There were only two Republicans on the presidential Wednesday, as former 麻豆传媒AV Carolina Gov. and Florida Gov. met for the highest-stake faceoff yet just five days before the nominating process formally starts with Iowa's caucuses.
Haley and DeSantis' spirited debate came in the shadow of a live town hall held by the man who is dominating the primary contest, . The former president, of course, has stayed away from all five debates, holding a rival town hall Wednesday on Fox News. The one Republican candidate whose entire campaign has been based around stopping Trump, former New Jersey Gov. , suspended his campaign just hours before the debate.
Christie wasn't scheduled to be on the stage anyway as the field was whittled down to the only two candidates who are battling for a very distant second to Trump.
Here are takeaways from the event.
THE FIGHT FOR SECOND
Ever since debates began in August, Trump鈥檚 absence has created a surreal scene of politicians badly trailing in the polls talking about what they鈥檒l do when they win the presidency. On Wednesday, at least, it was clear that the remaining contenders in the Republican primary are fighting for second place.
The opening question was why each of the two candidates thought they were the best option for voters who didn鈥檛 want to support Trump. That set the stakes squarely about second place and the candidates snapped to it.
Haley opened the debate by touting a new website to track DeSantis鈥� 鈥渓ies.鈥�
DeSantis countered, 鈥淲e don鈥檛 need another mealy-mouthed politician who just tells you what she thinks you want to hear, just so she can get into office and do her donors鈥� bidding.鈥�
The sharpest exchange came after Haley continued to needle DeSantis on how he ran his campaign, saying it showed he couldn鈥檛 be trusted to run the country if he could spend $150 million and have so much internal chaos and stagnant polling. When the Florida governor tried to interrupt her, Haley said, 鈥淚 think I hit a nerve.鈥�
DeSantis dismissed Haley鈥檚 criticism as 鈥減rocess stuff鈥� that voters don鈥檛 care about and bragged about his conservative record in Florida while jabbing her for failing to pass school choice as governor.
It went on and on like that, with the two candidates constantly sniping at each other. They made swipes at Trump, but spent the overwhelming amount of time on the person standing at the podium next to them.
The political rationale is clear 鈥� Trump is 77 years old and faces four separate sets of criminal charges plus a bid to disqualify him from being president that is currently at the U.S. Supreme Court. Anything can happen, and if it does you鈥檇 rather be the runner-up than in third or lower. Plus, maybe Trump reaches down and picks his running mate from the top of the also-rans.
Trump鈥檚 campaign has already quipped that the debates are actually vice presidential debates and, during his Fox News town hall, suggested he already knew who his pick would be.
As has been the case, Wednesday鈥檚 debate didn鈥檛 seem likely to change the overall trajectory of the race, with Trump dominating. But at least there were some stakes.
ATTACKING TRUMP ... CAREFULLY
By staying physically offstage, Trump has largely avoided being attacked in the debates. It鈥檚 tricky to criticize a man beloved by most Republican voters, and for the most part, the contenders haven鈥檛 bothered. But that鈥檚 been slowly changing, and it continued to Wednesday.
DeSantis opened with what鈥檚 become his standard campaign sound bite, claiming that Trump is only interested in 鈥渉is issues鈥� and DeSantis cares about 鈥測our issues.鈥� Haley quickly criticized the former president for piling onto the federal deficit, not being strong enough against China and failing to end illegal immigration.
The main mission for both candidates was to vault into second. But there are increasing signs that both know that, if they make it there, they have to have an argument for why Republican voters should back them and not their former president.
DIVIDE OVER ROLE OF GOVERNMENT
Haley and DeSantis have both led conservative southeastern states and become emblems of right-of-center governance. However, the debate exposed a fundamental philosophical difference between them over the role of government.
The two were asked whether it was appropriate for government to try to bend corporations to its social stances, as DeSantis has tried to do in Florida by for opposing one of his measures to limit references to homosexuality in schools.
