Third 2024 Republican presidential debate

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Thursday said her GOP rival Vivek Ramaswamy “threw a petty shot,” when addressing their ongoing feud during an interview with Fox News.

At the third primary debate in Miami, Haley called Ramaswamy a “scum” after he brought up her daughter during an exchange about TikTok. Haley said she was “showing a lot of restraint” in this moment.

“Even though it was a personal shot, and it was a shot that wasn’t necessary, I think the bigger point is there are big differences between me and Ramaswamy. He doesn’t think we should be helping Israel. He thinks that we should let Putin have Ukraine,” Haley said. 

“We have real issues on that debate stage that differentiate us and that’s what I wanted to talk about. He threw a petty shot there. It says more about him than it does about me,” she added.

Haley also responded to former President Donald Trump slamming her during his rally in Hialeah on Wednesday. Trump mocked the former South Carolina governor for previously saying she would not seek her party’s nomination if he opted to run a second time.

“Yes, I said I wouldn’t run against him, but it was before we had the fall in Afghanistan, before we saw inflation go through the roof. It was before we lost the mid-terms…We cannot win the issues and fights of the 21st century if we continue to use politicians of the 20th century,” Haley said.

Haley said her strategy to surpass Trump in the polls and become the GOP frontrunner is “slow and steady.”

“It is slow and steady wins the race. We’re now surging, second in Iowa, second in New Hampshire, second in South Carolina and we have one more fellow to go after and we’ll do it.

Asked about Iranian proxies recently hitting US forces, Haley said it is “infuriating that our military men and women are having to deal with this.”

“The way to deal with that is you completely go and slam the infrastructure where the strikes are taking place. Eliminate their [Iran] ability to do any strikes to our men and women and let them know there will be hell to pay if they hurt an American soldier,” the former UN ambassador said.

Five Republicans vying for the GOP presidential nomination took the debate stage last night in Miami.

If you’re just catching up now, here’s a look at some of the key moments from the third GOP presidential debate:

• Foreign policy at the forefront: On Israel’s war with Hamas, there was little disagreement between the five candidates. In fact, their answers were often quite similar. “I’d be telling Bibi: Finish the job once and for all with these butchers,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said, referring to the Israeli prime minister by his nickname. But there were sharp divisions over whether the United States should continue to support Ukraine against Russia’s aggression. Vivek Ramaswamy left no doubt where he stood, issuing a lengthy rebuke of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky while accusing the war-torn country of harboring Nazism and anti-democratic beliefs.
• A tense Haley and Ramaswamy exchange: The tensest moments on the stage stemmed from a puzzlingly protracted series of exchanges about TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media platform that the candidates are happy to spend time dissing. Ramaswamy was the lone dissenter on that front, talking up his use of the app as a campaign tool while his rivals pledged to bury it, then effectively calling Nikki Haley a hypocrite because her daughter used it. Understandably infuriated, Haley told Ramaswamy to “leave my daughter out of your voice,” before dismissing him as “scum.”
• Christie and Scott became the fringe candidates: One could be forgiven for forgetting that Chris Christie and Tim Scott were even on the debate stage Wednesday night. The other three candidates were more interested in scoring shots at each other and seemed to view Christie and Scott as lagging too far behind in the polls to spend much time on. For the most part, Scott and Christie didn’t really get into the fray – and the other three candidates were fine with that.
• Scott appeared with his girlfriend for the first time: Scott’s girlfriend, Mindy Noce, appeared for the first time in public alongside the South Carolina senator at the conclusion of last night’s third presidential debate, a campaign official confirmed to CNN. Scott told the Washington Post in September the two met through a mutual friend who attends Scott’s church. Scott, the only unmarried presidential candidate in the field, has been extremely private about his dating life, refusing to share his girlfriend’s name in that interview.

Republican presidential candidates participate in the NBC News Republican Presidential Primary Debate at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County on November 8, 2023 in Miami.

Less than a day after voters in multiple states rebuked GOP leaders who would restrict abortion rights, five Republicans running for president ignored the issue for the first 99 minutes of their third primary debate on Wednesday night.

Unlike their last gathering, a chaotic scramble of interruptions and cross talk, the debate Wednesday night in Miami did hammer away at points of substance. The rub? Almost all of it was focused on foreign policy.

And while those questions were surely worth debating – even if the candidates largely agreed on top lines like supporting Israel and opposing Hamas, Iran and China – the effect was ultimately disorienting: If the GOP is going to take back the White House, why ignore the political hurdles standing in its way?

Considering the candidates’ narrow interests, it made some sense. None of their views on abortion, which came out 20 minutes before closing time, are particularly popular at the moment. Taken together, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s plea for consensus on the issue and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott’s insistence on a 15-week federal ban echoed the logic set forth by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin in the days and weeks before his state GOP colleagues came up short in a high-stakes legislative contest.

Abortion wasn’t the only divisive topic that got short shrift in Miami. Former President Donald Trump, too, was an afterthought for most of the night after receiving a few measured jabs, in absentia, early on and only at the prodding of the moderators. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis summed up the argument against Trump, saying he is a “different guy than he was in 2016” and, like Haley, suggesting Republicans not go chasing past glories.

The tensest moments on the stage stemmed from a puzzlingly protracted series of exchanges about TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media platform that the candidates are happy to spend time dissing.

Vivek Ramaswamy was the lone dissenter on that front, talking up his use of the app as a campaign tool while his rivals pledged to bury it, then effectively calling Haley a hypocrite because her daughter used it.

Understandably infuriated, Haley told Ramaswamy to “leave my daughter out of your voice,” before dismissing him as “scum.” (Ramaswamy appeared to do his best to avoid Haley after the debate when the candidates’ families joined them onstage).

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Trump’s harshest critic on cable news, hardly registered, putting another dent in his reputation as a shrewd (and occasionally crude) public speaker.

Read six takeaways from the third GOP presidential primary debate.

Vivek Ramaswamy speaks during a Republican presidential primary debate in Miami on Wednesday, November 8.

Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy claimed in Wednesday’s debate that Ohio “passed a constitutional amendment that now effectively codifies a right to abortion all the way up to the time of birth without parental consent” because of a “Republican culture of losing.” 

Facts First: This is false.

The passage of ballot measure Issue 1 on Tuesday establishes a person’s right to an abortion in the Ohio state constitution. The measure does not explicitly say that abortion is allowed under any circumstance, nor does it change Ohio’s parental consent and notification law.  

Rather, the new amendment to the state constitution says that any kind of ban on the procedure pre-viability (typically at 23 to 24 weeks) is prohibited under state law. By the time a person is pregnant for 24 weeks, there is a good chance the child could survive outside the womb. After viability, the state can restrict a person’s access to an abortion unless the pregnant person’s health or life is at risk because of that pregnancy. An abortion late in pregnancy is exceptionally rare. 

In Ohio, a minor will still need a parent’s permission to get an abortion, or they must get an exception from a judge. 

Out of a group of 13 Iowa voters, four said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won Wednesday night’s debate, while six others said former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley did and three said entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy was victorious.

None of the voters in the group interviewed by CNN’s Gary Tuchman said neither South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott nor former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie won the debate.

“I think with foreign policy being center stage, it really plays into [Haley’s] strengths and they spent a lot of time on that topic,” Brett Barker, who is the mayor of Nevada, Iowa told Tuchman. “And we saw her go toe-to-toe with tyrants of the UN and you can see her doing that as president.”

Another voter told Tuchman that he thinks DeSantis won because of his current position in office as governor.

“Everybody else says what they would do or what they did 10 years ago,” the voter said. “DeSantis says what he’s doing now and what he’s going to be doing once he changes that position.”

Another voter who chose Ramaswamy said they did so because “he wasn’t afraid to speak his mind.”

“I think everyone else was kind of in sync with each other and didn’t really vary as much as he did and he just wasn’t afraid to go against the grain,” the voter said.

Twelve of the 13 voters said they voted for former President Donald Trump in 2016. But when asked Wednesday night how many of them would still caucus for Trump, only two said they would vote for him.

Voters mentioned the many legal clouds hanging over the former president as a reason for why they shifted their support from him.

Vivek Ramaswamy speaks during a Republican presidential primary debate in Miami on Wednesday, November 8.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy doubled down Wednesday night on mentioning South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s daughter during the GOP debate in Miami.

The comment about her use of TikTok sparked a sharp rejoinder from Haley, who interjected: “Leave my daughter out of your voice.” When Ramaswamy continued over an audible reaction from the crowd, Haley muttered “you’re just scum,” rolling her eyes in disgust.

The tech entrepreneur argued it wasn’t “a sin” for him or Haley’s daughter to engage on the social video app TikTok, which is owned by a Chinese-based company, but said it reflects a “lack of self-awareness” in Haley given her previous criticism of Ramaswamy’s use of the app.

Ramaswamy told CNN’s Dana Bash he’s concerned about Republicans not engaging young voters on TikTok and said Republicans like Haley who want to restrict access to TikTok are “retreating” on the issue.

“It’s not a sin to be on TikTok. The dirty little secret is, it’s a generational divide. Most people, young people who I meet are — and the alerting moment is even if she’s going to talk about TikTok sanctimoniously on stage without mentioning that her own adult family members of the next generation are on it, we’re not fixing the problem by just retreating and signaling our virtue,” he said.

Ramaswamy said he didn’t feel it was wrong to bring up a member of Haley’s family during the debate, noting he wasn’t criticizing Haley’s daughter’s use of the app, but referencing her daughter to underline an argument about Haley’s leadership.

“I think the error is somebody sanctimoniously lecturing the rest of the country, about the perils of it, while actually failing to set an example of leadership a little closer to home,” he said.

Ramaswamy also defended his attack, at the start of the debate, on the Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and his call for her to resign. He said the tactic was not meant to curry favor with any voters, but hoped his unvarnished rhetoric would communicate authenticity to voters that he hopes will translate to growing support.

Ronna McDaniel speaks before a Republican presidential primary debate hosted by NBC News, in Miami on Wednesday 8.

Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel stood by her decision to allow NBC News to host Wednesday night’s debate despite criticism from GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

“I stand by our choice to go with a non-conservative media outlets. I think NBC did a great job,” she told CNN’s Dana Bash, noting that by going to a non-conservative outlet, the GOP was able to reach independent voters. She also noted conservative Salem Radio Network partnered on the event. “We are not gonna win elections if we sit in an echo chamber of Republican media.”
“If you can’t take a tough question, and you probably shouldn’t be running for president,” she added.

