Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) spoke more than the other four candidates at the third Republican National Committee debate Wednesday night in Miami, Florida. The senator more than doubled his speaking time from the first debate in August.
Scott clocked in at 18:55 minutes of speaking time during the debate, per the New York Times. During the first debate, he saw only 8:15 minutes in what was considered a less-than-memorable performance. At that event, he spoke sixth most. By the second debate, he was able to add two minutes, logging 10:42 minutes and being the third longest-speaking candidate.
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Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley spoke the second most at the third debate, recording 17:50 minutes in speaking time during the two-hour window. Vivek Ramaswamy spoke for 17:27 minutes, while Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) logged 16:36 minutes. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie spoke for the least amount of time, with 16:15 minutes.
Abortion was the topic discussed for the longest amount of time despite not being brought up until the last 20 minutes of the debate. It was talked about by candidates for 8:27 minutes and was of particular interest to the candidates, given the poor Republican election results on Tuesday in various states, which has been attributed by many to the party’s stance on abortion.
Abortion was followed by the economy at 7:35 minutes, Ukraine at 6:52 minutes, fentanyl at 6:45 minutes, and China at 6:40 minutes.
During the matchup, Haley fielded the most attacks from her competitors, in a departure from the first two events, during which Ramaswamy bore the brunt of them.
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Ramaswamy and DeSantis were attacked an equal amount, tied for second most. Scott and Christie weren’t targeted at all.
The attack count was determined by disparaging comments on candidates’ personal qualities, qualifications or lack thereof, and respective records. To be counted, comments needed to mention a candidate by name “or be otherwise clearly aimed at one.”
