Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie and Vivek Ramaswamy squared off Wednesday in the final GOP presidential debate of the year, hosted by The Hill’s sister news organization NewsNation.
Haley and DeSantis shared the spotlight as they sought to solidify their second place status behind former President Trump with less than six weeks before the Iowa caucuses.
Trump, who skipped the debate again, loomed over the two-hour event in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Moderators Elizabeth Vargas of NewsNation, Megyn Kelly of SiriusXM and Eliana Johnson of the Washington Free Beacon pressed the candidates on the GOP front-runner throughout the night.
CNN announced Thursday it will host two Republican primary debates in January.
Here is what we learned from the fourth GOP presidential debate:
Haley is the second-tier candidate to beat
The former United Nations ambassador was the night’s top target as she threatens to eclipse DeSantis as the leading Trump alternative.
Haley held her ground against DeSantis and Ramaswamy in particular, while also making a friend in Christie. The former New Jersey governor came to her defense, at one point telling Ramaswamy to “stop insulting her.”
In the end, Haley took a poised approach to the front-runner treatment, telling her rivals: “I love all the attention, fellas, thank you for that.” She heads into the Iowa caucuses neck-and-neck with DeSantis in recent polls.
DeSantis sees new momentum
The Florida governor walked away as a winner last night, pulling off a much-needed strong performance to boost his campaign, The Hill’s Niall Stanage writes.
The debate opened with a question to DeSantis about his low numbers in the race. Responding that he’s “sick of hearing about these polls,” DeSantis brandished his landslide reelection in Florida last year and attacked Haley as caving under pressure.
Once the shoo-in alternative to Trump, DeSantis lags behind the front-runner and faces Haley’s rising star. It remains to be seen how his renewed momentum will play out in the primary.
Christie is not backing down
Despite facing growing pressure to drop out of the race, Christie showed he still has a place in the GOP field.
The former New Jersey governor offered the fiercest stand against Trump yet, calling him a “dictator” and a “bully,” and ramped up pressure on his fellow candidates to denounce the former president.
“Let me make it clear. [Trump’s] conduct is unacceptable. He’s unfit, and be careful of what you’re gonna get,” Christie said in Alabama.
Ramaswamy rankles everyone
The entrepreneur, whose favorability among voters continues to drop, used his prime-time platform to lob personal attacks against his contenders and allege conspiracy theories.
His performance — complete with a scribbled piece of paper targeting Haley — was met with one of the most memorable moments of the evening:
“This is the fourth debate that you would be voted in the first 20 minutes as the most obnoxious blowhard in America, so shut up for a while,” Christie said to Ramaswamy.
Trump still dominates
Even in absentia, the former president is one of the night’s winners. Trump’s refusal to attend any of the debates so far has not seemed to dent his lead in the primary field.
The front-runner also seized headlines the day before the crucial debate with his comments in a Fox News town hall that he would not be a dictator as president “other than day one.”
As Haley and DeSantis battle for second place — Haley receiving 10 percent support in recent polls and DeSantis showing 11 percent — Trump towers over the field on his 60-point perch.