During the debate, Ramaswamy also blamed McDaniel for the string of losses Republicans have suffered. The RNC chair told CNN she is not going to go after Republicans and instead “always going to focus on the Democrats.” She added that “Republican on Republican infighting” is not helping the party.

McDaniel addressed the election losses Republicans faced Tuesday night in Kentucky, Virginia and Ohio.

“The RNC is a federal committee, so we are House, Senate, presidential — we are not as involved in the state races,” she said.

But McDaniel did say, “Many of the candidates in those races were being pummeled with advertising, lying about their stance on abortion, and they did not respond. And if you do not respond, a lie becomes the truth. Our candidates need to be conversant and able to get on TV and articulate where they stand on abortion, and talk about other things.”

She added, “Define yourself before the Democrats define you.”

McDaniel also said that she does not expect former President Donald Trump to participate in any of the RNC primary debates.

Speaking about President Joe Biden’s response to Hamas’ attack on Israel, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said: “We had Floridians that were over there after the attack. He [Biden] left them stranded. They couldn’t get flights out. So, I scrambled resources in Florida. I sent planes over to Israel and I brought back over 700 people to safety. There could have been more hostages had we not acted.”  

Facts First: DeSantis’ statement, which appears to say Biden failed to evacuate Americans out of Israel, is both untrue and needs context.  

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby announced on October 12 that the US government would begin arranging charter flights for Americans seeking to leave Israel on October 13. The first US government flight out of Israel landed in Athens on October 13. On October 30, State Department spokesman Matt Miller said the agency was suspending charter flights due to a lack of demand. 

Separately, DeSantis declared a state of emergency in Florida on October 12, allowing him to access a $500 million fund that does not require legislative approval, to evacuate people from Israel to Tampa. He told reporters in New Hampshire in October that he anticipated the first evacuation flight would land in Florida on October 15.  

DeSantis’ claim that “there could have been more hostages” without his evacuation flights is a hypothetical; we can’t definitively fact check whether more hostages might be taken in the future. But it’s worth noting that no hostages have been taken from Israel since Hamas’ October 7 attack. DeSantis declared a state of emergency five days later to begin chartering flights, after Israeli forces had taken back control of the country. 

Asked for an explanation of the claim, DeSantis campaign spokesperson Bryan Griffin said in an email during the debate: “Of course Hamas could’ve taken more hostages. Everyone Ron DeSantis brought home is 100% safe from that possibility.” 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested Wednesday that President Joe Biden would use funds from his proposed $105 billion national security package to bring more undocumented immigrants into the US.  

“He says he has money for border… When you look at it, what most of the money is money to process more illegal aliens into this country. How is that solving the problem?” DeSantis said during the debate. 

Facts First: DeSantis’ assertion needs context. Some of the package’s $13.6 billion for border security would be used to add more asylum officers, processing personnel and immigration judges, all of whom help determine whether migrants are eligible to remain in the US. But other funds would be used to hire additional Border Patrol agents. 

Biden’s funding request, which he laid out in October, would funnel money into a wide variety of border operations, including efforts to counter fentanyl, support for states and localities that provide shelter and services to migrants and assistance to resettle eligible arrivals.  

The package calls for $1.6 billion to hire 1,300 Border Patrol agents, but money would also be used to add 1,600 asylum officers, as well as processing personnel, according to the White House. Plus, the request asks for $1.4 billion to hire 375 immigration judge teams to adjudicate and process immigration cases more quickly. 

In advocating for a 15-week federal limit on abortion, Sen. Tim Scott said during Wednesday’s GOP debate that he “would not allow states like California, Illinois or New York to have abortion up until the day of birth.” 

Facts First: This needs context. California, Illinois, and New York do not allow unrestricted abortion throughout a pregnancy. Each of these states prohibits abortion after a certain point, though they each allow some exceptions afterward to protect the health of the person who is pregnant. As far as infanticide, killing a child after a child’s birth is not allowed in any state.   

It’s possible that Scott was suggesting that, without a federal law to impose a nationwide limit on abortion, these Democratic-led states would remove all limits on abortion in the future. But his wording left open the impression that he was saying that these states have no limits today, and that’s not the case.   

California and Illinois both allow abortion until fetal “viability,” meaning when the fetus might be able to survive outside the womb with or without medical help — often viewed as around 23 or 24 weeks — and after that when abortion is needed to protect the “life or health” of the patient; their laws echo the language of the Supreme Court’s now-overturned Roe v. Wade decision, which required “life or health” exceptions after viability. New York specifies that abortion is illegal after 24 weeks except when the fetus is not viable or when abortion is necessary to protect the pregnant person’s “life or health;” under a 2019 New York state law, abortion is never treated as a crime.    

Some conservatives object to the presence of “life or health” exceptions in abortion laws, arguing that the “health” part of these exceptions is so broad that it essentially permits abortion at any time. But the claim about “abortion on demand” wrongly suggests that anyone can demand an abortion in these states at any time for any reason at all.      

It’s also worth noting that a tiny percentage of abortions are performed at 24 weeks or later.

According to data published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, just 0.9% of reported abortions in 2020 occurred at 21 weeks or later. (Some of these abortions occur because of serious health risks or lethal fetal anomalies.) By contrast, 80.9% of reported abortions in 2020 were conducted before 10 weeks, 93.1% before 14 weeks and 95.8% before 16 weeks.  

There are some cases in which parents decide to use palliative care for some babies who are born with conditions that will kill them and give these babies just minutes, hours or days to live. That is simply not the same as killing the baby.  

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the anti-abortion movement has been “caught flat-footed” when he was asked to weigh in on the victories for abortion rights supporters on ballot measures in Ohio and Virginia Tuesday night.

“You got to do a better job on these referenda,” DeSantis said. “All this stuff that’s happened to the pro-life cause — they have been caught flat-footed on these referenda, and they have been losing the referenda.” 

He claimed that a lot of the people voting for these measures are “Republicans who would vote for a Republican candidate, so you got to understand how to do that.” 

At the last GOP debate in Simi Valley, California, DeSantis said he would support a national 15-week abortion ban when pressed by Sen. Tim Scott. DeSantis also said: “I reject this idea that pro-lifers are to blame for midterm defeats.”

Tonight, in Miami, and as he often does on the campaign trail, DeSantis said, “You got to work from the bottom up.” 

“We’re better off when we can promote a culture of life. At the same time, I understand that some of these states are doing it a little bit different. Texas is not going to do it the same as New Hampshire. Iowa is not necessarily going to do it the same as Virginia,” DeSantis said. 

Turning the issue on Democrats, DeSantis claimed they have “taken a position they will not identify the point at which there should be any protection, all the way up until birth.”

“That is wrong, and we cannot stand for that,” he said.

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott sits for an interview in the spin room following the NBC News Republican Presidential Primary Debate at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County on November 8, in Miami.

As Tuesday’s election results highlighted, abortion remains one of the key flashpoint topics among voters. In Wednesday’s debate, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina claimed that 75% of Americans support a federal ban on abortion for women who are at least 15 weeks pregnant. 

“We need a 15-week federal limit. Three out of four Americans agree with a 15-week limit,” Scott said. 

Facts First: This needs context. A spokesperson for Scott’s campaign told CNN during the debate that Scott was citing polling conducted for the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, which a review found used loaded language and did not offer respondents a complete range of possible responses. Some independent polls conducted this year and last, which have posed abortion questions far more neutrally, have found significantly less than 75% support for an abortion ban at or after 15 weeks.   

The poll from SBA found 77% support for at least some limits by 15 weeks. But there are significant issues with that poll.    

The relevant question prompted respondents with language about “a baby’s heartbeat” and how “a baby can feel pain,” using much more emotional language than independent polls tend to use. The poll also did not provide an option for respondents to express support for abortion limits any later in a pregnancy than 15 weeks.

Instead, it only allowed respondents to endorse one of the following: an abortion ban throughout pregnancy with exceptions for the life of the mother, rape and incest; a 6-week ban with those exceptions; a 15-week ban with those exceptions; completely unrestricted abortion throughout pregnancy, or “I am completely unsure.” In other words, the poll didn’t even mention the possibility of an abortion ban at fetal viability, meaning when the fetus might be able to survive outside the womb with or without medical help, often viewed as around 23 or 24 weeks.       

More neutral polls conducted by media and academic entities have produced much different findings.    

For example, an AP-NORC poll in June asked US adults if they think their state should or shouldn’t allow a pregnant person to get a legal abortion at various points in a pregnancy; 51% said their state should allow legal abortion at the 15-week mark, 45% said their state should not. A Marquette Law School poll in July asked US adults if they would support or oppose a national law banning abortion after 15 weeks; 47% were in favor, 53% were opposed.   

A Fox News poll in April asked registered voters if they would favor or oppose a law in their state banning abortion after 15 weeks “except in the case of a medical emergency.” Fifty-four percent said they would favor such a law, 42% said they would oppose it. That is more support than the above polls that did not mention a medical-emergency exemption, but still well below the 75% Scott mentioned.   

#Fact Checks##

President Joe Biden’s campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said the Republican presidential candidates at tonight’s debate were “embracing Donald Trump’s losing and extreme MAGA agenda,” including on the issue of abortion.

She went on to seize on candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who called the GOP a “party of losers.” 

“Normally, after you lose, you take a moment to reflect and course correct. But in Donald Trump’s MAGA Republican Party, apparently you double down on the same extreme agenda that was soundly rejected last night in elections across the country,” she said in a statement provided to CNN.
“That’s what we witnessed tonight: the entire Republican field once again embracing Donald Trump’s losing and extreme MAGA agenda of banning abortion, cutting Social Security and Medicare, and rigging the economy for the ultra-wealthy at the expense of working Americans,” she continued. “In fact, the only thing that the American people agree with these MAGA Republicans on is that their extreme agenda has left them reeling as ‘a party of losers.’”

Republican presidential candidate North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum addresses attendees at the Republican Party of Florida Freedom Summit on Saturday, November 4, in Kissimmee, Florida.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who failed to make tonight’s debate stage due to the Republican National Committee’s polling requirements, slammed the Republican face-off in Miam.

“Over two hours filled with petty attacks and in-fighting, voters learned why none of the career politicians on stage will be President and why political insiders have no business trying to artificially shrink the Republican field two months before the actual voting starts in Iowa and New Hampshire,” he said in a statement Wednesday post-debate.

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott speaks during the NBC News Republican Presidential Primary Debate at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County on November 8, in Miami, Florida. 

