Haley draws fire in 4th GOP debate, Christie warns absent Trump is biggest issue

Haley continues to face blowback over her proposed requirement that every person on social media be verified by their name and banned from posting anonymously -- a position she later walked back slightly.

"She should come nowhere near the levers of power, let alone the White House," Ramaswamy said, calling the position "fascism."

Haley responded, "What I said was that social media companies need to show us their algorithms."

"I also said there are millions of bots on social media right now," she continued. "They're foreign, they're Chinese, they're Iranian. I will always fight for freedom of speech for Americans. We do not need freedom of speech for Russians and Iranians and Hamas. We need social media companies to go and fight back on all of these bots that are happening."

DeSantis pushed back on her characterization of her past comments.

"You can roll the tape, she said, 'I want your name' and that was going to be one of the first thing she did in office," the Florida governor said. "She got real serious blowback and understandably so, because it'd be a massive expansion of government."

-ABC News' Alexandra Hutzler

“I would absolutely -- absolutely, if they had a plan which showed me, we could get them out safely, you’re damn right I’d send the American Army in there to get our people home and get them home now,” Christie said. The former New Jersey governor accused DeSantis of avoiding the question about deploying U.S. troops to rescue hostages in the Israel-Hamas war after Hamas' terror attack.

-ABC News’ Chris Boccia

What happens when someone rises in the polls? They attract attacks from their opponents. Both DeSantis and Ramaswamy have gone after Haley from the get-go in this debate, putting Haley on the defensive. This isn't really a shock, though, because Haley's poll numbers have been on an upward trajectory, both nationally and in the early states. She also just earned a major endorsement from Americans for Prosperity, a conservative advocacy group, which Haley mentioned when answering about her electability.

Past presidential primary debates have numerous examples of rising candidates facing attacks, but a famous debate from the 2016 Republican nomination race nicely showcases this. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio finished a strong third in the Iowa caucuses, and his campaign looked positioned to potentially compete for another solid finish in New Hampshire. But in the debate just ahead of that primary, Christie hit Rubio hard, most notably when he homed in on a moment when Rubio seemed to repeat a canned line multiple times and started calling the Floridian "Robot Rubio." Rubio finished fifth in New Hampshire and never recovered.

--Analysis by Geoffrey Skelley, 538

DeSantis said Haley opposed Florida’s ban on gender-affirming care, saying she thought “it’s fine and the law shouldn’t get involved with it.” She doesn’t think it’s “fine.” In a June interview on “CBS Mornings,” Haley said “the law should stay out of it” but it should be up to parents until the child is 18. In the interview, Haley said children should “make more of a permanent change” after they turn 18.

During the debate, Haley likened her position on gender-affirming care for minors to age requirements for getting a tattoo: “I said that if you have to be 18 to get a tattoo, you should have to be 18 to have anything done to change your gender.” We’ve heard that comparison before. For what it’s worth, two-third of U.S. states allow minors to get tattoos if their parents consent. And medical experts have told us gender-affirming care is in many cases considered medically necessary, while tattoos are cosmetic.

-Analysis by Katie Sanders of PolitiFact