Five Republican presidential candidates — Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Chris Christie, Vivek Ramaswamy and Tim Scott — will debate tonight at 8 p.m. ET.
Donald Trump, the clear frontrunner, is skipping the event.
Watch the debate and leave your reactions in the comments.
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Politico Update….
For a brief moment, the third Republican debate had a distinctive feel from the first two.
Rather than sidestepping direct attacks on former President Donald Trump, the candidates went directly after him.
But it didn’t last long. By the midpoint, those on stage were at each other’s throats, launching broadsides on political, policy and even personal matters. Candidates’ kids were not off limits, with former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s daughter’s use of TikTok coming under fire.
Nor was the debate moderator, or the head of the Republican National Committee.
“We’ve become a party of losers,” declared biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who had pledged, earlier in the night, that he would be “unhinged” on the debate stage. He called on RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel to resign.
The fireworks were notable both for their ferocity and their aim. At various moments, there was genuine debate, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Haley clearly gunning at each other for the second spot in the field. Haley, at one point, waited through a commercial break to respond to an attack that the Florida governor had made about her willingness to deal with Chinese businesses when she was governor of South Carolina.
But those back and forths also exposed the fundamental squeeze that the candidates find themselves in. They’re fighting among themselves as the frontrunner was ten miles away at a rally of his own. Trump’s overwhelming lead in the polls has provided him the luxury of not having to worry about any harm he might endure from not showing. Wednesday night felt like it could be different, but mostly for a moment.
Below are highlights of Wednesday’s debate….
image….The candidates vowed to crack down on student protesters, suggesting that pro-Palestinian activists were expressing support for Hamas.Credit…Scott McIntyre for The New York Times
“We’vw become a party of losers:”
Vivek Ramaswamy at tonight’s debate.
Hard to argue with that.
Nope….
Hmmmmm?
…Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley blasted entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy as “scum” after he brought up her daughter on Wednesday night’s third Republican presidential debate stage in Miami.
“In the last debate, she made fun of me for actually joining TikTok while her own daughter was actually using the app for a long time. So you might want to take care of your family first,” Ramaswamy said as the candidates clashed over the video-sharing app, which is owned by Beijing-based parent company ByteDance….
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