In the first GOP presidential debate of the 2016 election, there were formidable presentations, with Florida Senator Marco Rubio holding his own and Rand Paul and Chris Christie entering into a passionate debate over the constitutionality of government surveillance. And yet, much like the rest of the campaigns thus far, Donald Trump somehow emerged into the limelight and even dominated the debate.

When Megyn Kelly fired, “One of the things people love about you is you speak your mind and you don’t use a politician’s filter. However, that is not without its downsides, in particular, when is comes to women. You’ve called women you don’t like fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals,” Trump interposed, “Only Rosie O’Donnell,” which drew a loud laughter from the crowd. Granted, the remark was sexist and bigoted, much like his other remarks, namely regarding the Mexican government and people, but Trump quickly recovered, saying, “I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct. And I don’t frankly have time for total political correctness. And to be honest with you, this country doesn’t have time either.”

Trump strikes a chord, as there is a demand for transparency and a genuine politician who speaks his or her mind. The debate was much more of the same; even though other candidates had much more detailed presidential agendas and more qualified resumes, Trump somehow won the debate and the post-debate. He launched an all-out Twitter war against Megyn Kelly, who has fired back, and yet, Fox News has continued to book him and dusted up the Kelly incident. Trump, simply put, is too significant. He draws many viewers to Fox, and the threat of a Fox boycott is all too frightening. Therefore, Fox News portrays him in a not-so-despicable light, and suddenly Trump is once again on top of the polls.

Let’s get one thing clear. I think Bernie Sanders will rejuvenate and reinvent America, and I think Trump’s antiquated views of society as a whole do not belong anywhere near office. Yet, Trump’s blunt, free speech is as much refreshing as it is comical. He is completely aware of how much influence he holds in the presidential campaigns and over Fox News, and in some ways, he is quite ingenious in the way he draws the media coverage to him more than any other candidate. Still, I think it would be an utter mistake to put Trump in office, but part of me thinks, what the heck, how much worse can he be than the other Republican candidates (other than Marco Rubio)? At the very least, it looks like a very interesting and comedic race for the Republican nomination.