trump activities elsewhere, in this case a highly viewed simultaneous Twitter interview with Tucker Carlson," he explained.

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