Jacob Francy, '26
For the third Republican Primary Debate of the 2024 Presidential Election, the stage has gotten smaller. North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson were not invited to Miami for the event. In larger news in the primaries, former Vice President Mike Pence had dropped out of the race just before the debate, unwilling to endorse any candidate yet. Five candidates took the floor: former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former U.N. Ambassador and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott. As before, the current leader in the polls for the Republican nomination, former President Donald Trump declined to participate as he has been dealing with his legal problems. Let’s look at the highlights:
Foreign Policy Grabs Main Attention:
While all candidates stuck with their main support for Israel in the war against Palestine, there were intriguing arguments on the other war near the Middle East, Russia vs. Ukraine. Some may ask, “How could anyone ever justify not supporting Ukraine/supporting Russia?” To that I say, “It’s the Republican Party.” Ramaswamy went on a troubling rampage against Ukraine and President Zelensky, accusing the country of “harboring Nazism'' and “anti-Democratic beliefs.” Nikki Haley, the only candidate with true foreign policy experience, shot back at the rookie, Vivek Ramaswamy, once again, continuing their seemingly everlasting battle. Haley said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping were, “salivating at the thought that someone like that (pointing at Ramaswamy) could become President.” Christie agreed with Haley, while DeSantis and Scott both deflected to the U.S. southern border, afraid to take a stance.
2023 Election Results, Abortion:
The debate took place the day after the 2023 election results came in, which included many Democratic and overall progressive wins like the Kentucky Governorship, Virginia State Legislature, and legalizing marijuana for recreational use in Ohio. The candidates used these results as a great way to “wake up” their supporters and voters. Vivek Ramaswamy blamed everyone in the Republican Party except Donald Trump, “I think there's something deeper going on in the Republican party here, and I am upset about what happened last night,” he said, “We've become a party of losers” because of a “cancer of the Republican establishment.”
Abortion was laid on the table once again, but it wasn’t touched by many. One eye-popping sequence that night, however, was when Nikki Haley, the only female and woman candidate, spoke on the subject. She had previously stated her more moderate views, yet was still “pro-life”. Haley said, “When we’re looking at this, there are some states going more on the pro-life side. I welcome that. There are some states going more on the pro-choice side. I wish that wasn’t the case, but the people decided.” She stood by her stance, which is letting the people decide.
Haley, DeSantis Argue Over China
DeSantis took shots at Haley on the topic of China, “[Haley] welcomed them into South Carolina, gave them land near a military base, wrote the Chinese ambassador a love letter, saying what a great friend they were. That was like their No. 1 way to do economic development,” the Florida Governor claimed. “In Florida, I banned China from buying land in the state. We kicked the Confucius Institutes out of our universities. We’ve recognized the threat, and we’ve acted swiftly and decisively.” After a long break, Haley got her rebuttal in, “Yes, I brought a fiberglass company 10 years ago to South Carolina, but, Ron, you are the chair of your economic development agency that, as of last week, said Florida is the ideal place for Chinese businesses,” she fought back. Ramaswamy, like always, tried to grab some attention during the fight, attacking both DeSantis and Haley, but it was nothing relevant.
Ramaswamy Fires Shots
Ramaswamy, as I mentioned, is desperate for attention. But, sometimes, his punches actually land. Everyone took blows from Ramaswamy: the media, Nikki Haley, the debate moderators, the media, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, Ron DeSantis, and even DeSantis’ famous yassified boots.
NBC, who televised the debate, took his original blow, “Think about who’s moderating this debate — this should be Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan and Elon Musk,” he said before blasting the “corrupt media establishment,” which is ironic. Tucker Carlson and Joe Rogan have both been previously proven to have been corrupt news analysts.
After a battle with DeSantis and Haley on the Israel-Palestine War, Ramaswamy gave one of the worst insults of the night, “Do you want a leader of a different generation who’s going to put this country first, or do you want Dick Cheney in 3-inch heels? We’ve got two of them.” In many viewers’ opinions on social media, they believed Ramaswamy crossed a line.
FIGHT: RAMASWAMY VS. HALEY
After Ramaswamy’s insensitive comments, he didn’t stop there. In the tensest moment of the night, he criticized Haley for calling out his campaign’s “use of TikTok”, which a number of Republicans want to ban over security concerns, and brought her daughter into it. “She made fun of me for actually joining TikTok,” he said, recounting the time she criticized him for using TikTok in the second debate,” while her own daughter was actually using the app for a long time. So you might want to take care of your family first.” The crowd surprisingly booed, and Haley jumped in. “Leave my daughter out of your voice,” she said, before adding: “You’re just scum.”
Ladies and gentlemen, your 2024 Republicans.