First GOP Debate Proved Trump Remains Top-Dog as Republican Hopefuls Failed to Stand Out

The first Republican debates kicked off late Wednesday with all but one of the GOP contenders - former US President Donald Trump, who indicated he wouldn't be participating since voters were already familiar with his track record.

Arn Menconi, a writer on foreign policy, climate and social injustice and the founder and former director of the National Youth Charity, told Radio Sputnik's Political Misfits that although former US President and current GOP frontrunner Donald Trump proved a no-show, he was the actual winner of the debate.

“You had these sort of B-rated actors going after each other. And what was not being said in the debate and not being utilized by the candidates that know they’re not even a close second,” Menconi said, adding later that he was disappointed most candidates didn’t mention Trump’s 91 felony charges across four indictments.

He specifically blasted Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for not challenging Trump on that and praised a comment by Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence, who said he chose not to put his loyalty to Trump over his loyalty to the Constitution. However, he said Pence did a “horrible job” overall.

Among the candidates actually on stage, Menconi praised Vivek Ramaswamy, saying he “obviously stole the show with his stage crafting and antics,” which helped him “set himself aside as a potential vice president candidate.” The writer also pointed out Nikki Haley, who he says was the “most articulate,” as she “laid out certain policies” he believed would play well with Republican voters.

Overall, Menconi admitted the debate was a missed opportunity for all the candidates to set themselves apart from each other and Trump.

“[With Trump not attending the event] I think these debates are not as important as they normally would be. Don’t you think [the candidates] would play it bolder? Don’t you think they would have come out with something that was left out of the presidential debates for the past 20 years?” Menconi rhetorically asked.

From a progressive standpoint, Menconi does not believe there are any candidates worth watching except to gain insight into what might be coming in the future.

“I’m an Italian from the South Side of Chicago, I like to know how many different ways I’m going to get screwed over and if I’m watching this debate from [that] standpoint, there was no leadership, there was very little public policy discussion,” Menconi explained.

The next Republican primary debate will take place on September 27 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Institute in Simi Valley, California.

It remains uncertain whether Trump will indeed participate in the later GOP debates, seeing as when he announced his absence from the Wednesday event he indicated he wouldn't be joining future "debates."

In their response to the GOP debate, titled “Race to the MAGA Base,” Democrat party officials made it clear they do not plan to hold primary debates of their own.

“One, President [Joe] Biden is the Democratic nominee, along with Vice President [Kamala] Harris,” Cedric Richmond, the Biden-Harris Campaign Co-Chair said when asked about the possibility of a DNC debate. “There is no primary on our side – well there is a primary, but the key to that is we’ve already endorsed President Biden.”

Later during the press conference, Richmond would not commit to Biden participating in general debates either. “We have not had a conversation about that at all. I am sure that one day we will, but it is not today and we don’t have any news on that.”

The last presidential election not to feature a debate between the candidates of the two major parties was in 1972.