Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley took the stage in Des Moines, Iowa on Wednesday for the first one-on-one debate of the primary cycle, just five days before the caucuses.
Immediately the candidates were at each other’s throats, with DeSantis calling Haley a “silly-mouthed politician” and her firing back by calling him a liar and claiming his campaign was “exploding.”
Just before the CNN debate, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie held a town hall in New Hampshire where he announced he would suspend his campaign.
Trump far exceeded the qualifications to participate in the fifth debate of the 2024 primaries, but again chose to skip the event and hold a Fox News town hall at the same time.
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who was not eligible for a debate for the first time in the cycle on Wednesday, is also organizing a competitive event.
Candidates are flocking to Iowa ahead of the Jan. 15 primaries, with dozens of events between the debate and caucuses.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (left) and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley (right) took the stage at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa on Wednesday for the first one-on-one debate
Gov. DeSantis arrives for the CNN debate Wednesday night. Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis and son Mason, five, arrive with the 2024 hopeful
Drake University’s Olmsted Center is the site of the fifth Republican presidential debate. Snow began to fall in Des Moines as the candidates prepared to take the stage
Immediately during Wednesday’s debate, moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash gave the two candidates a chance to tell Iowan voters why they should earn their support Monday.
But instead of focusing on their own records, the candidates went on the attack.
“He’s only angry at the donors because the donors used to be with him, but now they’re not with him anymore, and that’s because he’s angry about his campaign exploding,” Haley said.
At Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, Haley warned students not to turn the debate into a “drinking game” for when DeSantis lies “because you’ll be overprotective by the end of the night.”
She also promoted the website DeSantisLies.com several times.
After holding the first four Republican presidential primary debates of the cycle last year, the Republican National Committee (RNC) suspended debate activities in December.
It overturned a promise that candidates only had to sign a pledge to participate in RNC-sanctioned debates after reports emerged that Trump’s team pressured Speaker Ronna McDaniel to stop the showdowns.
CNN immediately stepped up and scheduled debates in both Iowa and New Hampshire.
Wednesday’s debate is the first non-RNC debate of the cycle.
Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis sits in the front row during Wednesday’s debate, next to Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds
DEBATE THRESHOLDS AND WHO QUALIFIED
The qualifying period for CNN’s Iowa debate closed Tuesday.
By then, candidates had to get at least 10 percent in three separate polls, either nationally or among Republican caucusgoers in Iowa — and at least one had to fall among the latter.
The polls had to be taken after October 15 and before January 2 and could only be pulled from 14 of CNN’s identified approved polling sources.
There were no donor-related criteria as in previous debates.
Trump, DeSantis and Haley all met the qualifications. But the ex-president will once again not participate in the primary debate, claiming the event is unnecessary due to his huge lead in the polls and his belief that he has already been de facto nominated.
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie held a town hall Wednesday just before the New Hampshire debate, where he announced he was suspending his presidential bid
Trump will not participate in the debate, but opts for a town hall with Fox News at the same time as the showdown between his top competitors
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley meet on stage at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa on Tuesday for a live debate – Donald Trump skips and Vivek Ramaswamy and Chris Christie were ineligible
Ramaswamy, Christie and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson did not meet the qualification requirements.
The voting thresholds for Wednesday’s debate were higher than those of the previous four RNC debates, in which Ramaswamy and Christie qualified each time.
Wednesday’s stage is the smallest yet — halving the debate stage in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in December — and will feature the first head-to-head battle between the candidates that many see as in a race for second place.
Haley took part in a Fox News town hall in West Des Moines, Iowa, on Monday, followed by DeSantis who took part in the same event on Tuesday evening after flying back from Tallahassee following his State of the State address.
DONALD TRUMP AND VIVEK RAMASWAMY’S ALTERNATIVE PLANS
Ex-President Trump joined Fox News hosts Martha McCallum and Bret Baier for the third in the network’s town hall series. The start time coincided exactly with the time the debate began at 9:00 PM eastern time.
It is the fifth time that Trump has decided to decline the debate over his main competitors, despite having cleared the thresholds to enter the stage.
DeSantis insists that Trump is refusing to appear because he doesn’t want to answer for his record and instead wants to try to steal the spotlight from his competition.
Meanwhile, Ramaswamy held a “live public show” with the Tim Pool Podcast at his campaign headquarters in Iowa — and held an afterparty with conservative commentator Candace Owens.
Owens will remain in Iowa on Thursday to spend the day campaigning with Ramaswamy.
While the show with Pool started at 6:30 p.m., the afterparty was at odds with the Haley v. DeSantis debate.
Drake University’s Olmsted Center is pictured preparing Tuesday as a plow clears snow from the sidewalk after a winter storm passed through Des Moines days before the caucuses
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy was ineligible for the debate — and will hold a live audience show and afterparty at his campaign headquarters in Iowa on Wednesday. Pictured: Ramaswamy speaking at the Iowa State Capitol Building in Des Moines on Wednesday afternoon
A New Hampshire poll on Tuesday shows Nikki Haley trailing Donald Trump by just seven points
POLLING FOR DEBATE DAY
DeSantis is still in second place, dozens of points behind Trump.
The former president has more than 50 percent of the vote among Republicans in Iowa, according to a FiveThirtyEight average of polls in the early primaries.
With an average of 18.4 percent, DeSantis is a distant second after polls over the summer showed him with about a 20-point lead over Trump — down from the current 32 percent gap.
Haley is third with 15.8 percent. She has only gained traction in the Hawkeye State over time and was able to make the gap between her and DeSantis much smaller than the 20-point gap seen between the two last year.
The former South Carolina governor has also rocketed to second place in New Hampshire, where the second primary will take place on January 23.
Haley trails Trump in New Hampshire by just four points in one poll released earlier this month, and by 7 percent in a separate poll released Tuesday.