Republican presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley had a heated debate on Wednesday, arguing with each other just before the Iowa caucuses.
Donald Trump, the top candidate for the party’s 2024 nomination, decided not to go to an event and instead did a town hall on Fox News at the same time.
Iowa is the first state to hold a contest to pick the Republican candidate who will likely run against Democratic President Joe Biden in the November general election.
Mr DeSantis and Ms. Haley are not doing well in the Iowa polls compared to Mr. They are hoping that if they come in second place in the state on Monday, it will help their campaigns.
A brief overview of the Republican primaries in the United States.
This is what we found out when they competed on stage in Des Moines.
1) Both candidates did not hold back.
The two people started arguing right away by saying mean things to each other.
Mr DeSantis, who is 45 years old, started the event by calling his opponent a “dishonest politician who says what people want to hear. ”
Ms Haley responded quickly and accused Mr. DeSantis of telling many “lies”.
“She said you’ll learn about many lies Ron told. ”
There have been four Republican debates before this one, but this one was different because it was just between two people. It was hosted by CNN at Drake University and there were a lot of direct attacks and arguments.
Both of them wanted to win before the Republican voters in Iowa choose their favorite candidate on Monday. The main idea of the night. Keep attacking
2) They investigated Trump’s past actions.
As the two people running for president argued on stage, the old president was having a gathering with his followers three miles (5km) away.
It was no surprise that people started asking where he was and talking about how he was winning in the polls during the debate. DeSantis said the former president was focused on his own problems and not on helping American families.
He said Mr. Trump said a lot of nonsense on social media and made people unsure if he can handle the legal problems he is dealing with.
Ms Haley once again said she doesn’t think Mr. Trump is the right president to continue.
Both of them spoke more strongly against him than before, criticizing how he dealt with things like the pandemic, border security, and relations with China.
At his own event in Des Moines, Mr. Trump criticized both candidates and bragged about the high levels of support he has in Iowa.
Also, his campaign sent many emails criticizing Ms. Haley and Mr. DeSantis during the debate. They talked about Ms. Haley’s foreign policy and Mr. DeSantis’ record on Covid.
3) They disagreed about immigration.
Border security and immigration were brought up many times, showing that it is a main concern for Republican voters in Iowa and the US.
Mr DeSantis told the people not to believe Ms Haley when it comes to immigration.
“He said it’s like letting the fox watch over the henhouse,” as he pointed to her earlier comments about calling “illegal aliens” disrespectful.
Ms Haley talked in a more detailed way about the reasons why people move from Central and South America and mentioned her experience as a former ambassador to the United Nations.
However, she did say that people who are in the country illegally should be sent back because they didn’t wait their turn.
4) Ukraine was a place where there was a lot of tension.
The fight in Ukraine was a big problem during the debate, and both candidates argued about their views on the war.
Ms Haley criticized Mr. DeSantis for first supporting US money for Ukraine, and then changing his mind.
“He doesn’t tell anyone what he believes,” she said.
“Let me explain why Ukraine is important. ” “This country loves freedom,” she said. “It’s a friend of America and wants to prevent war with US support. ”
Mr DeSantis said that the war needed to stop, and he thinks that people like Nikki Haley care more about Ukraine’s border than our border in the south.
The fighting in Ukraine shows a bigger division in the Republican Party. They can’t agree on what the US should do about foreign policy and helping Ukraine.
5) DeSantis received more applause, but Haley said she won.
About 200 people were at the event in Des Moines. They were not very loud, but Mr. DeSantis got more applause than anyone else.
Some of his comments, like when he said Ms. Haley has a problem with shooting herself in the foot, got a good reaction from the people in the room.
This is not surprising because Iowa is seen as better for him than other states like New Hampshire, where Nikki Haley is expected to do well in the second Republican contest.
Ms Haley had some memorable moments and got a big cheer when she talked about the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021 as a “bad day”.
Later, her team and supporters said they saw the event as a win that will help her in the New Hampshire primary.
“Tonight went well,” said the congressman from Texas. Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, who are running for president, had a heated debate on Wednesday before the Iowa caucuses. They argued with each other.
Donald Trump, who is leading in the race to be the party’s nominee for 2024, decided not to go to an event and instead had a town hall on Fox News at the same time.
Iowa is the first state to hold a contest to decide which Republican will run for president against Democrat Joe Biden in November.
Mr DeSantis and Ms. Haley are not doing well in the Iowa polls compared to Mr. They are hoping to come in second place in the state on Monday to give their campaigns a boost.
A short guide to choosing the US Republican candidate.
This is what we found out when they competed on the stage in Des Moines.
The two people started arguing right away by saying mean things to each other.
Mr DeSantis, who is 45 years old, started by saying that his opponent is a politician who says what people want to hear but doesn’t mean it.
Ms Haley then responded and directly criticized what she said were Mr DeSantis’s frequent false statements.
She said you will learn about many lies that Ron has told.
There were four Republican debates before this one. But, this one was different because it was just two people debating. It was hosted by CNN at Drake University and the candidates had more arguments and direct attacks.
It looked like both were trying to win big before the Republicans in Iowa start the next part of the race and choose their favorite presidential candidate on Monday. The theme for the night is “attack, attack, attack”.