The gloves came off in the final Republican primary debate before the Iowa caucus this week. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) and Ambassador Nikki Haley (R) both made a final push to appeal to voters. Though President Donald Trump (R) qualified to be on the debate stage, as in the previous debates, he did not attend. Governor DeSantis argued that Ambassador Haley’s record did not qualify her for the presidency, and he also argued that President Trump “did not deliver” as president.
During the debate, Governor DeSantis discussed the growing illegal immigration concerns, affirming that President Trump did not deliver the promises he made to his supporters.
“I appreciated what President Trump did, but let’s just be honest, he said he was going to build a wall and have Mexico pay for it. He did not deliver that. He said he was going to drain the swamp. He did not deliver that. He said he was going to hold Hillary Clinton accountable, and he let her off the hook. He was going to eliminate the debt, and he added $7.8 trillion to the debt,” he argued.
In addition, Governor DeSantis denounced President Trump for his actions during civil unrest in 2020. Saying that all he did was tweet “Law and Order!” from the White House instead of ensuring that there was actual law and order, the presidential hopeful reiterated that President Trump should be on the debate stage. Ambassador Haley made a similar remark, arguing that President Trump is who she is actually “running against.”
The debate comes after weeks of Governor DeSantis and Ambassador Haley exchanging verbal blows as well as releasing advertisements criticizing each other. Ahead of the debate, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R), who did not qualify for the debate, announced that he was suspending his campaign.
Political pundits argue that this could help boost Ambassador Haley’s campaign as she has now been viewed as the viable candidate that can defeat President Trump in the primary despite President Trump leading all Republican presidential candidates in the polls.
