Asked what threats she worries could blindside the U.S. amid what federal officials have called a heightened threat level during the Israel-Hamas war, Haley focused on "foreign infiltration."

"America right now is acting like it's Sept. 10. We better remember what Sept. 12 felt like, because it only takes one," she said.

"We've got to get the foreign infiltration out of our country -- whether it's in our schools, whether it's on our social media, we need to stop all foreign lobbying that's happening to members of Congress, and we need to start securing America again," she continued.

-ABC News' Meredith Deliso

Ramaswamy again trained his ire toward Haley, with whom he has feuded across the debates this year, saying she was “woke” and “had a corruption problem.” Ramaswamy raised a notepad which had the message “NIKKI=CORRUPT.” A chorus of boos filled the venue.

The entrepreneur said Haley would “send your kids to die so she can buy a bigger house.”

Given the chance to respond, Haley said only, “No. It’s not worth my time to respond to him.”

- ABC News’ Chris Boccia

In that question, Tom Fitton just pointed out, incredulously, that the U.S. Postal Service is more popular than the FBI. But this actually isn’t surprising -- the Postal Service is quite popular! According to a 2023 poll from the Pew Research Center, 77% of Americans have a favorable view of the Postal Service. It’s the second-most popular federal agency, after the National Park Service.
-Analysis by Nathaniel Rakich of 538

PolitiFact rated Ramaswamy’s claim false after he introduced it at the second primary debate.

In the past, the medical community used to view the experience of being transgender as a "disorder," but they no longer agree on that categorization. In the last decade, diagnostic manuals published by the World Health Organization and American Psychiatric Association contained updated language to clarify that being transgender is not a mental illness.
Experts told us that persistent gender dysphoria can cause other mental health issues, but it is not itself a mental health disorder.

-Analysis by Katie Sanders of PolitiFact

At the beginning of the year, DeSantis was the clear runner-up in the Republican presidential primary field: He was averaging above 30% in national polls, only about 10 points behind Trump. But DeSantis’ star has fallen the more voters have gotten to know him, it seems, and another candidate is now on the verge of overtaking him as the most viable Trump alternative: Haley.

As of Tuesday, Haley was at 11% in 538’s national polling average of the Republican primary -- just 2 points behind DeSantis for second place. And she’s doing even better in early primary states. She’s polling at 15% in Iowa, and she’s comfortably in second place in New Hampshire (19%) and South Carolina (21%).

She also recently secured the endorsement of Americans for Prosperity Action, a conservative group affiliated with Republican megadonor Charles Koch that is known for its sophisticated political operation.

Why has Haley been on the upswing? The simplest explanation is these debates. On the day of the first debate, she was averaging just 3% in national polls. But according to a 538/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted both before and after that debate, Republicans who watched said Haley was one of the strongest performers, and the share who said they were considering voting for her shot up by 17 points.

Republican debate watchers also rated Haley as the second-best performer in the second debate and the strongest performer in the third debate. Probably not by coincidence, her polling numbers have been steadily increasing ever since.

Of course, Haley fans shouldn’t get too giddy. She (and DeSantis) are still far behind Trump both nationally and in the early primary states. Even if Haley does overtake DeSantis and winds up being the last non-Trump Republican standing in the primary, it won’t matter if Trump is winning every state by double digits.

-Analysis by Nathaniel Rakich of 538