Republican Sen. Tim Scott called on former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to support a federal law restricting access to abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

He argued that a national law would prevent states controlled by Democratic leadership from passing more lenient abortion access laws. 

“I’m 100% pro-life,” Scott said. “I would certainly, as president of the United States, have a 15 week national limit. I would not allow states like California, Illinois or New York to have abortion up until the day of birth,” Scott said. 
“I would challenge both Nikki and Ron to join me at a 15-week limit. It is in our nation’s best interest,” Scott said. 

DeSantis previously expressed support for a national 15-week abortion ban at the second Republican primary debate in Simi Valley, California, in September after similar prompting from Scott. 

Haley responded to Scott’s challenge by framing the possibility of a national abortion restriction as politically unrealistic.

Haley said she would support “anything that would pass” on abortion and called out Scott for not initially expressing support for a national 15-week limit when he started visiting early primary states ahead of his formal presidential campaign launch earlier this year. 

“I would support anything that would pass because that’s what would save more babies and support more moms, but do you have to be honest with the American people,” Haley said.

“I will sign anything where we can get 60 Senate votes, but don’t make the American people think that you’re gonna push something on them when we don’t even have the votes in the Senate. It’s important that we’re honest about that,” she said. 

The question of whether to support abortion restrictions has taken on new significance after Republicans and pro-life advocates suffered losses in high-profile elections in Ohio and Virginia, the latest in a series of underwhelming showings from pro-life Republicans in elections since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during the NBC News Republican Presidential Primary Debate at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County on November 8, in Miami, Florida.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took another swipe at former President Donald Trump for failing to have Mexico pay for the border wall, telling voters that he can keep that promise. 

“I’m even going to build the border wall and have Mexico pay for it like Donald Trump promised,” DeSantis said. “Mexico is not going to fork over money. We’re going to impose fees on the remittances that foreign workers send to foreign countries. We’ll raise billions of dollars, I’ll build a wall.”

This is an argument he has made regularly on the campaign trail over the past month, as he seeks to distinguish himself from the frontrunner. 

“I’m sending the US military to the border. I’m going to stop the invasion cold. I am going to deport people who came illegally,” DeSantis said. He also said he would designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations “or something similar to that.”

DeSantis did not offer specifics on how many or how often he would use U.S. special forces to attack the Mexican drug cartels where they manufacture chemicals, but he reiterated his promise to declare a national emergency “on day one” and authorize the use of deadly force. 

“We are going to authorize the use of deadly force. We’re going to have maritime operations to interdict precursor chemicals going into Mexico,” DeSantis said. “If someone in the drug cartels is sneaking fentanyl across the border, when I’m president, that’s going to be the last thing they do. We’re gonna shoot ‘em stone cold dead.” 

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott led with nearly 19 minutes of speaking time in tonight’s debate that generally saw the GOP candidates getting more even stage time than previous 2024 primary debates.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie had the least amount of speaking time at around 16 minutes. 

Here’s how long each candidate spoke:

Republican presidential candidates former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participate in the NBC News Republican Presidential Primary Debate at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County on November 8 in Miami.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley once again attacked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for his record on fracking after their heated exchange on the topic during the second GOP debate.  

“On the energy side, it cracks me up that Ron continues to do this,” Haley said Wednesday. “He has opposed fracking, he’s opposed drilling,” Haley claimed. “He opposed it before Florida voters even voted on it.” 

Facts First: DeSantis has pushed back on these accusations repeatedly, but Haley is largely right. While DeSantis did not unilaterally ban fracking before Florida voters passed a state constitutional amendment to do so, he signed an executive order signed just days after he took office which called for the state to “adamantly oppose all off-shore oil and gas activities off every coast in Florida and hydraulic fracturing in Florida.”  

And aside from the semantics, Haley’s broader argument about DeSantis’ position regarding off-shore drilling and fracking is supported by his comments and actions. During DeSantis’ 2018 gubernatorial campaign, he was asked if he supported a ban on fracking and he emphatically said yes. In January 2020, he also oversaw the purchase of 20,000 acres of Everglades wetlands by the state of Florida to permanently protect them from oil drilling, which wasn’t prompted by the constitutional amendment in any way. 

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks during the NBC News Republican Presidential Primary Debate at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County on November 8 in Miami.

In his opening remarks during Wednesday’s debate, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy accused the media of interfering in the outcome of previous US elections.  

“This media rigged the 2016 election, they rigged the 2020 election with the Hunter Biden laptop story and they’re going to rig this election unless we have accountability,” Ramaswamy said.  

Facts First: This claim is false. Neither election was “rigged” and there is no evidence of any fraud large enough to have changed the outcome.  

Officials from the Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security, along with state election officials, said in a 2020 statement: “The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history.” 

And tellingly, in Ramaswamy’s own 2022 book “Nation of Victims,” he writes that the “2016 election wasn’t stolen in a literal sense” and that he hadn’t seen “convincing evidence” that the 2020 election was stolen or rigged.  

“The fact that all of our governmental institutions so unanimously found no evidence of significant fraud is telling. Furthermore, I’ve talked to many Republicans at all levels of government, and not one has ever presented convincing evidence that the 2020 election was stolen from President Trump; very few have seriously tried. I don’t believe that most Republican politicians actually think the election was stolen,” Ramaswamy wrote.  

Asked about this change in his stance by NBC’s Chuck Todd in August, Ramaswamy claimed that in his books he also discussed what he did see as consequential election interference in 2020 – how “big tech” had worked to prevent the spread of a late-campaign story related to Hunter Biden’s laptop. However, Ramaswamy’s claim during the debate was directed not at tech companies but the media, who were actually the first to break the story around the laptop.  

Ramaswamy has previously argued that the media spread an unfair narrative of Russian collusion in the 2016 election that robbed Trump of the ability to do the job after he was elected. However, a bipartisan report from the Senate Intelligence Committee backed the US intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to help then-candidate Donald Trump.

Sen. Tim Scott has clocked in the most speaking time, with close to 15 minutes on the board, an hour and a half into the debate. Meanwhile, former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey has had the least speaking time so far at 12 minutes.

Follow our live graphic as we track the candidates’ speaking time live.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley took the talk about her high heels to the third GOP debate on Wednesday night.

The comments about her footwear took the stage after she weighed in on speculation that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wears height-boosting insoles during an appearance on the Daily Show last week.

“I’ve always talked about my high heels, I’ve never hid that from anybody. I’ve always said, ‘Don’t wear them if you can’t run in them.’ So we’ll see if he can run in them,” she said on the show.

Tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy made a dig at the back-and-forth, asking voters, “Do you want a leader from a different generation who’s going to put this country first or do you want Dick Cheney in three-inch heels? In this case, we’ve got two of them on stage tonight,” he said, without getting specific.

A few minutes later, Haley jabbed back, correcting Ramaswamy. “They’re five-inch heels and I don’t wear them unless you can run in them,” prompting cheers from the crowd.

“The second thing I would say is I wear heels and they’re not for a fashion statement. They’re for ammunition,” she added before continuing to answer a question about attacks on military groups in Syria and Iraq.

Republican presidential candidates participate in a Republican presidential primary debate hosted by NBC News on Wednesday.

During a back-and-forth during the GOP debate on Wednesday about how the candidates would address incidents of antisemitism on college campuses in the wake of the Israel-Hamas conflict, Gov. Ron DeSantis said President Joe Biden is combating Islamophobia instead of supporting Jewish students.  

“Not only is he not helping the Jewish students, who are being persecuted, he is launching an initiative to combat so-called Islamophobia. No, it’s antisemitism that’s spiraling out of control,” DeSantis said.  

Facts First: This is misleading. While the Biden administration announced last week that it is developing a national strategy to counter Islamophobia, the White House already released a national strategy to combat antisemitism in May. 

Earlier this week, the Department of Education issued guidance reminding schools that they have a legal obligation to address incidents of both antisemitism and Islamophobia. The guidance specifically said that schools must address discrimination based on race, color or national origin — including against those who are Jewish, Israeli, Muslim, Arab or Palestinian. 

“When it comes to antisemitism or Islamophobia, that has no place on our college campuses or in our schools,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told CNN. 

Biden has repeatedly denounced antisemitism, both after the Hamas attack and for years before. 

Asked about supporting the use of military force against Iran in response to the recent attacks on US troops in Iraq and Syria by Iranian proxy groups, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said: “The idea that our men and women could be targeted, and that we’ve allowed almost 100 hits to happen under Biden’s watch is unthinkable.” 

Facts first: Haley’s figure is incorrect. As of Wednesday, Iranian-backed groups had targeted US and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria at least 41 times since October 17 with one-way attack drones or rocket attacks. The most recent was a multi-rocket attack on Wednesday, on forces at Shaddadi, Syria. 

Haley also said that the US needed to “go and take out their infrastructure that they are using to make those strikes with so they can never do it again.” A senior military official told reporters on Wednesday that an airstrike that day by US F-15 fighter jets hit a weapons storage facility used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Corps Guard that is believed to house “weapons that we believe are likely used in many of the strikes that have taken place against our forces here in the region.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis listens as former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy argue on either side of him on Wednesday in Miami.

Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley called Vivek Ramaswamy “scum” after he referred to Haley’s daughter’s use of TikTok in response to a question about banning the social video app owned by a Chinese-based company.

Ramaswamy, who joined TikTok earlier this year, referred to Haley’s previous criticism of the tech entrepneur presence on the app at the second Republican primary debate in California in September.

“In the last debate, she made fun of me for actually joining TikTok while her own daughter was actually using the app for a long time. So you might want to take care of your family first,” Ramaswamy said.

Haley interjected, saying to “Leave my daughter out of your voice.”

Ramaswamy continued over an audible reaction from the crowd in Miami. 

“The next generation of Americans are using it, and that’s actually the point,” he said.

“Look, I’m a mom. I’m a mom, so the second that you go, and you start saying something about my 25-year-old daughter, I’m going to get my back up. But this is — it’s not even about the personal part,” Haley said during a post-debate interview with NBC News.

The biting personal feud traces back to the previous Republican debates. At the first Republican debate in Milwaukee in August, Haley aggressively attacked Ramaswamy’s lack of foreign policy experience. At the second Republican debate in Simi Valley, California in September, Haley further revealed her antipathy for Ramaswamy.

“Every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber,” Haley said in response to Ramaswamy at the second debate.

After Wednesday’s debate, Haley said she has “serious differences” with Ramaswamy.

