Vivek Ramaswamy Emerges as the Republican Pete Buttigieg, in That the Other Candidates Hate Him

On Wednesday night in Milwaukee, eight Republicans trailing Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential primary gathered for the cycle's first debate and, with a clear and united voice, denounced one man: Vivek Ramaswamy. With Trump running away with the race and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis behind him in a clear (if tenuous) second, it was somehow the 38-year-old Ramaswamy who took the most direct hits. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's was likely the most memorable: After two of Ramaswamy's high-energy, relentlessly locquacious answers, Christie described him as "a guy who sounds like ChatGPT." Former vice president Mike Pence made a glaringly condescending reference to Ramaswamy "learning on the job," to which the crowd responded with a deserved oooooh. The Super PAC that supports DeSantis called Ramaswamy a fraud on Twitter, while you can see former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's opinion of him expressed nonverbally above.