Ron flopped, Vivek blew. Read MEGHAN MCCAIN's searing debate verdict

Sheepish Ron flopped, even whiz-kid Vivek blew it – leaving mean Mike and Nikki to do the dirty work of taking on Trump. But let’s be honest, there was only one winner… Read MEGHAN MCCAIN’s searing debate verdict

Let’s be honest. There was only one circus in town last night. And none of us can be proud of the one we most wanted to buy tickets for.

Like millions of Americans, I tuned into the Fox News debate, desperately hoping to find salvation from the horrendous inevitability of a Trump v. Biden rerun. 

Like those millions, I listened and watched and tried to divine who spoke for me and my country most convincingly – and then guiltily turned over to Twitter. 

The tweets had been flying fast and furious: Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump were talking – of all things – about Jeffrey Epstein’s suspicious death in a Manhattan jail.

Sure, it was ridiculous, but I was curious. Does Trump buy into the Epstein conspiracy theories? 

So I became one of the 200 million who watched horrified and hypnotized as former President Trump and conspiracy-theorist-in-chief Tucker Carlson talked low-flow showers, revolutions, and assassination threats.

What a contrast to the grown-ups on the Fox News debate – where we waited for one of those eight to show a flash of charisma, a captivating presence or a control of that facts that so many Republicans are desperately longing for.

Because there must be someone who can beat Trump – right?

Like millions of Americans, I tuned into the Fox News debate, desperately hoping to find salvation from the horrendous inevitability of a Trump v. Biden rerun.

The tweets had been flying fast and furious: Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump were talking – of all things – about Jeffrey Epstein’s suspicious death in a Manhattan jail. 

The two strongest candidates were the ones I assumed would be the most forgettable, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence.

Haley came across as strong, poised, prepared and one of the only adults, or, as she reminded us, the only woman on the stage.

‘If you want something said, ask a man,’ she quoted Margaret Thatcher. ‘If you want something done, ask a woman.’

In her most memorable moment, she knocked the living hell out of political rookie, millennial businessman Vivek Ramaswamy over his vow to reduce aid to Israel, cut all financial support for Ukraine and, according to Haley, let ‘China eat Taiwan’.

They stabbed fingers in each other’s faces and voices were raised. Vivek laughed, but she didn’t.

‘You have no foreign policy experience, and it shows,’ was her coup de grâce.

Is she the woman to take down the orange elephant?

Vice President Pence also exceeded expectations, making a clear case for being the most qualified candidate and showing serious aggressiveness.

Meet mean Mike.

Bulldozing through the objections of Fox News moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, he dominated the speaking time and lashed out at Vivek.

As one of the gentlest, most polite politicians in modern America, it’s easy to forget that he has sharp elbows.

Remember that he dispatched Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Tim Kaine in the 2016 debates and Kamala Harris in 2020.

His strongest lines came when he defended his refusal to block the certification of the 2020 election results.

They stabbed fingers in each other’s faces and voices were raised. Vivek laughed, but she didn’t. ‘You have no foreign policy experience, and it shows,’ was her coup de grâce.

One of those eight must show a flash of charisma, a captivating presence or a control of that facts that so many Republicans are desperately longing for.

Bulldozing through the objections of Fox News moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, Pence dominated the speaking time and lashed out at Vivek.

Pence, rightfully, pointed out that he had no right deny the will of the voters, just as Harris, would have no right to reject the results of the 2024 election.

But for some sick reason, Pence’s principled stand has become a net negative for him.

Then, there was Ramaswamy – the whiz child, a brat of the Internet age or, as Governor Chris Christie dinged him, a ‘ChatGPT’ candidate.

He’s obviously gone to school on Trump’s ‘Burn It All Down’ approach to American politics by rattling off rehearsed roasts of his fellow Republicans.

At one point, he bizarrely accused every candidate on stage of being ‘bought and paid for’ and, thus, unable to call the progressive climate change agenda a ‘hoax’.

Exactly who is doing the buying is unclear, but he was just getting started.

He accused Christie was ‘campaigning to get an MSNBC contributor gig.’ He knocked Republicans who visited Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy for paying ‘homage to their Pope’. And he wished Haley luck ‘in her future career on the boards of Lockheed and Raytheon’.

I hope he’s having fun, because this shtick won’t last long. He’s little more than red meat for the Internet meme factory, a placeholder for fringe populists, conspiracy theorists, and hard-core MAGA supporters, who will pull the lever for Trump.

Vivek even called Trump, ‘the best president of the 21st century.’ Why, then, is he running for president?

Perhaps the biggest disappointment of the entire evening was Ron DeSantis.

The author of Florida’s COVID miracle stood at the center of the debate stage, but he was hardly the center of attention.

The Governor is dropping in the polls and his rejiggered campaign is still sputtering. He needed to reassure conservatives, desperate for an alternative to Trump, that he’s a viable choice, but he hardly spoke up for himself.

He didn’t completely bomb, but it wasn’t enough.

In one cringe moment, the moderators asked the candidates to raise their hands if they would support Trump as the GOP nominee even if he was convicted of a crime.

Every candidate on stage – save Christie and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson – said they would. Vivek, like an eager schoolboy, shot his hand straight up.

DeSantis, after sheepishly looking to his left and right, barely raised his paw about the lecture.

It was a bit pathetic.

As for the rest, they were unmemorable.

Senator Tim Scott’s ‘America is great’ rhetoric may work on the campaign trail. In the context of a debate, it was out of place.

The author of Florida’s COVID miracle stood at the center of the debate stage, but he was hardly the center of attention.

DeSantis, after sheepishly looking to his left and right, barely raised his paw about the lecture. It was a bit pathetic.

Then, there was Ramaswamy – the whiz child, a brat of the Internet age or, as Governor Chris Christie dinged him, a ‘ChatGPT’ candidate.

Hutchinson had no business in the debate at all. Every time he opened his mouth, I thought he was going to try and sell me term life insurance.

Good for North Dakota’s Doug Burgum, who was playing hurt with a torn Achilles. But there ain’t any participation trophies. So, thanks, see you later.

My biggest take-away from Wednesday night? None of these people are going to beat Trump. And I feel sick about it.

Ron and Vivek seem determined to run as Trump-lite, though they didn’t give any Trump fans a reason to abandon the real thing for the imitation.

Haley, Pence, Scott and Christie are passable, but we all know it’s going to take more than that.

They’re up against a phenomenon. An insatiable, attention monger, who knows how to push the public’s buttons and he’s content sitting on his massive lead in the polls.

As the minutes ticked by and the despondency set in, I needed some respite.

So, I picked up my phone and flipped on the Tucker interview.

What’s The Don ranting about now?

If the GOP is going down in flames again, I might as well have a few laughs.

How absurd it is that the winner of Wednesday’s debate wasn’t even on the stage talking policy with the leading lights of the GOP.

No, he’s was on Twitter talking gibberish. 

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