Eight Republican presidential candidates went head to head for the first GOP primary debate in Milwaukee Wednesday night. Notably absent from the lineup was Donald Trump — the former president instead appeared in a pre-recorded interview with Tucker Carlson that debuted on X at the exact same time as the nationally televised event. We’re joined by Crooked’s Editor-in-Chief Brian Beutler and Alyssa Mastromonaco of Crooked’s Hysteria podcast for their takes on who stood out on the debate stage.

And in headlines: Russian authorities said that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the country’s paramilitary Wagner Group, died in a plane crash, South Carolina’s Supreme Court upheld the state’s near-total abortion ban, and Fyre Fest 2 tickets went on sale.

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