A new 538/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted after the fourth GOP presidential primary debate found that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was named by a majority of respondents as the “best performer” in the debate.
DeSantis was at center stage with former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, while former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and pharmaceutical executive Vivek Ramaswamy were at the ends of the stage.
Of those who watched the NewsNation debate in Alabama, 30% said DeSantis performed best, followed by Haley, 23%; Christie, 19%; and Ramaswamy, 16%.
While 7% said DeSantis did the worst, 9% said Haley, 31% said Christie and 37% said Ramaswamy.
A new post-debate poll from the Washington Post finds that DeSantis won the fourth debate. pic.twitter.com/oOg0duDotv
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) December 8, 2023
There wasn’t much movement in the poll in terms of candidates moving up or down in voters’ minds about who they would consider voting for.
Of those on stage, a larger percentage of voters were considering voting for DeSantis than any of the other candidates: 56%. Former President Donald Trump, who did not participate, received 61%.
Debate moderator Megyn Kelly said Thursday that she thought DeSantis won the debate and Haley, who rose to third place in the polls, lost the debate.
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“I mean, with all due respect to her, I thought Nikki Haley lost last night because she walked away like she wasn’t really a presence, and she’s been boosting her poll numbers by going out and being a boxer, and that version of her didn’t. did. “I didn’t show up on stage last night,” Kelly said.
“I thought Ron DeSantis had his best debate yet,” he added. “And I think you could probably say he’s the winner because he’s polling the best of the four.”
“She wasn’t really a presence.”
Debate moderator Megyn Kelly says she thinks Nikki Haley lost and Ron DeSantis won. pic.twitter.com/uBuAIyn5cg
– Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) December 7, 2023
Kelly’s assessment of the candidate’s debate performance largely reflected many comments made by high-profile online political analysts and commentators, although a CNN focus group found that six of its eight participants believed Haley won the debate.
