SC’s Haley shoots back at DeSantis, Ramaswamy in third GOP presidential debate
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, whose campaign has been riding a wave of upward momentum in recent weeks, sought to further take down Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Wednesday’s GOP presidential debate.
But the debate also turned into a battle between Haley and Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
Only Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, of South Carolina, qualified for the debate stage.
Former President Donald Trump, who is the clear front-runner for the GOP nomination, chose not to participate in the debate and held a rally in the Miami-area instead.
Haley, who served as ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump administration, boasted her foreign policy experience during the debate.
Wednesday’s debate came about a month after Hamas’ attack on Israel, which has gone to war in the Gaza strip.
Ramaswamy took on Haley for leaving the United Nations and earning millions from military contracts. Ramaswamy said both parties have spent trillions in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying the conflicts did not advance U.S. interests.
“That’s the choice we face. Do you want a leader from a different generation who is going to put this country first, or do you want Dick Cheney in 3-inch heels?” Ramaswamy said.
Haley shot back saying she wears 5-inch heels.
“I wear heels. They’re not for a fashion statement; they’re for ammunition,” Haley said.
The most tense moment came when Ramaswamy pointed out Haley’s daughter previously used TikTok. “Leave my daughter out of your voice,” Haley said to Ramaswamy. “You’re just scum.”
She also said the U.S. needs to stand up to Iran.
“You punch them once and you punch them hard and they will back off,” Haley said on the need to stand up to Iran and pointing to the country’s support for Hamas and Hezbollah.
Leading up to the debate, the Haley and DeSantis camps sparred over who is truly tougher on China and whether the United States should take in refugees from Gaza.
DeSantis hit Haley on allowing a Chinese company to open a business near Fort Jackson.
“She welcomed them into South Carolina, gave him land near a military base, wrote the Chinese ambassador a love letter saying what a great friend they were,” DeSantis said. “That was like their number one way to to do economic development. In Florida, I banned China from buying land in this state.”
Haley fired back, saying DeSantis chaired a board that encouraged China investment in Florida and pointed how the agency website removed references to China and said Chinese manufacturers are operating in the Sunshine State.
“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,” Haley said.
DeSantis said he abolished the agency.
South Carolina’s other presidential candidate, Scott, who has been trying to be more aggressive, stayed out of the fights among Haley, DeSantis and Ramaswamy. Instead his aggressive tone was when it came to the ongoing wars in Israel and Ukraine and tough language on those who support Hamas in the U.S. — especially on college campuses.
“Every single university president in America, federal funding is a privilege not a right, number one,” Scott said. “Every student we have come to our country on a visa to college campus, your visa is a privilege, not a right. Number three, any campus that allows for antisemitism and hate to allow students to encourage terrorism, mass murder ... and genocide, you should lose your federal funding to date, period. To all the students on bases who are encouraging Jewish genocide, I would deport you.”
Scott also blamed President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama for allowing billions of dollars to go to Iran in negotiations, calling the moves appeasement.
“That is why I’d said that there’s blood dripping from the hands of President Obama and President Biden. I would tell President Biden with great clarity, if you want to stop the 40-plus attacks on military personnel in the Middle East, you have to strike in Iran,” Scott said. “If you want to make a difference, you cannot just continue to have strikes in Syria on warehouses. You actually have to cut off the head of the snake and the head of the snake is Iran and not simply the proxies.”
Although Scott was the last candidate to qualify for the debate, he tried to gain footing and throw punches at the four others on stage. His campaign earlier this week said Haley has abandoned conservative credentials while saying she is perceived as a moderate. Scott campaign manager Jennifer DeCasper said DeSantis can’t articulate optimism while pointing to his dropping poll numbers.
Since the first and second debates, Haley has been moving up in the polls following her strong performances. She is the clear second-place Republican candidate in South Carolina and moved into second place in several recent polls out of New Hampshire.
She also is tied for second place with DeSantis in Iowa, according to a Des Moines Register poll.
However, DeSantis is in second place in most national polls of GOP primary voters.
Haley’s argument for the nomination has included that she would perform the best against President Joe Biden in a general election compared the other Republicans in the field.
However, Trump remains the clear front-runner for the nomination.
The debate had one brief interaction between Haley and Scott, where South Carolina’s junior senator reiterated his support for a 15-week abortion ban on the federal level. He called on Haley and DeSantis to support a 15-week ban.
“I would not allow states like California, Illinois or New York to have abortion up until the day of birth,” Scott said.
Haley continued her call for the country to come to a consensus, pushing the pragmatic approach that points out any ban would need 60 votes in the U.S. Senate to pass. She added she would support banning late-term abortions, encouraging adoption and making contraceptives accessible.
She said Scott didn’t co-sponsor a bill pushed by fellow South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham calling for a 15-week ban.
“When you first were interviewed on this, when you ran, you wouldn’t say you were for 15 weeks,” Haley said.
“That’s just not true,” Scott interjected.
This story was originally published November 8, 2023 at 10:15 PM.
