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From the journalists at NBC News and the NBC News Political Unit

Republican presidential candidates, from left, former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy participate in the first debate of the GOP primary season on Aug. 23, 2023 in Milwaukee.
Republican presidential candidates, from left, former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy participate in the first debate of the GOP primary season Wednesdy in Milwaukee.Win McNamee / Getty Images

The first GOP debate — by the numbers

Even though Donald Trump wasn't on the debate stage, his name was mentioned by candidates and moderators 23 times, according to an NBC News analysis.

By Alexandra Marquez

The most oft-repeated name in the first debate of the Republican presidential primary was former President Donald Trump — and he wasn't even there.

His name was invoked by moderators and candidates 23 times, according to an NBC News analysis, including a debate-high six times by former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. The moderators also mentioned Trump's name six times, and former Vice President Pence and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie each had five mentions of Trump's name.

Here are some other notable numbers from last night's debate:

  • Tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy spoke the most often. An NBC News count tracked him speaking 16 times, for a total of almost 11 minutes. Ramaswamy was an eager attacker and a frequent target (more on that later), which guaranteed him plenty of time given debate rules that allowed people to respond when mentioned.
  • Pence and Florida Gov. DeSantis each spoke 13 times, with Pence speaking for over 11 minutes total and DeSantis speaking for about 9.5 minutes total.
  • Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson spoke the least, piping up just seven times, for a total of over 7 minutes.
  • Ramaswamy suffered the most verbal attacks from other candidates (11), but also attacked other candidates 16 times, more than anyone else on stage.
  • Tim Scott attacked others the least — just three times. And he suffered just two verbal attacks. That's part of the reason he was among the candidates who spent the least time speaking during the debate.
  • Meanwhile, an NBC News analysis shows that the most attacked person by the whole field was the opponent everyone on the stage is vying to face: President Joe Biden.
Alexandra Marquez

Alexandra Marquez is a politics reporter for NBC News.

Brennan Leach and Armand Manoukian contributed.