Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy racked up the most speaking time at the raucous Republican presidential primary debate on Wednesday.
Both men were the primary targets of Wednesday evening’s debate, which took place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California. DeSantis spoke for 12 minutes and 17 seconds at the combative two-hour event, the most of the evening. Ramaswamy, meanwhile, had 12 minutes and 8 seconds of speaking time.
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DeSantis, who has seen slumping poll numbers since the spring, took aim at former President Donald Trump for skipping out on the first two debates and fended off criticism from former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley about his history on fracking. He even sparred with the debate moderators about the last question of the evening, telling them it was “disrespectful” to suggest those onstage vote one of the candidates “off the island” in reference to the game show Survivor.
Ramaswamy took a considerable amount of incoming fire, though he initiated a few attacks of his own. All of the candidates piled on the millennial entrepreneur after he accused his competitors of being “bought and paid for” by special interests during last month’s debate.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) spoke for 11 minutes and 2 seconds onstage. The numbers are an improvement from his first debate performance when he only clocked in 8 minutes and 15 seconds of speaking time. The South Carolina senator shifted strategy a bit by speaking faster and more aggressively criticizing his competitors.
One of his biggest moments of the night was when he and Haley sparred over their respective governing experience. Scott claimed that Haley had never “seen a federal dollar she didn’t like” during her tenure as governor, while Haley criticized Scott’s Senate voting record as problematic.
Haley spoke for 9 minutes and 48 seconds, nearly a minute less than former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s 10 minutes and 30 seconds of speaking time. Still, she came out ahead of former Vice President Mike Pence and Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND), who were left fighting for scraps.
Burgum had the least speaking time of the night with only 7 minutes and 39 seconds, something he acknowledged left him frustrated while addressing reporters in the post-debate spin room. Speaking to CNN, Burgum argued that “the voters lost tonight” because of the unruliness on the debate stage.
“I’ve got more business experience than anybody on the stage. I’m the only tech guy on the stage who understands software, and we’re talking about Tiktok, and I don’t get a question. I don’t get a question on the economy,” Burgum said, adding that he should have also been asked about energy, given how North Dakota “produces more energy than most OPEC nations.”
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The North Dakota governor called the experience of having to “fight my way” into the conversation “of course a little frustrating because we came tonight to not watch the debate but to participate in the debate.”
For Pence, the second debate also marked a shift from last month’s showdown. The former vice president racked up 12 minutes and 37 seconds of speaking time at the first debate, the most of the night, largely sparring with Ramaswamy. On Wednesday evening, however, Pence struggled to break through the constant bickering between competitors.
