Rupert Murdoch, whose media empire includes Fox News and Fox Business, said Tuesday night that Sen. Marco Rubio likely won the latest Republican presidential primary debate.
Much of the political and media class has not reached a consensus about who “won” the match, hosted by Murdoch’s Fox Business, but on Twitter, Murdoch ranked the best performers.
“Great debate,” Murdoch wrote. “All did well, Ben Carson, Jeb Bush, others did well, perhaps Rubio best of all. With all doing well, Donald Trump did not stand out like past.”
Undercard debate, all did better than expected, but Chris Christie seemed in different class. Possible to see as Chief Executive.
— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) November 11, 2015
Great debate. All did well, Carson, Bush, others did well, perhaps Rubio best of all. With all doing well Trump did not stand out like past
— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) November 11, 2015
During the debate, Rubio gave a forceful defense of increased military spending and memorably called for reform to the educational system, which he said is misguided in emphasizing the importance higher-education rather than “vocational school.”
He also engaged in a heated exchange with Sen. Rand Paul, who is polling in single digits, over whether their policy proposals and their accompanying budgets were “conservative.”
Front-runner Donald Trump, however, mostly faded into the background during much of the debate, which was heavy on policy questions.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was relegated to the so-called “undercard” debate, due to a drop in poll numbers that disqualified him from the primetime event. But Murdoch said in another tweet that Christie “seemed in a different class” and that he was “possible to see as chief executive.”
