The CNN-sponsored primary debate between former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) on Wednesday night featured sharp barbs between the two candidates ahead of the Jan. 15. Iowa caucuses.
It was the first time DeSantis and Haley went toe-to-toe during the GOP primary, with both acknowledging that former President Donald Trump’s absence was a missed opportunity, but that didn’t mean they were willing to excoriate him heavily.
The two are battling to coalesce disaffected GOP voters behind their campaigns as Trump remains the undisputed front-runner in the field.
With just five days before the first voters begin deciding which candidate will become the GOP’s next standard-bearer, there isn’t much time left to block Trump from winning the nomination. But the CNN debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, gave the two candidates one last chance to make their best arguments.
Here are the top takeaways from the debate.
DeSantis and Haley call out Trump for snubbing debate, but save fire for each other
Neither DeSantis nor Haley wasted much time during the debate to slam Trump for choosing to skip the debate for a Fox News town hall.
Trump, like the two candidates, met CNN’s qualifications, but as he did in the four previous primary debates, he refused to share the stage with his top two rivals.
“I wish Donald Trump was up here on this stage. He’s the one that I’m running against,” Haley said at the beginning of the debate. “He’s the one that I wish would be here. He needs to be defending his record.”
Instead, Haley and DeSantis spent much of the debate blasting the other over their conservative credentials despite Trump leading both candidates by double digits in national and early nominating state polls.
In one particularly sharp rebuke, DeSantis aimed at Haley’s financial backers. “We don’t need another mealy-mouthed politician who just tells you what she thinks you want to hear, just to try to get your vote, then to get in office and to do her donor’s bidding.”
“He’s only mad about the donors because the donors used to be with him but they’re no longer with him now,” Haley retorted. “And that’s because he’s upset about the fact that his campaign is exploding.”
Haley can’t stop plugging new website
The former ambassador and South Carolina governor continuously directed the debate audience to visit a newly created website from her campaign: DeSantisLies.com.
“What we’re gonna do is rather than have him go and tell you all these lies, you can go to DeSantisLies.com,” Haley first said, introducing the new website. “There’s at least two dozen lies that he’s told about me.”
Her campaign then touted the “surprise gift” for DeSantis in an email sent out during the debate pointing to the website.
But in case you missed it the first time, Haley made sure to keep plugging the DeSantis lies website repeatedly throughout the two-hour debate.
The bit did not go over well with social media users who criticized the incessant references from Haley. Nor did it go well with the live audience.
According to GOP consultant Frank Luntz the audience “has begun to groan” when Haley touted the website. “It’s now working against her,” said Luntz.
DeSantis paints Haley as not conservative enough
The Florida governor has staked his 2024 campaign on winning the Iowa caucuses, where evangelicals make up a sizable portion of the GOP base. DeSantis sought to cast doubt on Haley’s conservatism in their debate as they battle for the top spot behind Trump.
When moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash brought up the topic of illegal immigration, DeSantis pounced.
“Do not trust Nikki Haley with illegal immigration. That’s like having the fox guard the henhouse. She’s on tape at the Aspen Institute — she’ll say she didn’t say it — she was chastising conservatives saying it’s disrespectful to illegal aliens to say that they’re criminals,” DeSantis said. “They’re violating the law. It’s disrespectful when people come to this country illegally and impose burdens on our communities and run drugs into this country.”
Trump’s campaign also blasted Haley’s past opposition to Trump’s travel ban in 2015 and in 2017 in an email Wednesday night.
DeSantis also sought to paint Haley as siding with Democrats when they jostled over abortion.
“I think she’s been confused on the issue. I think she’s trying to speak to different groups with different things,” DeSantis said. “But when she says things like ‘pro-lifers need to stop talking about throwing women in jail,’ that’s a trope. No one I’ve ever met thinks that’s something that’s appropriate.”
He then accused her of “using the language of the left to try to attack pro-lifers.”
Haley attempted to defend herself, claiming, “These fellas don’t know how to talk about abortion.”
Debate stage not likely to tip race
Despite the pointed attacks Wednesday night, the debate likely failed to make a sizable impact on the state of the GOP primary before the Iowa caucuses.
Trump still remains the front-runner, while DeSantis is attempting to beat back Haley’s increasing rise to second place.
“Neither of them were running to win Iowa, let alone the Republican presidential primary,” said Ford O’Connell, a Florida-based GOP strategist. “And essentially, it devolved into she’s a lib, and he’s a liar. I mean, that was the entire debate.”
O’Connell claimed it was voters who lost out during the debate. “I think where voters got hurt is, they didn’t tell you really how they differentiated from Trump or Joe Biden,” he added.
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The most game-shaking moment Wednesday happened hours before the debate when former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie dropped out of the race. But his exit won’t impact the Iowa caucuses; it will most likely help Haley coalesce voters to battle Trump during the Jan. 23 New Hampshire primary.
“That is really the only hope she has,” O’Connell said about Haley defeating Trump on Jan. 23. “And even if she does somehow pull off a miracle in New Hampshire, she’s still not going to win.”
