Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley came out swinging at Wednesday’s one-on-one debate in Des Moines just five days before the Iowa caucuses.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump was across town in West Des Moines for a Fox News town hall.
DeSantis said that the ex-president should be on stage debating with him instead of Haley.
Immediately after stepping on stage, the two candidates were at each other’s throats, with DeSantis calling Haley a ‘mealy-mouthed politician’ and her shooting back by calling him a liar and claiming his campaign is ‘exploding’.
Just a few hours before the CNN debate, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie held a town hall in New Hampshire where he announced he is suspending his campaign.
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy who did not qualify to debate Wednesday for the first time in the cycle, is also holding a competing event.
Candidates are flocking to Iowa ahead of the January 15 primary contest, with dozens of events between the debate and the caucuses.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (left) and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley (right) took 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 evening. Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis and son Mason, five, are seen arriving with the 2024 hopeful
Drake University’s Olmsted Center is the site of the fifth Republican presidential debate. Snow started falling in Des Moines as the candidates prepared to take stage
Immediately at the debate on Wednesday, moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash gave the two candidates their chance to tell Iowan voters why they should earn their support on Monday.
But rather than focusing on their own records, the candidates went on attack mode out the gate.
‘He’s only mad about the donors because the donors used to be with him but they’re no longer with him now and that’s because he’s upset about the fact that his campaign is exploding,’ Haley said.
Held at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, Haley warned students not to turn the debate into a ‘drinking game’ for whenever DeSantis’ lies ‘because you will be over served by the end of the night.’
She also promoted several times the website DeSantisLies.com.
After holding the first four Republican presidential primary debates of the cycle last year, the Republican National Committee (RNC) dropped out of the debate business in December.
It voided a pledge candidates were required to sign vowing only to participate in RNC-sanctioned debates after reports emerged that Trump’s team was pressuring Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel into stopping the showdowns.
CNN immediately stepped up to the plate, scheduling debates in both Iowa and New Hampshire.
Wednesday’s debate is the first non-RNC debate of the cycle.
Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis is seen front row at Wednesday’s debate, sitting beside Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds
DEBATE THRESHOLDS AND WHO QUALIFIED
The qualifying window for CNN’s debate in Iowa closed on Tuesday.
By then, candidates needed to receive at least 10 percent in three separate polls, either nationally or among Republican caucus-goers in Iowa – and at least one had to fall under the latter.
The polls needed to be conducted after October 15 and by January 2 and could only be pulled from 14 of the approved polling sources decided by CNN.
There was no donor-related criteria like in previous debates.
Trump, DeSantis and Haley all met the qualifications. But the ex-president will again not participate in the primary debate, claiming the event is not needed because of his massive polling lead and his belief he is the de facto nominee already.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie held in New Hampshire a town hall just before the debate on Wednesday, where he announced he is suspending his presidential bid
Trump is not participating in the debate, instead opting for a town hall with Fox News at the same time as the showdown between his top competitors
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley will meet on stage at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa on Tuesday for a head-to-head debate – Donald Trump is skipping and Vivek Ramaswamy and Chris Christie didn’t qualify
Ramaswamy, Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson did not meet the qualification requirements.
The polling thresholds for Wednesday’s debate were higher than those of the previous four RNC debates, which saw Ramaswamy and Christie qualifying each time.
The stage Wednesday is the smallest yet – cutting December’s Tuscaloosa, Alabama debate stage in half – and will see for the first time a head-to-head between the candidates many see as in a race for second place.
Haley participated in a Fox News town hall in West Des Moines, Iowa on Monday, followed by DeSantis participating in the same event on Tuesday night after he flew 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 when the debate kicked-off at 9:00 PM eastern time.
It is the fifth time Trump has decided to snub debating his primary competitors despite meeting the thresholds to take the stage.
DeSantis insists Trump is refusing to appear because he doesn’t want to answer for his record and instead wants to attempt to steal the spotlight from his competition.
Meanwhile, Ramaswamy held a ‘live audience show’ with the Tim Pool Podcast at his Iowa campaign headquarters – and held an after party featuring conservative commentator Candace Owens.
Owens will stick around in Iowa on Thursday to campaign all day with Ramaswamy.
While the show with Pool started at 6:30, the after party conflicted with the Haley v. DeSantis debate.
Drake University’s Olmsted Center is pictured during preparations Tuesday with a plow clearing snow off the sidewalk after a winter storm came through Des Moines days before the caucuses
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy did not qualify for the debate – and is holding a live audience show along with an after party at his Iowa campaign headquarters on Wednesday. Pictured: Ramaswamy speaks at the Iowa State Capitol Building in Des Moines on Wednesday afternoon
A Tuesday poll in New Hampshire puts Nikki Haley only 7 points behind Donald Trump
POLLING AHEAD OF DEBATE DAY
DeSantis is still in second place and is trailing Trump by dozens of points.
The former president holds more than 50 percent of the vote among Republicans in Iowa, according to a FiveThirtyEight average of polls in the first primary state.
With 18.4 percent in the average, DeSantis is in a distance second place after polls over the summer showed him separated from Trump by around 20 points – rather than the current 32 percent gap.
Haley is in third with 15.8 percent. She has only gained traction over time in the Hawkeye State and was able to get the gap between her and DeSantis much closer than the 20 point-gap seen last year between the two.
The former South Carolina governor has also skyrocketed to second place in New Hampshire, which holds the second primary with elections on January 23.
Haley is only trailing Trump in New Hampshire by four points in one poll released earlier this month, and by 7 percent in a separate poll published on Tuesday.