Democrats' surprising reactions to the explosive third GOP primary debate raised eyebrows Thursday as voter dials indicated liberals resonated with messages of strength projected by Republican candidates.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who leads the pack of Republicans trailing behind former President Trump, delivered a bold soundbite on the border crisis that, surprisingly, received a passing grade from the opposition.
"We're declaring it a national emergency on day one. I'm sending U.S. military to the border. I'm going to stop the invasion cold. I am going to deport people who came illegally, and I'm even going to build the border wall and have Mexico pay for it like Donald Trump promised," he said.
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"We are going to designate the cartels to be foreign terrorist organizations or something similar to that. And we're going to authorize the use of deadly force. We're going to have maritime operations to interdict precursor chemicals going into Mexico," he continued.
Agreement from Republicans, which represented the red line on the voter dials, soared as the Florida governor spoke. Independents, the yellow line, trailed behind along with Democrats, represented by the blue line.
"[Republicans] love the strength, but what I was most surprised at is that you look at that Democrat line… they actually resonated with some of what he said here," Maslansky + Partners president and pollster Lee Carter told FOX News' Steve Doocy Thursday.
"Republicans gave this an A, Independents a C+, Democrats a C-."
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott cautioned Americans on "sleeper terrorist cells" in the country during Wednesday night's debate and also received a passing grade from Democrats.
"Thousands of people have come from Yemen, Iran, Syria and Iraq. If we are going to deal with a national security emergency at our border, we have to do it now," he cautioned.
Carter said the overall reaction was positive, with Democrats giving Scott a C, independents giving him a B+, and Republicans handing him an A-.
"Overall here, there was some positive reaction. We're hearing a lot of concern about these terror cells and other things among Americans where they want to see more strength on these issues, even Democrats," she said.
"One thing I found really surprising is how positive Democrats reacted throughout the night, and one of the things that I learned is they really want an alternative to Donald Trump."
Perhaps even more surprising, Democrats gave one Republican an A grade on the separate issue of banning TikTok in the U.S.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie received the shocking grade for blasting the platform as "spyware" and claiming it is "polluting the minds" of young Americans.
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"They're doing it intentionally," he said.
DeSantis, likewise, called out China as the "top threat that we [Americans] face," adding, "they've been very effective at infiltrating different parts of our society."
While Democrats gave Christie an A, independents and Republicans handed him a C.
DeSantis' China remarks received relatively high grades from each, with Democrats and independents giving him a B and Republicans giving him an A.
"I don't think I've ever seen that," Doocy said about Christie's A grade.
"I don't think I've ever seen it either," Carter replied. "And I will tell you this – Democrats are tired of TikTok polluting their children's minds. They didn't resonate as much with a China threat as Republicans and independents, but they all agree that something needs to be done about TikTok."
Among voters she spoke to, Carter said former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley stole the show. DeSantis and Trump – who was not present at the event – took second place, she added.
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