“He doesn’t think that we need to be helping Israel. He sides with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and thinks that Ukraine doesn’t matter. He’s OK with giving Taiwan to China. There’s so many issues. He doesn’t think America needs friends and that’s dangerous. He has a dangerous foreign policy that we can’t afford, and I think he would make America less safe,” Haley said in the NBC interview.

Sen. Tim Scott speaks at the third Republican presidential debate on Wednesday in Miami.

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina said during Wednesday’s GOP debate in Miami: “Frankly, President Biden has sent billions to Iran.”  

Facts First: This needs context. Scott didn’t explain that the $6 billion in question was not “sent” from the US itself and is not money from US taxpayers. It is $6 billion of Iran’s own money, from oil sales, that had been frozen in restricted South Korean accounts until the Biden administration agreed in September to allow it to be transferred to restricted accounts in Qatar — to be used with US approval by Iran for certain specified humanitarian purposes — as part of a deal in which Iran agreed to free five Americans the US had deemed wrongfully detained.  

The Biden administration has repeatedly said that none of the $6 billion has been spent yet. And in early October, after the Hamas attack on Israel, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told House Democrats that the US and Qatar had reached a “quiet understanding” to not allow Iran to access any of the money for the time being, a source in the room told CNN in October. While Secretary of State Antony Blinken did not confirm that a “quiet understanding” had been reached, he made clear the US is able to freeze the funds.

Even before that, the Biden administration emphasized that the Iranian government would not be able to pocket the money itself and that it could only be used, under strict US supervision, to make humanitarian purchases from approved vendors. Some critics of the Biden administration and the deal with Iran have fairly pointed out, however, that Iran getting access to $6 billion for humanitarian purposes could free up that same amount of its own money to be used to fund terror.  

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks alongside former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley during the NBC News Republican Presidential Primary Debate at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County on November 8 in Miami. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for recruiting a Chinese fiberglass company to come to her state during her term.

“She 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 number one way to do economic development,” DeSantis claimed.

“In Florida, I banned China from buying land in the state,” DeSantis claimed. “We kicked the Confucius institutes out of our universities. We’ve recognized the threat and we’ve acted swiftly and decisively.”

Haley, not given an opportunity to immediately respond, later attacked DeSantis’ own record through his state’s economic development agency.

“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 claimed.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said he agrees with DeSantis’ attacks on Haley for her previous welcoming of Chinese-based businesses into the US as governor and in her previous role as ambassador to the UN – but went on to criticize DeSantis for his ties to a donor who lobbied on behalf of Chinese investment in the US.

Ramaswamy said DeSantis was “correct” to point out Haley’s previous support Chinese investment, but appeared to refer to reports that DeSantis donor Ken Griffin, CEO of the hedge fund Citadel, lobbied on behalf of China to amend a bill that allowed Chinese nationals to purchase property near military bases in the US. DeSantis denied Ramaswamy’s assertions.

“You do have to recognize that Ron DeSantis was correct about acknowledging Nikki Haley’s tough talk when was ambassador to the UN, calling China ‘our great friend,’ bringing the CCP to South Carolina. When you left out, though, Ron, and be honest about it, there was a lobbying-based exemption in that bill that allowed Chinese nationals to buy land within a 20-mile radius of a military base lobbied for by one of your donors,” Ramaswamy said. “So I think we have to call a spade a spade. We need politicians who are independent of the forces that increase our dependence on China.”

“That’s not true,” DeSantis said in response.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Hialeah, Florida, on Wednesday.

Former President Donald Trump, at his rally not far from where the GOP debate was being held, continued pushing his hard-line immigration proposals and touted the travel ban on Muslim-majority countries he implemented as president.  

“Here in the United States, I implemented a strong, powerful, really incredible travel ban — they call it the Trump travel ban and I said that’s OK if you want to do that — to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of our country,” Trump told the crowd gathered in Hialeah, Florida.

Trump promised to implement an expanded travel ban should he be reelected next year as he warns about a potential terrorist attack taking place within the US.

The former president on Wednesday said he would “begin the largest domestic deportation operation in American history” if elected — a promise that has become a regular part of his campaign stump speech.

He went on to condemn the thousands of people who gathered in Washington, DC, to push President Joe Biden to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Trump even went as far as to say he wanted to deport what he called “resident aliens” who participated in the protests.

“To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-Jihadist protests and became very violent and started destroying our capital in many other places, we put you on notice: Come 2025 we will find you and we will deport you,” Trump said.

The former president has vowed to revoke student visas of those who participate in pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses and has said he would send Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to what he described as “pro-jihadist demonstrations.”

Nikki Haley speaks during the NBC News Republican Presidential Primary Debate at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County on November 8, in Miami, Florida.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley condemned the uptick in antisemitism on college campuses following the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, saying “no person should ever feel in danger like this.”

“This is what I would say about our college presidents. If the KKK were doing this, every college president would be up in arms. This is no different. You should treat it exactly the same. Antisemitism is just as awful as racism, and we’ve got to make sure they’re protected,” she said.

This analogy was notable given Haley’s experience as the governor of South Carolina. In 2015, Haley signed a law to remove the Confederate flag from the state Capitol, the culmination of a years-long movement that was reignited by the murders of nine members of a historically black church in Charleston. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at the third Republican presidential debate on Wednesday in Miami.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would not send US troops to Ukraine as president. 

“We are not going to send our sons and daughters to Ukraine,” DeSantis said. “I am going to send troops to our southern border.”

On the campaign trail, DeSantis has said he believes another terrorist attack on the United States will be linked to the US southern border. 

“Terrorists have come in through our southern border. I’m going to shut it down. I’m going to have the military and I’m going to deport the people who’ve come particularly under Biden who’ve come from the Middle East come from all these places,” DeSantis said. 

DeSantis called Biden’s $105 billion national security package, including $61.4 billion for Ukraine, “a totally ridiculous use of American tax dollars.”

“We need to bring this war to an end. We need the Europeans to step up and do their fair share. And we need to get serious about the top threat that this country faces, which is the Chinese Communist Party,” DeSantis said. 

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks during the third Republican presidential primary debate at the Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami on November 8.

Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie highlighted his experience reaching out to Jewish and Muslim communities in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks when asked on Wednesday about rising threats of Islamophobia in the United States.

Christie, who was appointed to be the US Attorney for New Jersey on September 10, 2001, said he’s “the only one on the stage who’s actually had experience in dealing with this.”

He called the environment in a highly diverse state like New Jersey in the wake of attacks “explosive,” and recalled having to send federal agents to respond to threats against Jewish students and synagogues, urging “the same thing should be being done now.”

Christie said he also went “from mosque to mosque” in his state, telling members of the Muslim community, “law enforcement is on your side to protect you, regardless of your religion if you are going to comply with the law.”

He said his team “stopped any hate crimes that were going on” against Jewish and Muslim Americans in New Jersey, emphasizing that doing so takes “leadership” and work with “both sides.”

Making clear his position on the current dynamic in the Middle East, Christie stated, “let us never have a false moral equivalence between Hamas and Hezbollah, and the Jewish people. The Jewish people stand for right and justice, and Hamas and Hezbollah stand for death.”

Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy claimed during the GOP debate on Wednesday that “Joe Biden’s son Hunter got a $5 billion bribe from Ukraine.” He claimed that this bribe was the reason the US has sent so much aid to Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia last year. 

Facts First: The claim that any member of the Biden family received a bribe is unproven. An FBI informant who relayed the claim to the FBI in 2020 was merely reporting something he said he had been told by a Ukrainian businessman, the chief executive of the energy company where Hunter Biden had served on the board of directors; the informant provided no proof to the FBI, and no proof has publicly emerged in the subsequent years. In addition, there is no evidence that US wartime aid to Ukraine — which has been approved by bipartisan majorities in Congress — has anything to do with the president’s son. 

According to an internal FBI document made public by Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa earlier this year over the strong objections of the FBI, the informant told the bureau in 2020 – when Donald Trump was president – that the CEO of Burisma, Mykola Zlochevsky, had claimed in 2016 that he made a $5 million payment to “one Biden” and another $5 million payment to “another Biden.” But the FBI document did not contain any proof for the claim, and the document said the informant was “not able to provide any further opinion as to the veracity” of the claim. 

Republicans have tried to boost the credibility of the allegation by saying it was in an FBI document and that the FBI had viewed the informant as highly credible. But the document merely memorialized the information provided by the informant; it does not demonstrate that the information is true. And Hunter Biden’s former business associate Devon Archer testified to the House Oversight Committee earlier this year that he had not been aware of any such payments to the Bidens; Archer characterized Zlochevsky’s reported claim as an example of the Ukrainian businessman embellishing his influence. 

The five Republican candidates are so far pretty even split in terms of speaking time during the debate. Follow our live graphic to see who’s getting the most and least airtime.

Nikki Haley reacts to Vivek Ramaswamy's criticisms of her position on the war in Ukraine at the third Republican presidential debate hosted by NBC News at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, on November 8.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley strongly backed support for Ukraine while rebuking Vivek Ramaswamy’s stance against supporting the country’s war against Russia.

“Ukraine is not a paragon of democracy,” Ramaswamy said.

Haley immediately pushed back.

“I’m telling you [Vladimir Putin] and President [Xi Jinping] are salivating at the thought that someone like that could become president. They would love to see that,” she said pointing at Ramaswamy.

She added, “Here is a freedom loving, pro-American country that is fighting for its survival and its democracy. No, I don’t think we should give them cash, I think we should give them the equipment and the ammunition to win.”

Haley then went on to say that the US needs to strengthen its partnerships to fight against countries like Russia, China and Iran.

“America can never be so arrogant to think we don’t need friends,” she said. “Now is the time to get partnerships.”

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy speaks during a Republican presidential primary debate hosted by NBC News on Wednesday in Miami.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy began tonight’s Republican primary debate by sharply attacking the Republican National Committee (RNC) and its chair Ronna McDaniel, as well as criticizing the NBC moderators hosting the debate for previous coverage of former President Donald Trump.

Ramaswamy called the GOP “a party of losers” after Republicans “got trounced” in high-profile elections in Ohio, Virginia and Kentucky on Tuesday. He blamed McDaniel for Republican underperformance dating back to 2018.

“We’ve become a party of losers at the end of the day,” Ramaswamy said. “I mean, since Ronna McDaniel took over as chairwoman of the RNC in 2017, we have lost 2018, 2020, 2022 — no red wave that never came. We got trounced last night in 2023. And I think that we have to have accountability in our party.”

Ramaswamy then invited McDaniel, who opened the debate with brief remarks to the audience, to respond to his criticisms, urging her to resign live on-stage at the debate.

