Trump's rivals clash at debate but do little to dent his lead in US race
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[November 09, 2023]
By James Oliphant and Joseph Ax
MIAMI (Reuters) -For the third time, Donald Trump's rivals for the
Republican presidential nomination took to the debate stage on Wednesday
night in his absence, seeking a way to dislodge the former president
from his commanding lead in opinion polls.
While contenders such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former U.N.
Ambassador Nikki Haley briefly criticized Trump, the latest episode did
not appear any likelier to alter the dynamics of a race that Trump has
dominated for months.
The candidates spent much of the two-hour event assailing one another as
they strove to emerge as Trump's chief opponent with less than 10 weeks
before the first statewide nominating contest in Iowa. They will have
another opportunity on Dec. 6, when a fourth debate will take place in
Alabama.
For his part, Trump held a rival event nearby, where he mocked the
participants and demanded that the Republican Party stop "wasting time"
with "unwatchable" debates.
With only five candidates qualifying for the stage - DeSantis and Haley
were joined by U.S. Senator Tim Scott, former New Jersey Governor Chris
Christie and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy - it was less chaotic than
previous encounters.
But it still had its share of cutting exchanges.
At one point during a discussion about whether to ban TikTok, Ramaswamy
noted that Haley's daughter had used the app, prompting Haley to warn
him angrily not to mention her daughter again.
"You're just scum," she muttered.
Haley, who also served as South Carolina governor, and DeSantis, who has
been in a distant second place behind Trump for most of the campaign,
had their own clash over which governor had been too welcoming to
Chinese investment.
Recent polls have shown the two jockeying for second place in early
voting states.
Most of the candidates voiced support for banning TikTok, owned by a
Chinese company, over national security concerns - even Ramaswamy, who
has defended using the app as a way to connect with young Republican
voters.
BACKING ISRAEL
The debate opened with moderators asking the candidates to explain why
they should be the party's standard-bearer rather than Trump, giving
them a chance to make their case directly to voters watching at home.
DeSantis criticized Trump for skipping the event, which took place in
their shared home state of Florida, and suggested that the party's poor
showing in Tuesday's off-year elections should be laid at Trump's feet.
"He said Republicans were gonna get tired of winning," DeSantis said.
"Well, we saw last night - I'm sick of Republicans losing!"
Haley offered a more muted critique.
"Everybody wants to talk about President Trump. I can tell you that I
think he was the right president at the right time," she said. "I don't
think he's the right president now."
Trump, 77, has done his best to deny his rivals a direct target, instead
focusing on what he expects to be a rematch with Biden, 80, on Nov. 5,
2024.
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Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron
DeSantis look over at each other during the second Republican
candidates' debate of the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign at the
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, U.S.
September 27, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
As Wednesday's debate proceeded, the candidates largely avoided
attacking Trump, whose hold on Republican voters has proven
unshakable even in the face of his multiple indictments.
Instead, they trained their fire on Democratic President Joe Biden,
particularly during a lengthy segment on foreign policy and the
Israel-Hamas conflict. The Republicans all pledged unconditional
support for Israel and assailed Biden's handling of the crisis.
Asked what message they would send to Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, DeSantis said, "I will be telling Bibi, 'Finish
the job once and for all with these butchers Hamas, they're
terrorists,'" using Netanyahu's nickname.
Haley, who has staked much of her candidacy on her foreign policy
credentials, faulted Biden for pressing Israel to consider
humanitarian pauses.
"The last thing we need to do is to tell Israel what to do," she
said. "The only thing we should be doing is supporting them and
eliminating Hamas."
In addition to pushing for a more muscular response abroad, the
candidates vowed to punish Hamas sympathizers at home.
DeSantis, for instance, promised to deport any students who
expressed support for Hamas.
"If you are here on a student visa as a foreign national and you're
making common cause with Hamas, I'm canceling your visa and I'm
sending you home," he said. "No questions asked."
A day after Democrats and abortion rights groups swept to victory in
several state elections, the Republicans sought to formulate a
winning message on an issue that has bedeviled the party since the
conservative-led U.S. Supreme Court last year eliminated a
nationwide right to abortion.
Scott said he would support a federal 15-week ban, while Haley noted
that any such legislation has essentially no chance of passing the
closely divided U.S. Senate. DeSantis - who signed a six-week ban
into law this year - did not address a federal law but said he stood
for a "culture of life."
The candidates attacked Biden over his stewardship of the economy,
arguing that his focus on climate change had slowed growth. Haley
and Christie said they would raise the retirement age for Social
Security benefits for younger workers to help keep the program
solvent, while Scott and DeSantis said they would not do so.
Polls show voters are unhappy with Biden's economic record, despite
the fact that inflation has slowed considerably and fears of a
recession have faded amid continued economic growth. Biden's
approval rating slipped under 40% in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll,
his lowest mark since April.
(Reporting by James Oliphant in Miami, Joseph Ax in Princeton, New
Jersey, and Tim Reid in Los Angeles; additional reporting by Eric
Beech, Nathan Layne, Gram Slattery, Jasper Ward and Caitlin Webber;
editing by Ross Colvin and Howard Goller)
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