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(NewsNation) — Republican presidential candidates Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy and Chris Christie took the debate stage Wednesday night in Alabama just six weeks before the Iowa caucuses. Even though former President Donald Trump did not attend the showdown, Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., thinks he was the clear winner.
“I think probably the winner tonight, of course, is Donald Trump,” Burchett told NewsNation host Chris Cuomo, later adding: “Let’s put the best player in, coach.”
As the four GOP contenders at the NewsNation debate mostly attacked each other, Trump attended a closed-door fundraiser in Florida.
“A lot of folks aren’t talking about the person who could be in the White House. They just don’t want somebody else in the White House. At some point, both parties have got to start producing a candidate,” Burchett said.
The Tennessee congressman thinks Trump and President Joe Biden will likely end up facing off in the general election — and he didn’t see a performance by any other challengers at Wednesday night’s debate that swayed his opinion.
“This is going to be another election, where dadgummit, people go to the polls because they don’t like who’s in the White House or who could be in the White House,” Burchett said.
He continued: “All these pundits can say what they want to, but dadgummit, it’s going to be Trump. If Biden doesn’t get out, it’s going to be Biden.”
Haley, DeSantis, Christie and Ramaswamy all trail Trump in national polling. The former president maintains a nearly 50-point lead over DeSantis, his closest rival.