Donald Trump is named the real winner of the debate over DeSantis in Daily Mail poll – as viewing figures are revealed
An absent Donald Trump was the real winner of the third Republican presidential debate and made the right decision not to attend an event watched by a dwindling audience, an exclusive DailyMail.com poll shows.
Viewers may have given Ron DeSantis high marks for his performance during his battle with closest rival Nikki Haley in the showdown in Miami on Wednesday.
They also declared Florida’s governor the most “presidential,” most “competent” and the “strongest” of the five candidates who took the stage.
But Republicans still believe Trump emerged victorious, even though he held a rally 30 minutes away.
The findings confirm that the former president remains the runaway favorite as the Republican Party’s presidential candidate, with two months until the Iowa caucuses and 12 months until the election.
The results also confirm that the debates are of little importance if the Republican kingmaker is not on stage, especially as ratings plummet.
An average of 7.51 million people watched NBC on Wednesday night, compared to nearly 13 million who watched the first debate on Fox News and 9.5 million who watched the second debate on Fox Business.
An absent Donald Trump was the real winner of the third Republican presidential debate and made the right decision not to attend again, an exclusive DailyMail.com poll shows. The third debate also attracted almost 50% fewer viewers than the first
Currently, the five other candidates in the race are in a distant second place.
If the field narrows, one of them could close the gap with Trump in the fight to get the ticket, but time is running out.
JL Partners asked 544 viewers who the real winner was in a poll conducted just hours after the debate.
Thirty percent said Trump came out on top, followed by 20 percent for Ron DeSantis and 19 percent for Vivek Ramaswamy.
Nikki Haley got 13 percent, while Tim Scott and Chris Christie came in at the bottom of the pile with six and five percent respectively.
When asked whether Trump made the right decision to stay away, 64 percent said yes and 29 percent said no. Eight percent say they ‘don’t know’.
‘He was down the street doing something completely different. But Donald Trump didn’t have to be at the debate to win it,” James Johnson, founder of JL Partners, told DailyMail.com.
“While presidential candidates compete among themselves, Trump is significantly buoyed by a stagnant Biden presidency and what voters increasingly see as a politicized series of court hearings.
‘However, there is one risk for him. If these debates lead to Republicans developing a clear opponent to take on Trump — even if there are fights along the way — then Trump could face a real challenge in the early primaries.
Trump electrified the crowd at his event in Hialeah by declaring the simulcast debate “unwatchable.”
When asked whether Trump made the right decision to stay away, 64 percent said yes and 29 percent said no. Eight percent say they ‘don’t know’
He has consistently called the debates a waste of time and urged Republicans to rally behind him to defeat Joe Biden.
His campaign also confirmed that he would not attend the fourth debate in December in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
“Do you think we did the right thing not to participate?” he asked a crowd of supporters.
‘Listen, I’m standing in front of tens of thousands of people now and it’s on television. That is much more difficult than a debate,” he said.
As in previous events, his rivals spent much of their time chasing each other rather than the dominant frontrunner – even when asked about him directly.
Trump called Haley “bird brained” and called DeSantis “Ron desanctimonious,” trumpeting a poll that showed him leading Joe Biden in a handful of key swing states (leaving out the one battleground in the New York Times poll where Biden led him — Wisconsin — ). ).
“Stop wasting time and resources trying to push the weak and ineffective RINOS,” Trump complained as his rivals fought among themselves.
Trump electrified the crowd at his Hialeah event by declaring the simulcast debate ‘unwatchable’
Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis clashed over China, abortion and fracking. As Haley became embroiled in battles with other candidates, viewers said the Florida governor was more “presidential.”
DeSantis defeated Haley out of sight Wednesday night in the third Republican presidential debate, according to an exclusive DailyMail.com poll of viewers.
A series of recent polls have DeSantis and Haley tied in the race for second place overall.
“Republican donors and kingmakers across the country are trying to figure out who to back to run against Trump: Ron DeSantis or Nikki Haley,” Johnson added.
“Debate watchers at least have a clear answer: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
“He is believed to have outperformed Haley by a 20-point margin, beating her in every area, including most presidential, Israel’s strongest and, crucially, who can best take on Donald Trump.”
Johnson also said Republicans must unite around a candidate “quickly” if they want to nominate a candidate other than Trump.