The entrepreneur has often distanced himself from the Republican establishment and previously said he’s using the Republican primary process to advance his agenda, which he views as outside the mainstream Republican worldview.

He went on to criticize the RNC for choosing NBC as its broadcast partner, which he labeled as part of the “corrupt media establishment,” and portrayed the network as aligned with Democratic Party views. He said Republican voters and the party would be better served by having right-wing media personalities asking questions.

“Think about who’s moderating this debate. This should be Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan and Elon Musk. We’d have 10 times the viewership, asking questions that GOP primary voters actually care about and bringing more people into our party,” he said.

MIAMI, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 08: Moderators Lester Holt and Kristen Welker arrive on stage for the NBC News Republican Presidential Primary Debate at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County on November 8 in Miami, Florida.

Vivek Ramaswamy directly addressed one of the debate moderators, NBC’s Kristen Welker, asking her to answer for the network’s coverage of the 2016 presidential election and the ensuing investigation into Russian interference in the election and whether former President Donald Trump or his campaign played a role in aiding Russia’s efforts. 

“Kristen, I’m gonna use this time, because it’s actually about you in the media and the corrupt media establishment, ask you — the Trump-Russia collusion hoax that you pushed on this network for years, was that real? Or was that Hillary Clinton made up disinformation? Answer the question, go,” he said.

While members of Trump’s 2016 campaign were found guilty of charges related to the investigation into Russian collusion, Trump himself was not implicated in the report issued at the conclusion of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. 

“We need accountability because this media rigged the 2016 election, they rigged the 2020 election with the Hunter Biden laptop story, and they’re going to rig this election unless we have accountability,” Ramaswamy said.

Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at the third Republican presidential primary debate hosted by NBC News in Miami on Wednesday.

Tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy said the answer to combating antisemitism, specifically on college campuses in the United States, is leadership — not censorship of free speech.

“Leadership means filling that void through purpose and meaning. Dilute this wokeism and antisemitism to irrelevance,” the GOP candidate said in response to a question from Republican Jewish Coalition CEO Matthew Brooks.

“These kids, they have no idea what the heck they are even talking about,” Ramaswamy said, adding that people who side with Hamas over Israel are “fools.”

He said this kind of leadership needs to come from university presidents, but also from the president of the United States.

“We don’t quash this with censorship because that creates a worse underbelly. We quell it through leadership by calling it out,” Ramaswamy said.

Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis attend the third Republican presidential primary debate at the Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Florida, on November 8.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized President Joe Biden’s response to Israel’s war against Hamas, while touting his own efforts to get stranded Americans in Gaza back home.

“I can tell you, as governor, I actually did something about it,” DeSantis told NBC “Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt. “Biden’s neglect has been atrocious.”

He called for the release of hostages, the unconditional surrender of Hamas and reaffirmed his support for Israel’s right to defend itself.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley echoed support for Israel, saying that “the last thing we need to do is to tell Israel what to do.”

“The only thing we should be doing is supporting them in eliminating Hamas,” Haley said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at the third Republican presidential primary debate at the Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Florida, on November 8. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday’s election results are a good reason why he should be the Republican presidential nominee over former President Donald Trump.

“Donald Trump is a lot different guy than he was in 2016. He owes it to you to be on this stage and explain why he should get another chance,” DeSantis said. “He should explain why he didn’t have Mexico pay for the border wall. He should explain why he racked up so much debt. He should explain why he didn’t drain the swamp.”

DeSantis then pushed back against Trump’s talking point that Republicans were going to get “tired of winning” during his term.

“Well, we saw last night, I’m sick of Republicans losing,” DeSantis said, referring to Tuesday’s elections.

DeSantis then touted his 2022 reelection win.

“In Florida, I showed how it’s done. One year ago here, we won an historic victory,” DeSantis said. “That’s how we have to do it.” 

Former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley speaks during the third Republican presidential primary debate at the Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Florida, on November 8.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said that Donald Trump was the right president in 2016, but he is not the right fit to be back in the White House in 2024.

Haley, answering a question from NBC anchor Lester Holt about why she should be the nominee over Trump who is the GOP frontrunner so far, said she would focus on things that matter to Americans.

“We can’t live in the past, we can’t live in other headlines,” Haley said, pointing to priorities that she will focus on to “make America strong and proud” like paying down the nation’s debt and fighting crime.

Haley said that Trump “put us $8 trillion dollars in debt” and jabbed that the former president is “getting weak in the knees” on foreign policy issues like the war in Ukraine.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former biotech executive Vivek Ramaswamy and US Sen. Tim Scott pose together at the third Republican candidates' presidential debate hosted by NBC News at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Florida, on November 8.

The third Republican presidential primary debate of the 2024 campaign cycle has begun in Miami, Florida.

The debate, hosted by NBC News, marks a new phase in the GOP race, as the stage narrows to five candidates with the Iowa caucuses just two months out.

The following candidates met the Republican National Committee’s heightened polling and fundraising standards for Wednesday’s debate:

• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
• Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley
• South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott
• Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy
• Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie

Former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination, is skipping the event.

Fewer candidates could mean a more substantive debate than the last time out, when the proceedings very quickly descended into a chaotic farrago of snappish cross-talk. It’s also possible that desperation will get the best of those onstage, as their opportunities to change the trajectory of the Republican primary campaign dwindle.

We’re tracking how long each candidate speaks during the third Republican primary presidential debate. Follow our live graphic to see who gets the most and least airtime.

The stage is prepared ahead of Wednesday night's debate in Miami, Florida, on November 7.

The Republican presidential field is thinning two months out from the Iowa caucuses – and so is the once-crowded primary debate stage, which will feature only five candidates when they gather soon in Miami.

Former President Donald Trump will again be absent – of his own accord – having tried and failed to get the Republican National Committee to cancel the remaining debates in deference to his front-runner status. He won’t be far, though, on Wednesday, rallying supporters about 10 miles away in Hialeah.

The stage will feature Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy – all of whom signed a pledge committing to support the eventual party nominee and met the donor and polling thresholds set by the RNC. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson fell short of qualifying.

Fewer candidates could mean a more substantive debate than the last time out, when the proceedings very quickly descended into a chaotic farrago of snappish cross-talk. It’s also possible that desperation will get the best of those onstage, as their opportunities to change the trajectory of the Republican primary campaign dwindle.

DeSantis and Haley, now seen as the two strongest alternatives to Trump, are the most likely to tangle. The pair have been engaged in a protracted war of words, culminating with the release of dueling campaign memos – with Haley’s campaign manager calling DeSantis a “sinking ship” and DeSantis strategists dismissing Haley as a “spoiler” whose bid only increases Trump’s chances of running away with the Republican nomination.

The Israel-Hamas war is also expected to feature heavily in the debate, which is being held in partnership with the Republican Jewish Coalition as part of the GOP’s efforts to score points with pro-Israel voters.

Read the five things to watch for during the debate.

One year out from Election Day 2024, former President Donald Trump narrowly leads President Joe Biden, 49% to 45% among registered voters, in a hypothetical rematch in the latest CNN poll conducted by SSRS.

Biden’s reelection chances are buffeted by deeply negative approval ratings, a stagnant sense that things are going poorly in the United States, diminished support among key voter blocs, and a widespread sense that he is not up for the job.

In the potential rematch between Biden and Trump, neither candidate has much room for growth.

All told, 51% of voters nationwide say there is no chance at all that they would vote for Biden, and just 4% are not currently supporting him but say there is a chance they will. Nearly half, 48%, say there is no chance they will vote for Trump, and only 2% that they aren’t currently backing him but would consider it.

Primary matchups for both parties suggest a Biden vs. Trump election is the most likely scenario as of now. 

Trump’s narrow advantage over Biden comes even as public perceptions of the former president remain deeply negative. But the poll suggests Biden’s image is even worse, and those with negative views of both candidates break in Trump’s favor.

While those who actually turn out to vote are not the same as registered voters, and with a full year to go before the election, there is time for voters’ views to shift, the differences between then and now are stark.

Read more about the poll.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during the Republican Jewish Coalition's Annual Leadership Summit at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas on October 28, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ special guests for the third GOP presidential debate will include some people who were evacuated from Israel back to Florida, according to a senior campaign official. 

In the aftermath of Hamas’ attacks on Israel, DeSantis issued an executive order allowing the “State of Florida to carry out logistical, rescue and evacuation operations to keep its residents safe.”

The state of Florida partnered with the nonprofit Project DYNAMO to send planes evacuating stranded Americans in Israel in coordination with the Israeli government.

“We sprung into action, and we got it done,” DeSantis said at the Republican Jewish Coalition Conference in late October. “We’ve now rescued close to 700 Americans, mostly Floridians, but not all, because we’re all Americans.”

Before DeSantis takes the stage, he and his wife, Casey, will receive a prayer, as they have before the first two debates. 

Also, DeSantis will have a post-debate party with supporters, the official said. 

A strong election night for his party has left President Joe Biden and his campaign facing a key question over whether Democratic momentum will translate for his own reelection effort.

The Biden campaign feels confident about the saliency of issues like abortion heading into 2024, suggesting that key Biden agenda items motivated the voters they need on Tuesday and will do so again next year. 

But unlike on Tuesday, the president – who has his own political liabilities and will be 81 on Election Day as he pushes his record as the oldest president in US history – will be on the ballot on November 5, 2024.

New CNN polling conducted by SSRS shows stark warning signs for Biden, who has a 39% approval rating. The same poll found that three-quarters of voters are concerned about the president’s age and stamina.

A senior Biden campaign official downplayed CNN’s latest polling, and echoed campaign and White House officials who have repeatedly noted consistent strength for Democratic issues in every election since Biden took the White House in 2020.

“Polls a year out are just polls, and voting behavior is voting behavior. And the latter is what is going to win or lose an election. And every time voters have a chance to speak, they are siding with us,” the official said.

One of the races the Biden campaign was watching very closely was the Kentucky gubernatorial race, where Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear won reelection over Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron.

The senior Biden campaign official noted that Cameron’s campaign spent $30 million on ads in a failed effort to tie Beshear to Biden.

“That was, essentially, a proxy war in a red state coming for Joe Biden, and lost, did not work. And it continues to be the extremism that that turns voters off,” the official said.

It remains unclear whether that will translate to Biden himself.

Read more.

Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Tim Scott.

The Republican presidential candidates are all vying to take on President Joe Biden in November 2024. But first, they’re competing in the GOP primaries and caucuses, which begin in January, to emerge as the party’s nominee.

