Donald Trump became the winner simply by staying away and the nation collectively yawned as the fourth Republican debate failed to upset higher television ratings.
You could be forgiven for thinking that Wednesday's confrontation in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, was the same as the rest: Republican hopefuls punching each other without either of them doing enough to have an escape moment.
But with the smallest debate field yet and 40 days before the crucial Iowa caucuses, it was one of the last, best opportunities to showcase policy beliefs.
And sometimes there was as much light as heat.
These are the conclusions from the fourth Republican debate:
And then there were four. Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy took the stage Wednesday for the fourth Republican presidential debate in Alabama
Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has endured a night of attacks, indicating she was seen by her rivals as the most dangerous candidate on stage
Haley is seen as the clear danger
Not because she had a good night (although she did), but because the former South Carolina governor was the focus of attack for part of the night, especially from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
“I love all the attention guys, thanks for that,” she said.
DeSantis accused Haley of failing to support a ban on gender-affirming medical care for young people and opposing restroom laws during her governorship, both of which she denied.
And he wondered whether she would act in the best interests of ordinary Americans or Wall Street donors.
“We know from her history that Nikki will give in to those big donors when push comes to shove, and that is not acceptable,” DeSantis said.
Ramaswamy hit her even harder, also citing her support from major donors and her time on the Boeing Co. board. brought up, suggesting she was bankrupt when she left office.
“The bottom line is you are corrupt,” he said.
Haley was ready for that offensive line.
“And when it comes to the donors who support me, they're just jealous,” she told the crowd. “They wish they supported them.”
The attacks and her reactions made her the center of the evening, and according to the analytics service Google Trends, her name led to the candidates on Google for most of the night.
The Democrats will get no help in toppling Trump
Another good night for former President Donald Trump, with most of his rivals locked in knots over what's being asked about the frontrunner for the Republican nomination
Democratic strategists have hoped for a messy Republican primary, with rivals battling it out to leave the eventual nominee weakened.
Just one problem: Donald Trump's power means three of the four people on stage Wednesday will avoid a frontal attack on the frontrunner for fear of alienating his base.
Chris Christie was the exception, as he has been throughout the race. He called Trump a “dictator and a bully.”
He also pointed to the reluctance of his rivals.
“We're seventeen minutes into this debate and… we've had these three behaving as if this race was between the four of us,” he said before describing how he was treated as 'Voldemort' in the Harry Potter stories. , with everyone reluctant to say their name.
He was later booed when he said Trump would be convicted, and his rivals greeted most of his comments with silence.
Haley at one point added her voice to the criticism, saying Trump had not been tough enough on China.
But the moderators let them all off the hook and only returned to the topic more than an hour into the debate.
Ramaswamy is a conspiracy theorist
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has outlined a series of conspiracy theories
The biotech entrepreneur has thrilled viewers in past debates by being the loudest voice in the room and the most Trumpy of the candidates.
On Wednesday, he took things to the next level in what could, after all, be his final appearance on the national debate stage.
He claimed that the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol was an “inside job” and not an attack by Trump supporters – an idea promoted by the far right but widely debunked.
“That the government lied to us for 20 years about Saudi Arabia's involvement in 9/11,” he said, citing another conspiracy theory that has no evidence, before switching to a theory popular on Fox News, namely that the Democrats welcome illegal ethnic minorities. to maintain their grip on power.
“That the Great Replacement Theory is not a grand right-wing conspiracy theory, but a fundamental statement of the Democratic Party platform.
“That the 2020 election was indeed stolen by the big tech companies, that the 2016 election, which Trump certainly won, was also stolen from him by the national security organization in the Trump Russia conspiracy that they knew was false.”
These are all ideas that have been posted in the dark corners of the internet, but for which there is no evidence.
Christie thinks his rivals are idiots
Christie had to wait for his moment, but for parts of the night he dominated proceedings
It took almost fourteen minutes before the former governor of New Jersey was called to speak.
“I'm not normally one to be missed, but OK, let's go,” he said.
Until then, he leaned on his desk and looked at the three other candidates with a bewildered look.
And then he went anyway. He turned his fire on those around him, calling Ramaswamy “the most annoying freeloader in America.”
He entered into conversation with DeSantis as the Florida governor danced around the question of whether Trump was fit to be president. “He won't answer,” Christie said, pointing to what everyone could see.
The only person he didn't destroy was Haley. In fact, he came to her defense – if only to better defeat Ramaswamy, who had questioned her intelligence.
“All he knows, all he knows, is insulting good people,” Christie said, before claiming to have known Haley for 12 years — longer than Ramaswamy has been a Republican.