Haley spars with Republican rivals at 3rd primary debate as Trump still looms

This was a substantive debate, with in-depth exchanges on topics as wonky as Social Security and ships in the Navy. It wasn’t nearly as chaotic and negative as the last debate, although perhaps the headline was the emerging rivalry between Haley and Ramaswamy, who went out of their way to attack each other throughout the night. To me, it seemed that Haley got the better of those exchanges, as Ramaswamy came off as too aggressive. But we’ll know for sure what Republican voters thought when we get the results of the next 538/Washington Post/Ipsos poll on Thursday.

-Analysis by Nathaniel Rakich of 538

While five of his primary challengers were on stage in Miami debating each other and sometimes pointedly attacking him, Trump was rallying supporters in nearby Hialeah, Florida, a heavily Hispanic community.

The former president's remarks tied his familiar attacks on his legal troubles -- he denies all wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty in four criminal cases -- to the language of being persecuted like in "communist Cuba," in what appeared to be a push to galvanize the local audience.

“We have some great Cubans here,” he said.

He also repeated his recent campaign rhetoric about keeping America and the world safe and peaceful, insisting that under his watch, attacks against Israel and the Russia-Ukraine war would not have happened.

Of the debate, he said, “Nobody's talking about it. Everybody's watching this.”

Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo was also invited on stage by Trump where Bovo announced he will ask the City Council to authorize a street named after Trump.

-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa and Soo Rin Kim

After the debate, the South Carolina senator was seen taking a photo with a blonde-haired woman. The two were physically affectionate, including with their hands interlocked -- and Scott, later asked by a reporter who it was, said, "Oh, my girlfriend."

Scott had said in September that he was dating someone -- "a smart, Christian woman" -- while declining to bring her on the trail, saying that he would introduce her "at some point."

"I have been very protective of my family and my loved ones," he told The Washington Post in September. "I signed up for this. If we make it, she will be signing up for it as well, but at least then she'll know what she's getting into."

-ABC News' Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Libby Cathey and Fritz Farrow

Ramaswamy, amid a abortion debate, again brought up his idea about "sexual responsibility for men."

"We talked about access to contraception, adoption. Here's the missing ingredient in this movement: sexual responsibility for men," he said. "We live in an era of reliable genetic paternity tests that are 100% reliable, so we can say men deserve more responsibility, so we can tell women, 'We're all in this together.'"

Ramaswamy has discussed this on the trail before but it's not entirely clear what he means or how it would be carried out. He's said it should be codified into law that men have greater responsibility, financially or otherwise, when they are confirmed via paternity test to be a father.

"It's not men's rights versus women's rights," Ramaswamy said on stage. "It's about human rights."

-ABC News' Alexandra Hutzler