Here are key things to know about the five GOP candidates who qualified for tonight’s debate:

Ron DeSantis: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose penchant for cultural clashes led him to declare his state as the place where “woke goes to die,” launched a bid for president in May 2023. DeSantis has said he is running to “reverse the decline” in America and to offer a new generation of leadership for the country. A hard-charging leader who has stretched the boundaries of executive power in his state, DeSantis rose to national prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic. He made Florida one of the first states to reopen schools, and took measures to prohibit lockdowns, mask mandates and vaccine requirements. Prior to the governor’s mansion, DeSantis represented a northeast Florida’s district in the US House from 2013 to 2018 and was a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus.

Nikki Haley: Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley launched her presidential campaign in February 2023, calling for a new generation of leadership in the Republican Party. Her campaign has heavily focused on economic responsibility, national security and strengthening the southern border. If successful in the primary, Haley would be the first woman and the first Asian American nominated by the GOP for president. She was first elected to the South Carolina House in 2004, and six years later, she became the first woman elected governor of the Palmetto State and the youngest governor in the nation when she took office in 2011. She resigned in the middle of her second term in 2017 to become US ambassador to the United Nations under President Donald Trump, now a rival for the 2024 GOP nomination. She served in that role until the end of 2018.

Tim Scott: South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, entered the presidential race in May 2023, touting himself as a principled conservative with a distinctively hopeful and optimistic message. Scott began his political career with his election to the Charleston County Council in 1995. He later served a term in the South Carolina House before being elected to the US House in 2010. In 2013, then-Gov. Nikki Haley, now a rival for the GOP presidential nomination, appointed him to fill a vacant Senate seat, making him the first Black person to represent the Palmetto State in the Senate.

Vivek Ramaswamy: Tech entrepreneur and author Vivek Ramaswamy launched his outsider campaign for the presidency in February 2023, focused on combatting “woke” ideology, exposing government corruption and ushering in a younger generation of voters into the Republican Party. Ramaswamy, 38, is the youngest candidate in the GOP field. He found success in the private sector after founding Roivant Sciences, a biotechnology firm, before founding Strive Asset Management, an investment management firm that specialized in “anti-woke” asset management, refusing to consider environmental, social and corporate governance, or ESG, factors when investing. He is the author of “Woke Inc.” and “Nation of Victims.”

Chris Christie: Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced his second presidential campaign in June 2023 at a town hall in New Hampshire, drawing stark contrasts with former President Donald Trump. On the campaign trail, Christie has touted his willingness to take on Trump directly, repeatedly hitting the GOP front-runner on his looming legal troubles and foreign policy, among other key issues. Christie previously endorsed Trump after dropping out of the 2016 GOP primary and served as a close adviser to the then-president during his 2020 reelection campaign. He became one of Trump’s most vocal Republican critics after the former president’s false statements about the 2020 election and his subsequent attempts to overturn the results. Christie was elected governor of the Garden State in 2009, beating Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine. He served two terms and left office in 2018 after weathering the so-called Bridgegate scandal and a 2017 state government shutdown.

Gov. Chris Christie speaks during the Florida Freedom Summit at the Gaylord Palms Resort on November 4 in Kissimmee, Florida.

A senior adviser to Chris Christie’s campaign told CNN that tonight’s debate provides many opportunities, among them, more time to focus on the issues that matter to the American public and as of late, the world.   

“The situation in the world is dramatically different than a month ago,” the adviser said, alluding to the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel and its ensuing fallout. 

Along those lines, the adviser said there’s an opportunity to show “he’s a serious person for serious times,” and not get bogged down in bickering among candidates on smaller issues. 

“I don’t think you’re going to see the governor engage in that,” they said. 

Though two sources close to Christie told CNN on Wednesday they don’t expect him to engage much in the tensions between candidates on stage, the campaign sent out a fundraising email earlier in the day specifically calling out Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley on a list titled “debate stage prep.”

A campaign spokesperson told CNN the campaign expects foreign policy issues, like Israel and Ukraine, as well as results of Tuesday’s elections and how Republicans can turn around recent losses, to be a focus.

On the issue of abortion, the spokesperson said “we don’t expect it to be something we linger on,” adding that Christie is comfortable with his stance on the issue.

The former New Jersey governor laid out again on CNN last night his belief that abortion restrictions should be determined at the state level, unless there is a national consensus, which he acknowledges is unlikely with the current divide in Congress.

There are also less candidates on the stage, leading to a simple calculation. 

“It’s smaller, less people, more time,” the adviser said. 

The spokesperson said no particular candidate is “in the crosshairs” for Christie’s sparring.

Instead, the former New Jersey governor is expected to draw contrasts with rivals on issues, including their willingness to confront front runner Donald Trump, who will not be on stage.

There is no magical “killshot” in this debate, “You take your shots when you see your spots,” the adviser said. “Smart candidates know who they are and they continually show who they are through a series of debates.”

“This campaign’s a war of attrition,” they said.

Christie is joined in Miami, Florida, by his wife, Mary Pat, whom he’s said he looks to for debate feedback, as well as his two daughters, according to the spokesperson.

A Florida Republican lawmaker, after flipping his support to former President Donald Trump, is now publicly questioning Gov. Ron DeSantis’ support for the Jewish community. Another state lawmaker, spurned by DeSantis earlier this year, is actively recruiting more of his colleagues to jump on the Trump bandwagon. Meanwhile, a cadre of former DeSantis political operatives who stopped working for the governor on poor terms are now entrenched in Trump world and motivated to embarrass their former boss.

Welcome to the 2024 Revenge Tour.

In the tug of war for home-state supremacy, Trump has gained the upper hand in part by exploiting rifts between DeSantis and Florida Republicans. The strategy has played out easier than the former president’s team anticipated, as DeSantis has left a wake of ill will in the state on the path to political stardom.

As the 2024 campaign descends on Florida in the coming days, the ever-evolving relationship between the state’s Republicans and these two leading figures will be on full display.

Trump, DeSantis and the rest of the GOP primary field addressed Florida Republicans at a state party event Saturday just outside Orlando. DeSantis had a midday time slot, sandwiched between Florida Sen. Rick Scott, his predecessor in Tallahassee who he doesn’t get along with, and state Rep. Randy Fine, the state’s only Jewish Republican lawmaker who recently asserted DeSantis hasn’t done enough to stop Nazis and antisemitism in Florida. Scott announced Thursday he was endorsing Trump, while Fine switched his allegiance to the former president last month.

In his remarks Saturday, DeSantis said he was not concerned about Florida state lawmakers flipping their endorsement to Trump, telling the audience, “It’s a dynamic thing.”

“No, look — this happens in these things. I mean, we’ve had flips the other way in other states,” DeSantis said, adding that “politicians do what they’re gonna do.”

Trump closed out the gathering, touting the new endorsements from Florida lawmakers and bringing several of them onstage. The crowd laughed and cheered as Trump bashed DeSantis over his slip in national and state polls.

The Sunshine State battle will continue Wednesday, when the Republican Party will hold its third presidential debate in Miami. Trump, who is skipping the debate once again, has scheduled counterprogramming just down the road in Hialeah. The next day, Trump will host Florida Republicans at Mar-a-Lago, a continuation of his courtship of party leaders and donors, while DeSantis will attend fundraisers in the state.

From left, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US President Joe Biden meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials in Tel Aviv on October 18.

In 2020, Eman Hammoud was one of thousands of Michigan Muslims who helped President Joe Biden beat Donald Trump. A month ago, the Palestinian American immigration lawyer had no doubts she would support his campaign again in 2024.

But over the last few weeks, she’s watched the Biden administration offer unwavering support to Israel after it declared war on Hamas following the Palestinian militant group’s deadly October 7 attack, with no red lines for Israel and no calls for a ceasefire, even as thousands of civilians in Gaza have been killed. Now she doesn’t know what she’ll do.

“He’s put us in a very difficult situation,” Hammoud told CNN. “It has become almost impossible for me, morally, to vote for someone that’s taken the stances that he’s taken in the past few weeks.”

Arab and Muslim Americans make up a small percentage of the population, but they have outsize influence in battleground states like Michigan, where the rejection of voters like Hammoud — who feel hurt and betrayed by the Biden administration – could cost Biden both the state and reelection.

Michigan has more than 200,000 Muslim American voters — 146,000 of whom turned out to vote in 2020 –— according to an analysis by Emgage, an organization that seeks to build the political power of Muslim Americans. Biden won Michigan — a state that narrowly went to Donald Trump in 2016 — by 155,000 votes.

“That just proves that the Biden administration needs the Muslim vote to win,” said Nada Al-Hanooti, the Michigan executive director of Emgage Action.

The stakes are particularly high in Dearborn, a Detroit suburb where more than half of the population is of Middle Eastern or North African descent.

In nearly a dozen interviews, Democrats there who voted for, campaigned for and donated to Biden’s political campaign say they can’t imagine voting for him now, even if he were to support the community’s primary request: an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Keep reading here.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley will not be surprised if some candidates attack her on stage during Wednesday night’s debate, her spokesperson said.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you see folks come out and try to hit her on different things. I think if the last two weeks have been an indication, we will likely see that particularly from the DeSantis campaign. I think at the end of the day, they’re going to do that because they’re threatened by her,” Olivia Perez-Cubas, Haley’s spokesperson, said during an interview with NewsNation. 

“So for us, I think if viewers learned one thing about the last two debates, it’s that if Nikki Haley gets kicked, she’s going to kick back harder,” she added.

Haley’s strategy heading into the third GOP primary debate includes doing “what she always does,” adding Haley will share “her vision for a strong America,” according to Perez-Cubas.

Perez-Cubas said the campaign’s strategy to distinguish Haley from her GOP rivals has been “slow and steady.” Haley “is the only candidate who’s actually rising,” she said.  

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders during the Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Friday, October 27.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who announced her endorsement of former President Donald Trump Monday, will join the presidential candidate on stage at his rally in Hialeah, Florida, on Wednesday, two Trump campaign advisers familiar with the planning tell CNN. 

Trump’s speech in South Florida will cater to Hispanic voters, with his messaging touching on socialism and dictatorships, one of the advisers said. The city of Hialeah is 96% Hispanic. 

Trump’s team also plans to use the event as an effort for Trump to gain more ground with Hispanic Republicans, the adviser said. The former president is also expected to tout recent polling showing him performing well among Hispanic voters in polls contrasting him against President Joe Biden.

