- Five candidates took part in the third Republican debate on Wednesday
- DeSantis and Haley were both considered to have had strong performances
- And both said they raised $1 million for their campaigns afterward
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley raised more than $1 million immediately after Wednesday’s fourth Republican presidential debate.
The two campaigns sent out dueling claims as they tried to take second place in the presidential primaries.
And they all want to build momentum from strong performances on the debate stage.
The DeSantis campaign sent out an email touting recent successes and claiming they had raised more than $1 million in the 24 hours after the debate.
“This is another example of how our fundraising continues to accelerate this quarter, and is a sign of our growing momentum following Kim Reynolds’ historic endorsement and a debate victory this week,” the report said.
The campaigns of former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said they each raised more than $1 million after Wednesday’s Republican debate
An exclusive poll for DailyMail.com of debate viewers found that 56 percent thought DeSantis had won the contest, while 35 percent said Haley had defeated the Florida governor.
At the same time, a series of influential experts gave the victory to Haley.
“We need a president who can win back the White House and help win races up and down the ballot,” Haley said on X, the platform once known as Twitter.
“We raised over $1 million after the debate – thank you to everyone who donated to our movement.”
While former President Donald Trump has a huge lead in the 2024 nomination race, Haley and DeSantis are locked in a battle for second place.
During the debate they exchanged blows with China.
Haley accused DeSantis of being weak on the issue because he did not pledge to end trade ties with Beijing over fentanyl.
He responded by accusing her of writing ‘the Chinese ambassador a love letter’.
Haley and DeSantis lead the field chasing the clear frontrunner, Donald Trump
DeSantis defeated Haley out of sight Wednesday night in the third Republican presidential debate, according to an exclusive DailyMail.com poll of viewers.
“She welcomed them to South Carolina and gave them land near a military base,” he said.
The letter, sent in 2014, thanked the ambassador for Chinese assistance on the “economic front.”
“Ron, you’re the chairman of your economic development agency who said last week that Florida is the ideal place for Chinese companies,” she fired back.
“Not only that, you have a company that produces Chinese military aircraft.”
They also traded blows over oil and natural gas, with Haley accusing DeSantis of opposing fracking.