Haley draws fire in 4th Republican debate as Christie warns absent Trump is still biggest issue
With voting set to start in the 2024 Republican primary in less than six weeks, four of the top candidates again took the stage for a debate -- this time on Wednesday night in Tuscaloosa, Alabama -- and the event proved to be fiery.
Hosted by NewsNation and moderated by Elizabeth Vargas, Megyn Kelly and Eliana Johnson, the debate featured Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. The primary's front-runner, former President Donald Trump, continued to skip the event despite criticism from his rivals. He was fundraising in Florida.
ABC News and the analysts at 538 live-blogged every major moment and highlight from the debate. PolitiFact made real-time fact checks.
Latest Developments
Dec 6, 10:38 PM
Final thoughts: This debate might cause ripples, but these candidates need a tidal wave
The Iowa caucuses take place on Jan. 15, and it was clear from Wednesday's contentious interactions that we're getting down to the wire now.
At this point in the race, DeSantis and Haley are best positioned to grab the mantle of "Trump's main opponent," so it was no surprise to see them take big verbal swings at each other over and over on the stage. However, each candidate needs to attract both primary voters who don't support Trump and some of the former president's supporters, a difficult challenge. And with Trump leading by around 25 points in both Iowa and New Hampshire polling, changes at the margins aren't enough.
From that perspective, DeSantis made the case that he's got a conservative track record full of election victories and policy wins. Haley, meanwhile, spent much of the debate on the defensive, but she argued for an assertive foreign policy, greater immigration restrictions and reduced regulations to spur home building.
Their rhetoric may win over a few voters who aren't in Trump's camp, although Christie's showing probably satisfied his small anti-Trump block of supporters. But did any of this convince some of Trump's supporters to break with the former president? Probably not many.
That's a big problem for DeSantis and Haley -- they not only need to gain, they also need Trump to seriously lose ground.
-Analysis by Geoffrey Skelley of 538
Dec 6, 10:35 PM
Final thoughts: Feisty exchanges ... but the same end result?
This was a feisty debate with a lot of one-on-one clashes, like between Christie and Ramaswamy. But I think it was also largely a continuation of what we’ve seen in previous debates. Haley stuck with the approach that has served her well so far. Ramaswamy was aggressive, perhaps to the point of being abrasive. Christie came out swinging against Trump and didn’t seem to care that it was unpopular. As a result, I’m expecting that this debate won’t change anything about the race. But we’ll see for sure on Thursday, when we get the results of our poll with The Washington Post and Ipsos, in which we’ll ask Republicans voters who won and lost.
-Analysis by Nathaniel Rakich of 538
Dec 6, 10:14 PM
Who spoke the most?
With a small debate stage on Wednesday, there was much less crosstalk and arguing than in past faceoffs -- but that doesn't mean there was none.
Ramaswamy, who has described himself as the candidate who embraces a disruptive (even provocative) style on stage, got into his share of back-and-forths during the debate and ended up with the most approximate speaking time, according to ABC News' count.
DeSantis trailed very closely behind, and then Haley and Christie were close together in their amounts -- but with more than four minutes less, each, than Ramaswamy and DeSantis.
These totals include time when the candidates talked over one another.
-ABC News' Hajah Bah
Dec 6, 10:15 PM
Haley digs Trump: 'No drama, no vendettas, no whining' from me
Haley, in her closing statement, said America under the Biden administration was a country “in chaos.”
But -- “that’s what Donald Trump gives us,” she said. “My approach is different: no drama, no vendettas, no whining.”
The only candidate to serve in Trump’s White House, Haley has since sought to distance herself from the former president while praising his term in office.
-ABC News’ Chris Boccia
Dec 6, 10:08 PM
Christie predicts Trump will be a felon by presidential election
In closing remarks, Christie contended that Trump will be a felon by November 2024 given the four criminal cases against him. He has pleaded not guilty.
"I want you to all kind of picture in your mind Election Day. You'll all be heading to the polls to vote. And that is something Donald Trump will not be able to do, because he will be convicted of felonies before then and his right to vote will be taken away," Christie said.