The rally, which will take place just down the road from the third GOP primary debate, was also set to feature lawmakers who previously endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and were going to announce on stage they switched their endorsements to support Trump. But the Florida lawmakers who planned to join are no longer attending the rally because they are stuck in Tallahassee for a special session, a Trump adviser told CNN.

The Biden campaign is launching two new Spanish-language campaigns ads targeted at South Florida Hispanic voters as Republicans descend on Miami for their third primary debate Wednesday.

The two ads will run simultaneously on programmatic television and on Tubi in South Florida starting Wednesday and will “speak directly to the experience of many South Florida Hispanics who have fled socialist dictatorships in search of liberty and economic opportunity,” according to the campaign. 

The first ad, “Nuestros Sueños,” highlights Biden’s economic record as president, while “Firme” will target Venezuelan Americans by highlighting the experience of communities fleeing the Maduro regime and the Biden administration’s extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans in the United States.

According to the campaign, both ads will also run during Univision’s interview special with former President Donald Trump, slated to air Thursday.

“These ads will remind Hispanic voters in South Florida who really has their back,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement. “It’s President Biden fighting dictatorial regimes, protecting our democracy at home, and meaningfully investing in our community’s economic well-being. That’s the choice Hispanics will face next November: MAGA Republicans who say they have our back, and President Biden who is delivering for us.”

CNN has asked for the dollar figure behind these ad buys. 

There was a Halloween haunted house to plan. Finding days on the fall calendar for neighborhood cleanup projects. A big report on criminal justice issues to finish.

Veteran organizer Angela Lang was more than busy.

But as she gave her neighborhood canvassing teams a morning pep talk recently, Lang made clear every door knock now is a critical building block for the election in November 2024.

You all know that there is no way to win a statewide election that doesn’t run through you all, right?” said Lang, the founder and executive director of the Milwaukee group BLOC – Black Leaders Organizing for Communities.

“There is no way to win a statewide election that doesn’t run through the Black community,” Lang reminded nearly two dozen BLOC organizers about to hit the pavement. “Understanding the dynamics that Wisconsin is an incredible battleground state and is a swing state. What happens in Milwaukee can impact the rest of the state, which ultimately can impact the rest of the country.”

“No pressure.”

The pressure, of course, is enormous. Wisconsin is one of the battleground states that settles close presidential elections and Black turnout in Milwaukee is a pivotal piece of any Democratic path to victory. CNN recently visited Milwaukee as part of a new project designed to track the 2024 campaign through the eyes and experiences of voters in key areas. It was clear from three days spent in the predominantly Black neighborhoods on the city’s north side that President Joe Biden faces a daunting enthusiasm problem among voters essential to his reelection hopes.

Wisconsin swung from Donald Trump in 2016 to Biden in 2020, and with the former president the front-runner for the GOP nomination in 2024, the Badger State could again be forced to choose between the two men. Trump won it by just shy of 23,000 votes – and a drop in Milwaukee’s Black turnout was a major factor. Biden carried the state by just shy of 21,000 votes four years later, when better showings in Madison and the suburbs helped offset flat turnout in Milwaukee’s Black precincts.

Before hitting the streets, the roughly two dozen BLOC organizers in the morning meeting were asked to share what they were learning from calls, texts and emails from local residents.

Keep reading here.

Sen. Tim Scott waves during the Florida Freedom Summit in Kissimmee, Florida, on November 4.

Sen. Tim Scott will bring more than 20 Jewish college and high school students as his invited guests to the third Republican primary debate tonight, highlighting Scott’s focus on combatting antisemitism and backing Israel’s military after the Hamas terror attacks last month. 

The students from University of South Carolina, University of Miami and a local Florida high school will attend Wednesday’s debate in Miami as invited guests of the Scott campaign. Scott said in a statement he hopes the debate will show the students the role thoughtful discussion can play in response to rising incidents of antisemitism in the US and around the world. 

“As hate and antisemitism proliferate on college campuses across our country, it is more important than ever to educate the minds of our next generation with thoughtful debate and discussion,” Scott said in the statement. “I look forward to sharing my optimistic vision for our country with these students and all Americans. Together, we will stand against hate and lead our nation into the next American century.” 

In the wake of the Hamas terror attack on Israeli civilians, Scott has stood by Israel and the Jewish community in the United States. He gave a rousing speech in support of Israel at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s conference in Nevada last month and has routinely called for robust aid for Israel. In recent weeks, Scott has suggested that foreign students participating in pro-Palestinian demonstrations should have their student visas revoked.

Scott’s mom Frances sent a message wishing the senator good luck ahead of Wednesday night’s debate from the seats inside the debate hall in Miami.

“Love you. God’s with you. You’ve got this. I’m proud of you. Love you much,” Frances Scott said in the video.

Scott’s mother has attended each of the previous debates, reiterating the importance she plays both in Scott’s personal life and in the image he hopes to present to voters. Scott often invokes stories of his childhood, raised by his mother in a single-parent home in South Carolina, to express his campaign’s core values.

“I’ve got my biggest supporter sitting front row in Miami tonight! Wouldn’t be here without you, Mama,” Scott said in the social media post sharing the video.

Former President Donald Trump walks on stage at the Florida Freedom Summit in Kissimmee, Florida, on November 4.

Former President Donald Trump’s speech Wednesday night in Hialeah, Florida, will cater to Hispanic voters, with his messaging touching on socialism and dictatorships, a senior campaign adviser told CNN.

The rally, which will take place just down the road from the third GOP primary debate, is being used as an effort for Trump to gain more ground with Hispanic Republicans, the adviser said. The former president is expected to tout recent polling showing him performing well among Hispanic voters in polls contrasting him against President Joe Biden.

The counterprogramming event comes just two days after Trump’s testimony in his New York civil fraud trial on Monday. Trump’s team feels like his testimony “went as well as it could have,” according to a second campaign adviser. They were especially happy with the wall-to-wall media coverage of him on the stand, and argue the back-and-forth inside the courtroom provided them with “a lot of ammunition we can use,” the adviser added, specifically noting Judge Arthur Engoron at one point saying he did not want to hear what Trump had to say. 

Prior to heading to Hialeah, Trump will monitor the state elections across the country from his resort in Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, and is likely to congratulate successful Republicans on social media once the votes are in, the first adviser said. Monday night, Trump held two tele-rallies for Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves and Kentucky gubernatorial nominee Daniel Cameron. 

Former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event in Sioux City, Iowa, on October 29.

Former President Donald Trump has made mocking President Joe Biden and questioning his mental fitness for office a core part of his campaign speeches – even as he experiences his own recent series of gaffes and verbal slips on the campaign trail.

“He’s always looking around, where do I go?” Trump said as he did an exaggerated impersonation of Biden walking around the stage looking confused at a campaign stop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, last month.

Weeks later, Trump took the stage in Sioux City, Iowa, and mistakenly thanked supporters for coming out to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, before an Iowa state senator tried to discreetly correct him — a moment that was caught on a hot mic.

During a summit in Washington, DC, Trump claimed that Biden could “plunge the world into World War II” – which ended nearly 80 years ago – and appeared to confuse Biden and former President Barack Obama, saying he was leading Obama in election polls.

The recent missteps have created an unwelcome wrinkle for Trump, his campaign team and the larger Republican political apparatus. Republicans have questioned whether Biden is able to serve as commander-in-chief, pointing to his age and mental fitness. But their own primary front-runner seems to be suffering the same predicament, making their argument less potent.

Trump incorrectly said Viktor Orbán, the prime minister of Hungary, was the prime minister of Turkey – he quickly corrected that error. He has repeatedly mispronounced Hamas (huh-maas), the name of the Palestinian militant group that launched a deadly terror attack on Israel, as hummus.

And, during a rally in South Carolina in September, Trump confused former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, one of Trump’s 2016 GOP rivals, with his brother, former President George W. Bush

“When I came here, everyone thought Bush was going to win,” he said at that rally.

“They thought Bush because Bush supposedly was a military person… he got us into the, uh, he got us into the Middle East. How did that work out, right?”

Trump’s rivals have been working to capitalize on his latest set of unnecessary errors, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose presidential campaign has largely stalled under a barrage of attacks from the former president. DeSantis’ campaign also launched a “Trump accident tracker” recently to highlight the former president’s missteps.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who has seen a slight boost in recent poll numbers, appeared to take a jab at the former president over Trump’s foreign policy comments.

Read more.

An election worker organizes ballots to be counted at a ballot processing center in Philadelphia in November 2022.

A wave of departures by election officials in key states risks adding new stress to the nation’s election system ahead of next year’s presidential contest, voting rights groups and several state election chiefs warn.

The growing alarm over the resignations and retirements comes as officials say election workers continue to face a barrage of threats and harassment and partisan interference in their duties, first ignited by false claims of a stolen White House election in 2020.

In one region alone – across 11 Western states – more than 160 top local election officials have left their positions since November 2020, according to a regional case study by Issue One, a nonprofit watchdog group tracking the departures. In the counties with new election chiefs in those states, the typical level of experience has dropped from about eight years to one, the analysis found.

In the battleground state of Arizona – which became a hotbed for election falsehoods after Joe Biden flipped the traditional GOP stronghold by a little more than 10,000 votes – 12 of the state’s 15 county election chiefs have departed since the 2020 election, including one whose dogs were poisoned as a “means of intimidation,” said Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat elected last year.

Other parts of the country are seeing a similar brain drain.

In Pennsylvania – another presidential battleground – nearly 70 county election directors or assistant directors in at least 40 of the state’s 67 counties have left their jobs since January 2020, according to the state’s appointed elections chief, Republican Al Schmidt.

“It’s a national emergency,” Nick Penniman, Issue One’s CEO, told CNN. “If any private-sector company experienced this amount of loss this quickly, they would probably go bankrupt.”

Read more about this here.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event in Las Vegas in October.

The Republican presidential contenders assembling in Miami for the third debate wasted little time seizing on the party’s underwhelming performance Tuesday night to make a case for their campaign — and against nominating former President Donald Trump once again.

“Electoral poison” is how former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie referred to Trump, who once again is skipping the debate. Christie singled out Kentucky Republican Daniel Cameron, who he asserted made a “huge mistake” by embracing Trump in his gubernatorial race, and Republican voters there “gave their verdict on politicians who sell their soul to Donald Trump.”

Other contenders avoided mentioning Trump by name but made clear they believe the results suggest it’s time to turn the page.

