Five candidates took the stage: former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.
Missing -- again -- was front-runner Donald Trump, who instead hosted a rally not far away, in Hialeah, Florida.
ABC News and the analysts at 538 live-blogged every major moment and highlight from the debate. PolitiFact made real-time fact checks of key statements.
Your humble fact-checker is reporting for duty. I’m Aaron Sharockman, the executive director of PolitiFact. We’re excited to help sort out fact from fiction during Wednesday's debate.
I’m not omniscient -- in case you’re wondering. PolitiFact has a team of more than 30 fact-checkers that has been scrutinizing the candidates’ remarks for months. And wouldn’t you know it, candidates tend to repeat themselves on debate night.
I’ll be popping in when we see something that warrants more context or a correction.
-Aaron Sharockman of PolitiFact
Nov 08, 2023, 7:40 PM EST
Democrats deploy billboard taking aim at Trump
The Democratic National Committee has deployed a bilingual billboard to circle the debate venue taunting the former president.
"We almost forgot about the debate..." the billboard teases. It largely focuses on what it calls Trump's "extreme MAGA agenda," listing his positions on abortion, Social Security, Medicare and more, though it also trolls the five candidates appearing on stage.
The Democratic National Committee deploys a bilingual mobile billboard to circle the Republican primary debate venue in Miami on Nov. 7, 2023.
DNC (Democratic National Committee)
The Republican National Committee, in response, said it welcomed the Democratic Party's "efforts to waste time and money in the red state of Florida."
In addition, the Biden-Harris campaign put up lawn signs of the "Dark Brandon" meme around the performing arts center.
-ABC News' Alexandra Hutzler
Nov 08, 2023, 7:38 PM EST
What Trump is up to Wednesday
Not far from where his rivals are gathering in Miami, Trump is hosting a rally in Hialeah, a heavily Hispanic part of Florida where Republicans have seen gains in recent years.
It's his third straight time bucking the debates, even though he's easily met the polling and donor thresholds.
The former president and his team are ditching the events in a signal that, to them, the primary is essentially already over -- which his challengers reject -- and he's refusing to sign the Republican National Committee's loyalty pledge vowing to support the ultimate GOP nominee regardless of who it is.
-ABC News' Tal Axelrod
Nov 08, 2023, 7:52 PM EST
Could this be Scott or Christie’s last debate?
Five candidates made the stage in Miami, but Christie and Scott had a tougher time qualifying than the other three contenders. That will put pressure on them to really shine as they seek to have more staying power in this race.
At this point, both have clear hurdles to making the December debate, and as past elections have shown, failing to qualify for a debate can portend the near-term end of a candidate’s campaign.
South Carolina Senator and Republican presidential hopeful, Tim Scott speaks at the Florida Freedom Summit to an energized crowd of Florida Republicans at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Kissimmee, Fla., on Nov. 4, 2023.
David Decker/Shutterstock
Looking ahead to the next debate, the Republican National Committee raised the polling threshold for qualifying surveys from 4% to 6%, a level that Christie and Scott have struggled to hit. In fact, Scott did not do better than 4% in a qualifying national poll for this debate, so he may face the most difficulty.
With that in mind, expect him to assert himself, which might mean more attacks on Haley, his fellow South Carolinian and someone whom Scott criticized at the last debate.
As for Christie, he’s in a tougher spot because most Republicans have an unfavorable view of him, which greatly limits his ability to increase his support. Still, given Christie’s sharp anti-Trump rhetoric, we can probably expect him to keep leaning into that approach in the hopes that it’ll draw backing from more moderate and/or independent-minded voters who plan to vote in the GOP primary.
