Biden 'clear winner' of GOP debate as Republican candidates run to 'extreme right,' DNC adviser says

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MILWAUKEE — Democratic National Committee senior adviser Cedric Richmond said President Biden was the "clear winner" of the first GOP presidential debate Wednesday night, telling Fox News Digital that Republican presidential candidates are "running to the extreme right" in a strategy that's a "losing proposition" for the 2024 general election.

During an interview with Fox News Digital on the sidelines of the first Republican presidential primary debate in Milwaukee, Richmond likened the showdown to a shouting match.

Cedric Richmond, then-senior adviser to the president and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, sits beside President Biden on July 22, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

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"President Biden was the clear winner as Republicans shouted over each other and tried to see who could be the most extreme," Richmond told Fox News Digital. "What they weren’t talking about is how do we improve the daily lives of Americans."

Richmond, a former congressman who previously served as a senior adviser to President Biden and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, said Democrats and Biden’s reelection campaign are "going to build from the bottom up and the middle out."

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson took the stage Wednesday night.

Candidates, from left, Asa Hutchinson, Chris Christie, Mike Pence, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott and Doug Burgum are shown at the Republican primary presidential debate hosted by Fox News in Milwaukee on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Noticeably absent from the stage was former President Trump, who has a commanding lead over the GOP primary field.

But Richmond said that even though Trump wasn’t physically in Milwaukee on Wednesday night, his policies were on display.

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"His aura was on the stage – they all ran to the right – to his positions," Richmond said. "We view the entire field as running to the right – to the extreme right."

He added, "And that is a losing proposition for the general election."