The Republican debates have been anticlimactic since they started late last summer, with the broad pool of candidates winnowing over time and frontrunner Donald Trump refusing to attend.
Wednesday night’s event saw Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor, and Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, vying for second place in a head-to-head debate just days before the Iowa caucus, the first official election year contest. Here’s what you need to know about the two-hour broadcast in Des Moines.
Immigration continues to be one of the Republican party’s hot button issues, even among themselves.
DeSantis said that Trump did not deport enough people, noting that more people were deported under the Obama administration. Haley, whose governorship was defined by her signing into law some of the country’s harshest immigration policies, exchanged barbs about her record versus that of DeSantis.
But the candidates positions devolved into inside baseball, largely irrelevant to the American people.
The candidates diverged on the topic of Ukraine, which mirrors the issue in Congress over funding the war
Haley, who was Trump’s US ambassador to the United Nation, said she was for the US supporting Ukraine which she said is is “a pro-American, freedom-loving country”. But DeSantis is against sending more money to Ukraine, preferring to “focus on our issues here at home”.
Congress will soon face the question of sending more aid to Ukraine, further complicated by the question of how much aid to send Israel with the Israel-Gaza war in its third month.
DeSantis and Haley continue to pull their punches on Trump, even as he looms over them in upcoming primaries
Demonstrating a careful balancing act, DeSantis defended and critiqued Trump when asked about the attempts to hold the former president accountable for overturning the election, saying that the former president is being wrongly prosecuted but also, “if Trump is the nominee, it is going to be about Jan 6”.
Haley, meanwhile, said that no president should be immune from all prosecution, but also cast her self as a leader who could restore civility after too much “chaos” surrounding Trump. Trump, meanwhile, has ramped up his attacks on Haley as she has gained traction with voters, including his most recent and racist regurgitation of the birther issue.
Trump once again planned counter-programming, this time with the platform of Fox News
Trump has refused to participate in debates, which has largely worked in his favor, and used his town hall on Fox News to undermine Nikki Haley, claim he believes political violence is not acceptable, and take credit for ending the right to abortion.
After a week of grappling with courtrooms and legal challenges, we got a taste of what is to come at his weekend rallies in Iowa and see if he indeed does clinch the winning votes.