“After Republicans suffered big losses in the 2022 midterms, the pattern continues one year later. Whether it’s a purple state like Virginia, a leaning red state like Ohio, or a deep red state like Kentucky, the election results last night were bad for Republicans with the exception of a few bright spots,” former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said in a statement.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose home state is hosting the debate, has often compared his historic victory in 2022 versus the results in other parts of the country and has promised to replicate that success if the nominee. He regularly notes, too, that his 19-point win outpaced both of Trump’s performances in the states, though comparing midterm results with presidential elections is not necessarily equitable.

“Last night’s disappointing results show why Republicans need a winner to lead the future of the party, and Ron DeSantis is the man for the moment,” his campaign said in a pre-debate message.

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who didn’t qualify for the debate, put it much more succinctly.

“National pundits attribute these losses to the debate on abortion restrictions; but I see it as a rejection of the GOP as controlled by Donald Trump,” Hutchinson said. “To win in 2024 we can’t be the party of chaos; but rather commonsense conservatism.”

President Joe Biden speaks in Bear, Delaware, on Monday.

Top aides to President Joe Biden have embarked on outreach campaigns they hope will help make his handling of the Israel-Hamas war a defining element of his presidency — and his campaign for a second term, particularly if contrasted with likely 2024 rival Donald Trump.

These aides and others who have spoken with the president since Hamas first launched its attack on Israel say Biden sees the conflict and the US response to it as part of the battle for the soul of America, just as he sees his presidency. He has brushed away calls, including from an few inside the West Wing, to consider the potential political liabilities of sticking to his support for Israel.

To others hoping to get him reelected next year, though, it is also the latest example of their claims that he is more in touch with what aides like to call “the quiet majority.”

“I am clear-headed about the two-state solution and the Netanyahu government, but Israel needs support now,” Biden said in a late October meeting with Muslim leaders invited to the White House, two people in the Roosevelt Room recalled.

Jewish voters across the country and in many battleground House districts are shaken. Muslim and Arab American communities are furious. Many younger voters who have come to identify with the Palestinian cause see a president who does not share their values. Feelings of betrayal run throughout.

And Biden’s reelection hopes lie in large part on winning states with large Jewish and Muslim populations, including Michigan and Georgia – two of the four states in which new polling from The New York Times and Siena College shows Trump with an edge over Biden in a hypothetical matchup.

CNN spoke with over two dozen administration officials and other Biden advisers, members of Congress, political operatives and activists on the ground who described both the president’s mindset, how it has evolved and how it fits into the intense Democratic Party dynamics that the war in Israel has sparked.

“I don’t think Joe Biden gives one damn about politics right now,” said Tom Nides, who recently returned from serving as the president’s first ambassador to Israel and has stayed closely in touch with the administration throughout the crisis. “I don’t think he’s thinking ‘out of step’ or ‘in step’ with parts of the Democratic Party.”

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told CNN that Biden was “not driven by politics.”

Keep reading here.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, second from left, joins Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on stage during a rally in Des Moines, Iowa, on Monday.

Breaking from the tradition of the first-in-the-nation caucuses, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Monday endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president, sending a clear message to Republicans looking for an alternative to former President Donald Trump that the time to act has arrived.

As people waved “Reynolds for DeSantis” signs, the Iowa governor said the country needs “someone who calls out our moral decline for what it is, who looks to the future and not the past, someone who, most importantly, can win.”

“That person is Ron DeSantis. And that’s why I am so proud to stand here tonight and give him my full support and endorsement for president of the United States of America,” Reynolds said.

In putting her thumb on the scale for DeSantis, Reynolds is lining up behind a like-minded executive who has also successfully enacted a strikingly conservative agenda. Her endorsement will test the power of her political brand in her home state. Across the country, Republican leaders have experienced limited success convincing conservative voters to move on from Trump.

Reynolds wasted little time going after Trump, dinging his response to Covid-19 and saying DeSantis “won’t get distracted” and “will stay disciplined,” a clear rebuke of the former president, who has publicly assailed her for months.

“We need someone who will fight for you, who puts this country first and not himself,” she said.

DeSantis hugged Reynolds as he took the stage and the two stood together as the crowd cheered. DeSantis then delivered familiar remarks to anyone who has heard him in all corners of Iowa.

“I don’t care what they say about me. I will take the arrows. I will take all the criticism. I’ll take the smears,” DeSantis said. “I’ll take the hits, because, ultimately, it’s not about me. It’s about you, and I will fight for you.”

Whether Reynolds can rally Republicans behind DeSantis remains to be seen, but her endorsement comes at a critical juncture for the Florida governor, whose campaign has staked its future to a strong showing in Iowa. Dozens of appearances in the state by DeSantis and millions spent on advertising and door-knocking here by a supportive super PAC have yet to meaningfully move Iowa Republicans. He remains well behind Trump, the race’s front-runner, and one respected pollster, the Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll, recently put him neck-and-neck with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for second place.

Former President Donald Trump, left, and President Joe Biden

Former President Donald Trump holds an edge over President Joe Biden in a series of hypothetical matchups among registered voters in four key swing states, new polling from The New York Times and Siena College shows.

In Nevada, a state Biden narrowly carried in the 2020 presidential election, Trump boasts 52% support to Biden’s 41%. Trump also tops Biden in Georgia, a state that was central to his ploy to overturn the last presidential election, with 49% to Biden’s 43%.

Trump leads Biden in Arizona, too, with 49% to the president’s 44%. In Michigan, Trump holds a 5-point lead as well: 48% to Biden’s 43%.

Each poll has a margin of sampling error between 4.4 and 4.8 points, and the head-to-head matchup remains theoretical — primary voting does not begin until next year. Trump overwhelmingly remains the Republican front-runner, while Biden, who drew a primary challenge from Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips last month, is heavily favored for the Democratic nomination.

The latest battleground state polling underscores the considerable challenges facing Biden’s reelection bid, including low job approval ratings and questions about his age and ability to steer the country. The poll results are especially striking for Biden given Trump’s mounting legal troubles. The former president faces 91 criminal charges across four indictments. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Biden campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz downplayed the polling in a statement Sunday, telling CNN: “Predictions more than a year out tend to look a little different a year later.”

“Coming off those historic (2022) midterms, President Biden’s campaign is hard at work reaching and mobilizing our diverse, winning coalition of voters one year out on the choice between our winning, popular agenda and MAGA Republicans’ unpopular extremism. We’ll win in 2024 by putting our heads down and doing the work, not by fretting about a poll,” Munoz said.

Read more about the polling data.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

After weeks spent locked in a bitter battle for second place, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will finally get the chance to grill each other in person over the Israel-Hamas war, Ukraine’s war with Russia and China’s growing global influence during Wednesday’s third primary debate in Miami.

The two have been previewing the attack lines they might deliver on the debate stage in interviews, stump speeches and ads as they seek to distinguish themselves as the Republican candidate who would be the best alternative to former President Donald Trump. DeSantis has accused Haley of having wanted to “roll out the red carpet” to China as governor in an effort to undercut her foreign policy bona fides, while Haley has painted the Florida governor’s increased attention on her as the desperate acts of a stalling campaign.

As the window to catch up to Trump closes, DeSantis and Haley have ratcheted up the tone and frequency of their attacks on one another. Wednesday’s event offers the pair, and the rest of the rapidly shrinking GOP field, one of their last chances to make their case at primetime before caucuses and primaries begin early next year.

The event, hosted by NBC News, Salem Radio Network and the Republican Jewish Coalition, will be the first time the remaining qualifying candidates get the chance to face off since Hamas’ deadly terror attack on October 7 and Israel’s retaliatory response. Foreign policy – and how Republican candidates view America’s role in the world – is expected to be a key focus of the debate.

That will likely benefit Haley, who has framed much of her campaign around the need for America to have a robust foreign policy at a time when the isolationist wing of the GOP has grown. The debate could also be a chance for the former United Nations ambassador, whose rise has been attributed in part to strong performances in the first two debates, to build on the momentum that has materialized in the form of new donors and bigger crowds.

“Nikki has gone into every debate telling voters exactly where she stands on supporting Israel, defeating Vladimir Putin, and standing up to China,” Haley campaign spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said in a statement. “She is authentic and unapologetic.”

But the debate is also a chance for DeSantis to paint Haley as out of touch with a party that has shifted away from the neoconservatism of the Bush administration.

“Compare my record and then think about her record,” DeSantis said at a campaign event in Grimes, Iowa, on Friday night. “… Has she dug in when it’s tough and fought and won and delivered? No, it’s just not the way it is. It’s just a different flavor of leader.”

Hal Lambert, a GOP megadonor backing DeSantis, said that the Florida governor has argued that some politicians are more focused with the security of other countries’ borders than America’s borders.

“If you want to contrast with, say, Haley, I think her inclination is to immediately go as aggressive as possible from a war posture,” he said. “Gov. DeSantis is much more restrained.”

From left: former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and US Sen. Tim Scott

The Republican National Committee announced Monday that five presidential candidates have met the criteria to participate in Wednesday’s third primary debate in Miami.

They are former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.

Missing from the debate stage will be North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who qualified for the previous two debates, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who participated in the first debate but did not make the stage for the second one.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, who qualified for the first two debates, dropped out of the Republican primary last month.

“We are looking forward to our third debate in Miami, a welcome opportunity for our candidates to showcase our winning conservative agenda to the American people,” Republic National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a news release.

To qualify for the third debate, candidates had to register 4% in either two national polls or one national poll and two polls from separate early-voting states (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina). Candidates also had to have reached at least 70,000 unique donors, with at least 200 donors in 20 states or territories.

Of the five candidates who’ve made the Miami stage, the stakes are particularly high for Haley and DeSantis. Haley has enjoyed a significant but not outsize burst of support in recent polling, in part thanks to previous debate performances. In a memo from campaign manager Betsy Ankney, the Haley campaign argues that the former governor is increasingly the “top Trump alternative” in three of the four early primary states.

For DeSantis, the situation is different but no less important. The Florida governor, who entered the race by touting himself as someone who could appeal to both Trump supporters and anti-Trump GOP primary voters, has struggled to maintain his early positioning as the major Republican alternative to the former president. His performance in the first two debates was restrained. And as his position in the primary remained largely static, his campaign has moved more resources to Iowa in the hopes that a breakout performance in the upcoming debates and then a strong showing in the January caucuses would reignite some of the early excitement for the Florida governor in the leadup to his campaign launch.

Trump, the front-runner in this Republican primary, is skipping the debate – as he did the two previous ones in Milwaukee and Simi Valley, California. He will instead headline a South Florida rally as counterprogramming to the debate. Trump’s team has argued that there should be fewer debates.