Republican presidential candidates: former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy and U.S. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott participate in the NBC News Republican Presidential Primary Debate at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County on Wednesday.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Republican presidential candidates: former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy and U.S. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott participate in the NBC News Republican Presidential Primary Debate at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County on Wednesday.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Candidates vying for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination are meeting for a third debate in Miami tonight. NBC News is hosting the debate at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, which will air from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET.
This is the smallest slate of candidates onstage yet. Just five candidates met the Republican National Committee’s qualifying rules this time around: former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who was in the first two debates, did not qualify this time around. Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who appeared in the first debate, hasn’t qualified for these last two events. And former Vice President Mike Pence isn’t onstage tonight, having recently dropped out of the 2024 presidential race.
This is also the third debate in which the party’s front-runner for the nomination, former President Donald Trump, isn’t in attendance.
Just like in the last two debates, Trump is doing some counterprogramming. He is holding a rally in nearby Hialeah, Fla.
Staunchly backing Israel
This is the first debate since Israel was attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7. Matthew Brooks, CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition, posed questions to the candidates about the Israel-Hamas conflict, as well as antisemitism in the U.S.
Prior to the debate, RNC chair Ronna McDaniel said she expected the candidates would reaffirm the Republican Party’s unwavering support of Israel. That was the case with all five candidates. In addition, on the college question, multiple candidates slammed college students and administrators for antisemitism some Jewish students have faced on campus. These answers were not only about Israel and Palestine; they also continued a long-standing narrative. Well before the attacks on Israel, higher education was one of the main targets of the Republican culture war.
Candidates made their cases against Trump
The debate kicked off with a simple question posed to all five candidates on stage, in turn: Why should you be nominated instead of Trump?
The candidates gave an array of answers. DeSantis and Scott both made some form of electability argument. DeSantis invoked the Trump quote that Republicans would get “tired of winning” if he was elected president, saying that he was “tired of losing.” DeSantis pointed to Tuesday night’s elections, in which Republicans largely fared poorly, then said that he knows how to win.
For his part, Scott argued he could bring in independents and voters of color if nominated — voters that the GOP has struggled to bring in in recent years.
But candidates had to be mindful that Trump remains popular in the party. Haley was careful not to slam Trump too hard: “Trump was the right president at the right time,” she said. “I don’t think he’s the right president right now.” She made the case that she could boost the economy for people who are struggling.
Christie made the case that amid war in the Middle East and Ukraine, the nation needs a serious leader.
And then there was Ramaswamy, who pivoted from answering to attacking the moderators for being, in his mind, too liberal. Ramaswamy argued that Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan and Elon Musk should be moderating the debate, and claimed (falsely) that the media “rigged the 2020 election.”
Credit: Source link
