JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Duval GOP hosted a watch party for the 2024 Republican presidential debate at Players Grille in Mandarin.
The one thing most people in attendance agreed on is that the debates help them decide who would be the better Republican candidate.
“This was needed for us to get to know these eight people,” said one attendee.
People had various reactions watching the candidates go head-to-head on topics like inflation and the U.S. economy.
“We talked about the economy and national debt and I liked Governor Desantis and a lot of what Vivek, I can’t pronounce his last name, the tall skinny guy said.”
“We don’t need any more paid politicians, we need someone who has radical ideas to go against radical policies we see in the Biden administration,” said one attendee.
Former President Donald Trump decided not to attend Wednesday night's debate and instead pre-recording an interview with former Fox host Tucker Carlson that ran on ‘X’ formerly known as Twitter at the same time as the GOP debate.
“With him, I kind of wish he would’ve been here because I would’ve love to have seen how he would’ve reacted with the others,” said one attendee.
We spoke with the Chairman for the Republican Party of Duval and he says tonight is critical for the change Republicans want to see.
“I think the net result is going to be that the clock starts ticking on the presidency of Joe Biden tonight,” said one attendee.
With Wednesday’s debate including eight candidates with different backgrounds, Republicans believe it shows range in choice.
“People have an unfair view of the party as not being very diverse and I think this is a way to prove that there are a lot of people behind these ideals,” she said.
To qualify for the second debate, candidates must surpass a donor threshold of $50,000 and register 3% in a handful of qualifying polls, NBC reports.
The next debate will be September 27 in California.