Haley draws fire in 4th Republican debate as Christie warns absent Trump is still biggest issue
The Iowa caucuses are weeks away; the former president remains the favorite.
With voting set to start in the 2024 Republican primary in less than six weeks, four of the top candidates again took the stage for a debate -- this time on Wednesday night in Tuscaloosa, Alabama -- and the event proved to be fiery.
Hosted by NewsNation and moderated by Elizabeth Vargas, Megyn Kelly and Eliana Johnson, the debate featured Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. The primary's front-runner, former President Donald Trump, continued to skip the event despite criticism from his rivals. He was fundraising in Florida.
ABC News and the analysts at 538 live-blogged every major moment and highlight from the debate. PolitiFact made real-time fact checks.
Key moments:
Christie says Trump is biggest 'issue in this race'
While Christie has largely run in the primary as the biggest critic of Trump from within the GOP, polls show his message hasn't moved many voters.
Pressed on this on the debate stage, Christie sought to play down his low approval ratings from the party and suggested it was because he was telling the "truth" about Trump and Republicans, he said.
"He is unfit," he said of Trump, calling Trump a "dictator."
The former president -- his record, his rhetoric and his front-runner status in the race -- have to be discussed head-on, Christie said.
"There is no bigger issue in this race," he said.
-ABC News' Adam Carlson
Ramaswamy, asked about his temperament, attacks Haley's donors
Ramaswamy joined DeSantis in keeping the debate's early fire trained on Haley, accusing the former U.N. ambassador of bowing to corporate interests and taking money from prominent Democratic donors. Ramaswamy was fielding a question from Kelly on his own temperament and penchant for insults, which the SiriusXM host said has fluctuated from one debate to the next, and to which Ramaswamy acknowledged “there’s a time and place for everything.”
Ramaswamy then said Haley went from bankruptcy to being a high earner after her government service. Haley responded that her earnings in public life “may be bankrupt to him, but it wasn’t bankrupt to us.” She fired back at both Ramaswamy and DeSantis on her donors: “They’re just jealous. They wish they were supporting them.”
-ABC News' Chris Boccia
No, the polls didn’t show a 'red wave'
In his first answer, DeSantis dismissed the polls by saying that they showed that a “red wave” was going to happen in the 2022 midterms. In reality, though, most polls didn’t show that: For example, 538’s final average of polls of the generic congressional ballot said that Republicans were leading by just 1 point nationally. They ended up winning by 3 points.
-Analysis by Nathaniel Rakich of 538
DeSantis defends himself as his campaign stalls
The first question of the night went to DeSantis, who was asked about his stagnating poll numbers and whether voters are telling him "not no but not now."
"So we have a great idea and American voters actually make these decisions, not pundits or pollsters," he responded, adding he's "sick" of hearing about the polls.
"The voters are going to be able to speak and we're going to earn this nomination," he continued. "I am sick of Republicans who are not willing to stand up and fight back against what the left is doing to this country. You've got to be willing to stand strong and you've got to be willing to beat these people."
-ABC News' Alexandra Hutzler
5 things to watch for
Will a smaller stage make a difference? What will the big policy topics be? Do DeSantis and Haley target Trump ... or each other?
Those are three of five notable things to watch in the fourth debate, on Wednesday night.
Read more about them here.
-ABC News' Tal Axelrod