DES MOINES, Iowa — Likely Iowa caucusgoers trying to decide whether Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) or former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is the better alternative to former President Donald Trump may need more information before next week’s opening contest.
Trump’s absence was felt in the small debate room at Drake University as the front-runner participated in a televised town hall across Des Moines on rival cable network Fox News.
“I wish Donald Trump was up here on this stage,” Haley said Wednesday at the CNN debate. “He’s the one that I’m running against.”
DeSantis and Haley, who are both trailing Trump by an average of 30-plus percentage points, were reluctant at first to criticize the front-runner as they court his supporters before Jan. 15 on the campaign trail and during Wednesday’s final debate on CNN. But they did scrutinize his immigration, economic, and law enforcement record, before undercutting his blanket presidential immunity legal defense.
The two unleashed their fire attacking each other for past statements, records in their home states, and policy tiffs, but the disputes seemed to do little to move the needle dramatically in one direction.
DeSantis won the early rounds of the debate, but Haley “held her own” and “relentlessly” criticized DeSantis “all night,” according to University of Michigan debate coach Aaron Kall.
“[Vivek] Ramaswamy served as a foil in previous debates to protect DeSantis from some of the harshest blows, but that all changed tonight,” the co-author of Debate the Donald told the Washington Examiner. “DeSantis came across as a solid alternative to Trump in Iowa, while Haley continued her appeal to moderate and independent voters. This will be helpful in New Hampshire.”
Ed Lee, director of Emory University’s Alben W. Barkley Forum for Debate, Deliberation, and Dialogue, agreed DeSantis had “a strong start.”
“It was energetic and controlled. He seems to be getting better,” he said. “I often felt Haley needed to be bolder and more decisive in places where she contrasted with Trump and DeSantis.”
Haley seemed more under pressure than in her past debate performances, missing one question and not delivering the one-liners that she has become known for. She also provided Trump, DeSantis, even President Joe Biden, with political fodder over entitlement reform.
“The various attacks weren’t as personal from previous debates, but DeSantis clearly got under the skin of Haley,” Kall said. “She even called him demeaning and looked to the sky in anger. At times, Haley resorted back to her stump speech, which we’ve heard several times.”
“Haley’s closing remark did the best job of differentiating the two of them when it comes to being the better Trump alternative — that recent polling data indicates that she can beat Biden and DeSantis can’t,” Lee added. “I wish more of her responses throughout the debate supported that conclusion.”
When invited to criticize Trump’s character, Haley declined, underscoring instead the need for a new generation of leadership and moral clarity. DeSantis scrutinized Trump for his economic policies, in particular for adding $7.8 trillion to the federal debt. But when asked about Trump’s presidential immunity, the pair more confidently attacked their opponent.
“That’s ridiculous. You can’t go and kill a political rival and claim immunity,” Haley, for example, said. “I think what happened on Jan. 6 was a terrible day and I think President Trump will have to answer for it.”
Being the only people on the stage, DeSantis and Haley were provided with more opportunities to make a positive case for their candidacies but spent more time comparing themselves with the other.
“This is somebody that wrote in her book that Hillary Clinton inspired her to first run for office,” DeSantis said.
“I thought he lied a lot,” he added of his debate with Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA). “Man, Nikki Haley may give him a run for his money — she may even be more liberal than Gavin Newsom.”
For her part, Haley pointed to DeSantis’s “exploding” campaign, extrapolating that he will not be able to manage the country if he cannot manage his campaign, emphasizing that “he is only running in one state” while she is running in all of them.
“He has blown through $150 million,” she said. “I don’t know how you do that, through his campaign. He has nothing to show for it. He spent more money on private planes than he has on commercials trying to get Iowans to vote for him.”
The buzzword of the night was “lies,” with Haley launching a new website “DeSantisLies.com” and reiterating the URL throughout the debate.
“Every time he lies, Drake University, don’t turn this into a drinking game because you will be over-served by the end of the night,” she said.
“She’s got this problem with ballistic podiatry by shooting herself in the foot every other day,” DeSantis replied.
They additionally distinguished themselves over foreign policy, with DeSantis implying Haley’s hawkish posture is out of step with the Republican base.
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“If we support Ukraine and Israel, that’s only 5% of our defense budget,” Haley starting saying.
“So you’re going to borrow all that?” DeSantis asked. “You can take the ambassador out of the United Nations, but you can’t take the United Nations out of the ambassador.”