Donald Trump Ranks His GOP Rivals After TV Debate

Donald Trump has used the latest Republican primary debate to mock his rivals for the GOP presidential nomination in a social-media post peppered with insults.

With under two months until the Iowa caucuses, four GOP candidates seeking to overtake the absent frontrunner Trump often clashed in the debate in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

The former president is facing indictments on 91 criminal charges in four separate cases, but polls and fundraising totals show he has continued to dominate the race. He took to Truth Social to give his verdict on Wednesday's event. Trump denies any wrongdoing concerning the charges and has repeatedly said that the cases are part of a political witch hunt against him.

It was the lowest primary-debate TV audience yet. Only 4 million people tuned in to watch the head-to-head between former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie; ex-UN ambassador Nikki Haley; Florida Governor Ron DeSantis; and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. This is a decrease from 7 million viewers of the third debate, and 9 million and 12.8 million from the second and first debates.

Newsweek has contacted the GOP rivals' teams for comment on Saturday via email, Facebook and campaign websites; we are attempting to contact Chris Christie's representatives for comment as well.

In his social-media post on Truth Social, Trump took aim at "history's lowest rated 'presidential' debate." The former president used his disparaging epithet for the Florida governor in writing, "Ron DeSanctimonious was terrible, with his bobble head facial movements & his walking on eggs."

Trump wrote: "But that Sloppy Chris Christie was worse. He's not fit, mentally or physically, to be President plus, he suffers from TDS, or Trump Derangement Syndrome, at levels not seen before." He added: "In other words, he is a 'sick puppy.'

"On top of it all, his poll numbers are just 1%, in a class with 'Aida' Hutchinson," Trump wrote, referring to his nickname for former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, who was also a GOP primary contender. "He's dead, but so is Ron, whose weird bobbing head and fresh mouth, make his high heels look good."

This was a dig at the rumors seized upon his rivals that DeSantis relies on heel lifts, which the 5-foot-11-inch governor has denied.

Ramaswamy got the most-positive review from Trump, who wrote, "Vivek WINS because he thinks l'm great," while the former president added that Haley, whom he referred to as "birdbrain," may have "looked different and lost, but I give her second place."

Trump also had a low opinion of the debate's moderator, Megyn Kelly, whom he called the night's biggest loser, adding, "what the hell happened to her? She has lost whatever she once had, which wasn't very much. Some things never change!"

The debate did little to move the dial in favor of Trump's rivals. They still lag far behind him, according to 538, formerly FiveThirtyEight. The polling aggregators put the former president on 59.3 percent; DeSantis in second place on 12.6 percent; and Haley in third on 11.6 percent. Ramaswamy and Christie trail on 4.3 percent and 2.8 percent respectively.