Absolutely, DeSantis said. 鈥淭he proper role of government, if it means anything, is to protect our kids and I鈥檝e protected our kids.鈥�
Haley gave a more traditional, small-government Republican answer. 鈥淕overnment was intended to secure the freedoms of the people,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 need government fighting against our private industries.鈥�
It鈥檚 been a longstanding bone of contention between the two 鈥� when DeSantis first went after Disney, Haley invited them to look at relocating to 麻豆传媒AV Carolina. 鈥淲e need to stand up for the people, and not bow down to woke corporations,鈥� DeSantis said. 鈥淲e know Nikki Haley will cave to the woke mob every time.鈥�
Haley contended that DeSantis had a warm relationship with Disney until the fight over the school regulations and that it showed that he was willing to use government to pursue personal vendettas.
TRUMP'S COUNTERPROGRAMMING
Many of Trump鈥檚 rivals, including some of his fellow Republicans and President , have warned that he is surrounded by chaos and would be ineffective in the presidency at best 鈥� and a threat to democracy at worst. During his appearance at a Fox News town hall that aired at the same time as the debate, Trump seemed to downplay such concerns.
He backed away from his comments, also delivered on Fox last month, that he wouldn't be a dictator 鈥渆xcept for day one.鈥� On Wednesday, he said he's 鈥渘ot going to be a dictator.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 not going to have time for retribution,鈥� he said despite having repeatedly framed his campaign as a vehicle of retribution against his perceived political enemies. 鈥淭here won鈥檛 be retribution. There鈥檒l be success.鈥�
When asked if political violence is ever acceptable, Trump, who helped spark an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, said 鈥渙f course鈥� such activity is never acceptable. That鈥檚 despite predicting 鈥渂edlam鈥� just a day earlier if criminal cases against him succeed.
Trump has spent the past several weeks standing by his comments about retribution or being a dictator, remarks that are extraordinary for any candidate for the presidency. The question now is whether his tone on Wednesday reflects a shift days ahead of an election or whether he will return to his hardline rhetoric that has
UNITER VS. FIGHTER
Without other candidates vying for attention on stage, voters got to see the contrasts between the two candidates. The biggest one may have been their style 鈥� Haley repeatedly talked about the importance of bringing people together while DeSantis was often scornful of reaching out to the other side.
Part of Haley鈥檚 pitch to the Republican electorate is that she could unite the warring sides of the country. On Wednesday, she bemoaned politicians who keep telling people who鈥檚 鈥渨rong鈥� as opposed to uniting the public. 鈥淲hat a leader does is they bring out the best in people,鈥� she said.
She was throwing a jab at Trump, but might have also aimed for DeSantis, a renowned partisan brawler who touts how he鈥檚 defeated the Democratic Party and liberal interest groups as governor. The contrast was sharpest at the end of the debate, when the subject turned to crime and DeSantis bemoaned the 鈥淏LM riots鈥� 鈥� a reference to "Black Lives Matter" 鈥� after by Minneapolis police in 2020 and Trump鈥檚 response.
鈥淗e sat in the White House and tweeted 鈥榣aw and order,鈥� but he did nothing to ensure law and order,鈥� DeSantis said, noting he mobilized the Florida National Guard and vowing that he鈥檇 keep Americans safe if president during similar unrest. He then dinged Haley for sending out a consolatory tweet about Floyd鈥檚 death.
DeSantis called the tweet 鈥渧irtue signaling,鈥� saying Haley 鈥渨as trying to impress people who are never going to like us.鈥�
Haley bristled. She noted that 麻豆传媒AV Carolina saw two horrible incidents during her tenure 鈥� the shooting of an unarmed Black man, Walter Scott, by and the 2015 murder of nine Black people by at a historically Black Charleston church. After the church shooting, Haley removed the Confederate flag from the state capitol.
鈥淲e came together as a state in prayer and we had no riots,鈥� Haley said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 need the national guard, because a leader knows how to bring out the best in people.鈥�
The line may get her votes, but in a Republican Party that鈥檚 dominated by Trump鈥檚 鈥渦s versus them鈥� rhetoric, it鈥檚 not clear whether it can get her enough to win the nomination.
__
Associated Press writer Jill Colvin in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report
Nicholas Riccardi, The Associated Press
