Knives Out in Third GOP Primary Debate as Candidates Attack Each Other, Defend Israel
04:55 GMT 09.11.2023 (Updated: 12:29 GMT 09.11.2023)
© AP Photo / Rebecca Blackwell
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Republican candidates turned up the heat with strong rhetoric focused on drawing distinctions in a debate that had a particular focus on foreign policy.
Republican candidates for their party’s presidential nomination gathered in Miami on Wednesday evening in their third debate of the primary season.
Once again the party’s leading candidate---former President Donald Trump---whom polls have shown with an advantage of as much as 50 points, was absent, leaving the remaining candidates to draw distinctions with the former president.
Those who were present on stage included Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott. The GOP candidates primarily drew distinctions between themselves however, in a debate featuring numerous personal attacks, especially among the highest polling candidates on stage.
Throwing Elbows
Candidates made efforts to draw distinctions between each other in a debate that saw significant interaction between the nominees.
Vivek Ramaswamy set the tone early on by attacking the “corrupt media establishment,” as well as the network hosting the debate, a perennial conservative punching bag.
“Was that real or was that Hillary Clinton made up disinformation?” said Ramaswamy, referring to the so-called “Russiagate” investigation against former President Trump that failed to find evidence of alleged collusion between him and Russia in the 2016 election.
Ramaswamy suggested Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, and Elon Musk would’ve served as better hosts of the debate, drawing cheers from the Republican audience.
Ramaswamy kept up the combative tone throughout the evening, especially in his interactions with Nikki Haley who’s currently surging in the polls. Ramaswamy occasionally interrupted Haley during her answers and at one point referenced the former ambassador’s daughter, a remark that caused Haley to refer to Ramaswamy as “scum” in perhaps the most heated exchange of the evening.
Meanwhile, Chris Christie continued to differentiate himself by touting his alleged bipartisan appeal as a former governor of a traditionally Democratic state and Tim Scott brought a religious tone to the proceedings. DeSantis reserved much of his ire for pro-Palestine student protesters, having recently banned Students for Justice in Palestine groups from Florida’s college campuses.
Israel Front and Center
Israel played heavily into the first hour of the debate amidst the country’s month-long military incursion into the besieged Gaza Strip.
Matthew Brooks, CEO of the group Republican Jewish Coalition, asked several questions relating to US-Israeli relations and a reported increase in antisemitism on US college campuses.
DeSantis urged Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu to “finish the job” in their war on the militant group Hamas, while Haley likewise repeated her infamous “finish them” line.
Haley continued to distinguish herself as perhaps the biggest foreign policy hawk in the contest by bringing up the subject of Iran early on in the evening. “There would be no Hamas without Iran,” said Haley, referring to the country’s alleged funding of armed groups in opposition to Israel. The former UN Ambassador mentioned economic cooperation between Iran, Russia, and China, calling them an “unholy alliance” throughout the evening.
Nikki Haley on Iran, Hamas, Israel. pic.twitter.com/WlseGgjYAZ
— Vibrani (@VibraniNora) November 9, 2023
Ramaswamy distinguished himself by suggesting a slight skepticism towards deep involvement in Israel’s conflict, saying “Israel has the right and the responsibility to defend themselves.” The discussion prompted another dispute between Ramaswamy and Haley, with the businessman calling her a “multimillionaire… military contractor” and “Dick Cheney in three-inch heels.”
“I wear heels, they’re not for a fashion statement, they’re for ammunition,” Haley retorted.
Ramaswamy spoke of avoiding the “mistakes of the neocon politicians of the past” in another comment that seemed directly aimed at the former ambassador.
Red Scare
A debate over the social media platform TikTok emerged late in the second half of the debate, with candidates denouncing the platform and claiming China is using the platform to promote harmful and anti-Israel views.
Most of the candidates claimed they would ban the TikTok app in the United States. Ramaswamy distinguished himself by rejecting the idea and claimed Haley is hypocritical given that her daughter uses the platform---the comment thus prompted Haley’s “scum” remark.
Haley to Ramaswamy: You’re just scum pic.twitter.com/meLxcAVg4a
— Acyn (@Acyn) November 9, 2023
“It’s a full spectrum approach to be able to fend China off,” said DeSantis, advocating combatting China’s “role in our culture”.
The growing unpopularity of US funding of Ukrainian military action against Russia was evident throughout the evening, with Ramaswamy taking credit for being the first candidate to oppose continued funding.
Discussion of Venezuela rounded out the foreign policy discussion. DeSantis proclaimed “we should never rely on Venezuela for oil” and promised to “turn the screws” on the “corrupt” Maduro government. He promised he would fully enforce all sanctions on the country.
Conscience of a Conservative
Candidates expressed relatively conventional conservative views on social and economic issues throughout the second half of the debate, with a few minor exceptions.
Nikki Haley---the only woman on the debate stage---attempted to distinguish herself from the other GOP candidates with a more moderate tone on abortion, drawing a lengthy applause from the crowd for her response to the controversial issue.
“This is a personal issue for every woman and every man,” said Haley. “I am unapologetically pro-life,” she claimed, while adding, “I don't judge anyone for being pro-choice and I don't want them to judge me for being pro-life.”
The comments seemed aimed at addressing opposition in the United States to the Supreme Court’s 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, which has proven unpopular. Abortion rights activists have prevailed every time the issue has been put to voters in various states since the court’s decision, including in a ballot measure in Ohio on Tuesday.
Scott was the only candidate who advocated for a 15-week federal ban on abortion.
Haley advocated for making contraception more accessible and encouraging adoption in a multi-pronged approach to the issue, opposing attempts to imprison women for receiving an abortion. “We don’t need to divide America over this issue anymore,” she concluded.
Vivek advocated “sexual responsibility for men” in response to a question about the issue, while Chris Christie expanded on the issue by advocating for a more compassionate approach to treating drug addiction and addressing other issues. “Pro life’s not just in the womb… it’s for the whole life,” said the former New Jersey governor.
The candidates’ closing comments reflected widespread dissatisfaction among Americans with the state of the country, with more than three out of four voters claiming the country is “headed in the wrong direction” in recent opinion polling.
Tim Scott spoke of a “cultural and spiritual” crisis in the country, while Ramaswamy spoke of the US being in a “war” with itself which he promised to remedy by shutting down “the deep state.”
Haley meanwhile turned to issues of foreign policy, claiming “the world is on fire,” and promising to “defeat terrorism and socialism” while offering a new generation of leadership. DeSantis proclaimed “we must reverse our country’s decline” and promised to “lead this country’s revival.”
To do that, DeSantis will need to first defeat Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, a tall order given the yawning gap between the former president and all other candidates in all recent opinion polls.
DeSantis and the other candidates on stage may be counting on a criminal conviction for the former president to help clear their way to the nomination, an unprecedented development that could create a crisis of its own. Whatever the outcome of the multiple criminal charges faced by Trump, the controversial figure continues to inexorably influence US politics even when not present on stage.
