Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was almost exactly center stage in the third GOP presidential primary debate, on Wednesday, trading attacks in a policy-heavy affair in Miami.
Haley mixed it up with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. The three were joined by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and South Carolina Sen Tim Scott. For the third straight time, former President Donald Trump skipped the debate entirely -- but remains the clear front-runner in the race.
Vivek Ramaswamy warned he’d be unconstrained at Wednesday night's debate, and unconstrained he was — leading to an intense moment when former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called him “just scum.”
Just minutes after first taking the stage, Ramaswamy went after three women: Haley, Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel and NBC News' Kristen Welker, who was one of the debate moderators.
The debate was held a day after the 2023 elections, and the results of Tuesday night—headlined by Republican losses in Ohio, Kentucky, and Virginia— seemed to liberate the Presidential candidates, at least to a degree. If Trump’s party was no longer delivering wins, then maybe his opponents didn’t need to show him such unquestioning loyalty. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, nudged by the moderators to offer some criticism of Trump, said, “I’m sick of Republicans losing.” Ramaswamy denounced Ronna McDaniel, Trump’s handpicked R.N.C. chair, who, as Ramaswamy pointed out, has presided over four disappointing elections for her party. But more than the other challengers, Haley recognized that an electability argument wasn’t likely to do much damage to Trump. Instead, she went after him on policy. Trump “used to be right on Ukraine,” Haley said. “Now he’s getting weak in the knees.”
The exchange led "Dick Cheney in 3" to trend on X.com, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday night as viewers jumped on the exchange.
-Nicole Lyn Pesce
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Haley and Ramaswamy took the stage in Miami alongside three other fellow Republican White House contenders: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott. The GOP front-runner, former President Trump, didn’t participate.
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