The statement drew loud boos from the crowd -- a recurring theme for Christie's comments about Trump.
"You can boo about it all you like and continue to deny reality. But if we deny reality as a party, we're gonna have four more years of Joe Biden," Christie said.
-ABC News' Meredith Deliso
Dec 6, 10:01 PM
Fact-check: Haley on sentiment toward Hamas among young people
As she called for a ban on TikTok, Haley said, “We now know that 50% of adults 18-to-25 think that Hamas was warranted in what they did with Israel. That’s a problem.”
When PolitiFact checked the polls in early November, we found a Harvard-Harris survey that found 48% of American 18-to-24 year olds said they sided with Hamas after the Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel that Israeli officials say killed 1,200 people.
However, that poll was based on a subsample of 199 people with a large margin of error.
The responses to other questions were also inconsistent with that view. Respondents in the subgroup said, by 2-1 margins, that Hamas’ Oct. 7 action "was a terrorist attack"; that the attacks "were genocidal in nature"; that Israel has "a responsibility" to retaliate "against Hamas terrorists"; and that Hamas "is a terror group that rules Gaza with force and fear and is not supported by them."
Three other polls found lower rates of support for Hamas, we reported.
-Analysis by Katie Sanders of PolitiFact
Dec 6, 10:03 PM
Americans view Taiwan as important, but would oppose putting US troops on the ground
Recent polling found that Americans believe Taiwan is an ally and important to U.S. security. In September, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs found that 65% of Americans felt that the country's security relationship with Taiwan does more to strengthen national security than weaken it. And large majorities backed supporting Taiwan in different ways if China were to invade the self-governing island, save sending U.S. forces to the theater. Overall, 78% of Americans would want the U.S. to airlift food and medicine to Taiwan, 75% would want economic and diplomatic sanctions on China and 62% would want the U.S. to send more arms and military supplies to Taiwan. But in terms of military intervention, half said they would support using the U.S. Navy to break a blockade, while 56% opposed sending U.S. troops to Taiwan.
--Analysis by Geoffrey Skelley of 538
Dec 6, 9:57 PM
Ramaswamy, Christie say they’d defend Taiwan if invaded; Haley, DeSantis less clear
Ramswamy defended his position that the U.S. should arm the Taiwanese people with assault-style weapons, despite a Taiwanese zero-gun policy, and added the U.S. should “for the foreseeable future” promise to defend the self-governing island from China, which claims it as its own.
Ramaswamy drew a contrast with DeSantis, who hewed closer to the strategic ambiguity behind America’s longstanding deterrence posture. Haley, separately, said America must continue to defend Ukraine as a signal to Beijing that it can’t attack Taiwan and said the U.S. should not depend on China for national security.
Christie said he would engage militarily if Taiwan is invaded by China.
-ABC News’ Chris Boccia
Dec 6, 9:53 PM
'America right now is acting like it's Sept. 10': Haley
Asked what threats she worries could blindside the U.S. amid what federal officials have called a heightened threat level during the Israel-Hamas war, Haley focused on "foreign infiltration."
"America right now is acting like it's Sept. 10. We better remember what Sept. 12 felt like, because it only takes one," she said.
"We've got to get the foreign infiltration out of our country -- whether it's in our schools, whether it's on our social media, we need to stop all foreign lobbying that's happening to members of Congress, and we need to start securing America again," she continued.
-ABC News' Meredith Deliso
Dec 6, 9:51 PM
Ramaswamy levels another personal attack on Haley to more boos
Ramaswamy again trained his ire toward Haley, with whom he has feuded across the debates this year, saying she was “woke” and “had a corruption problem.” Ramaswamy raised a notepad which had the message “NIKKI=CORRUPT.” A chorus of boos filled the venue.
The entrepreneur said Haley would “send your kids to die so she can buy a bigger house.”
Given the chance to respond, Haley said only, “No. It’s not worth my time to respond to him.”
- ABC News’ Chris Boccia
