TUSCALOOSA, Alabama — The fourth Republ5ican National Committee primary debate featured several candidate quarrels and new lines of attack as the clock ticks down to the first nominating contest of 2024 in Iowa on Jan. 15.
A new candidate emerged as the main target and certain topics were covered that hadn’t before been broached. Other things stayed the same.
REPUBLICAN DEBATE AS IT HAPPENED: BLOW BY BLOW ACCOUNT FROM TUSCALOOSA TUSSLE
Here are the five biggest takeaways from the Tuscaloosa match-up.
Out for Haley
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley fielded the most attacks during the debate as her poll numbers rise and she gains new donor support and endorsements. She was hit by both Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and Vivek Ramaswamy for her recent meetings with large donors and the support she’s gained from Democrats and centrists.
Ramaswamy went so far as to claim Haley was “corrupt,” even writing it on his notebook and holding it up for the crowd. And while DeSantis didn’t go as far, he claimed her “Wall Street liberal donors” profit off of China, adding, “They are not going to let her be tough on China and she will cave to the donors. She will not stand up for you.”
Haley retorted that her opponents were jealous of the looks she’s been getting from new donors, including some of their previous backers.
Ramaswamy further hammered Haley for her support of Ukraine in its war with Russia, claiming she wouldn’t be able to name “three provinces in eastern Ukraine that they want to send our troops to actually fight for.”
The former biotech CEO even said, “The only person more fascist than the Biden regime now is Nikki Haley,” pointing to a past call she made to verify social media accounts with the first and last names of individuals.
Untouchable Trump
As in previous debates, former President Donald Trump was left relatively unscathed by his opponents, with the exception of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. While DeSantis suggested Trump’s age at 77 could present an issue and said the former president didn’t keep his campaign promises, such as constructing the southern border wall at Mexico’s expense, his critiques were few and far between compared to those he had for Haley.
Haley also hesitated to hit Trump, noting that she supported his positions on trade. But she said his policies on China were lacking. “He allowed fentanyl to continue to come over,” she said. “He would give them technology that would build up their military and hurt us. He allowed the Chinese infiltration for them to buy up farmland to put money in our universities and to continue to do things that were harmful for America.”
This led to Christie, who has based his campaign on stopping Trump from winning the nomination, to admonish his opponents. “They’re afraid to offend,” he claimed. “If you’re afraid to offend Donald Trump then what are you going to do when you sit across from President Xi, sit across from the Ayatollah, sit across from Putin?”
Vicious Vivek
As moderator Megyn Kelly pointed out in one of her first questions, Ramaswamy has not held back in his combative criticism of his fellow candidates, despite running as someone to unify the party. “For months, you campaigned as a unifier,” Kelly said. “Then you stood up at the first debate and attacked all of your competitors as bought and paid for.
“You called Nikki Haley corrupt, accused Ron DeSantis of wearing high heels, and told Haley she should keep a closer eye on her daughter,” she recalled. “Can you see how this has led some to conclude you are not in fact a unifier and to question your authenticity?”
Throughout the fourth match-up, Ramaswamy mercilessly hit at his opponents, calling Haley corrupt, fascist, and Dick Cheney in lipstick. He also claimed Christie couldn’t find three Ukrainian provinces on a map, adding he wants “to send your sons and daughters to go die in Ukraine.”
“Your version of foreign policy experience was closing a bridge from New Jersey to New York,” Ramaswamy told Christie before advising him to “walk yourself off that stage, enjoy a nice meal, and get the hell out of this race.”
Transgender Treatments Tiff
The issue of transgender procedures for minors was spotlighted in Wednesday’s match up like it hadn’t been in any previous debate. This allowed DeSantis to call out Haley over her stances on the topic in a heated back and forth.
“Nikki disagrees with me. She opposes the bill that we did to ban that. She said law should get involved with it,” DeSantis said.
Haley quickly claimed the Florida governor was lying “because he’s losing.”
“I signed it. You didn’t,” DeSantis responded to Haley, referring to a bathroom bill, barring biological males from using female restrooms.
When Christie detailed his reasons for not supporting legislation to bar minors from getting sex change procedures, he claimed it would be a slipperly slope. DeSantis shot back at the former governor, telling him, “you do not have the right to abuse your kids. This is mutilating these minors. These are irreversible procedures.”
Ramaswamy, however, suggested even DeSantis wasn’t doing enough to address the issue. According to the former biotech CEO, DeSantis should ban the procedures, not only for minors, but for people until the age of 21. He suggested withholding federal funds, similar to what “Reagan did in ’84” with highway funding in order to ensure that the minimum drinking age was 21.
Christie Call Outs
Christie took significant issue with his opponents during the debate, particularly for not sufficiently or directly answering questions. “This is the problem with the first three debates,” the former New Jersey governor said at one point. “Ron gets asked a question and he doesn’t answer.”
“You said ‘Would you send American troops as commander in chief’ and he went on to this minute and 30 second Hosana about his knowledge of the military,” Christie said.
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He additionally issued a scathing attack against Ramaswamy, calling him “the most obnoxious blowhard in America.” According to Christie, “The fact is that all he knows how to do is insult good people who have committed their lives to public service and not say anything that moves the ball down the field for the United States,” referring to Ramaswamy’s insults of Haley.
All three of Christie’s opponents faced a tongue lashing from him for not forcefully denouncing Trump, which he said was because they are afraid to do so.
