Haley spars with Republican rivals at 3rd primary debate as Trump still looms
The night heavily focused on international affairs.
The third Republican debate of the 2024 presidential primary was held Wednesday night in Miami.
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.
Key moments:
Appeals to Jewish voters could help Republicans, but the group remains strongly Democratic
Some Republicans may hope to make inroads with Jewish voters. That's a possibility, but Jewish voters remain strongly Democratic-leaning. Back in 2021, the Pew Research Center found that 71% of Jewish voters identified with or leaned toward the Democratic Party, while 26% associated with the Republican Party. Now, there are some Jewish groups who do identify more with the GOP, particularly Orthodox Jews, three-fourths of whom identified as Republicans or Republican-leaning in the Pew survey. But even if Jewish voters were to shift toward the GOP, they are likely to remain predominantly Democratic in their leanings.
-Analysis by Geoffrey Skelley of 538
Fact-checking Christie on his record of lowering hate crimes in New Jersey.
Christie told a story about being appointed U.S. attorney in New Jersey on Sept. 10, 2011, and how one of his first big assignments was working to stop potential hate crimes on Jewish and Muslim residents.
“We stopped any hate crimes that were going on, either against Jewish Americans in New Jersey or Muslim Americans in New Jersey, Christie said.
The Asbury Park Press ran the numbers in 2016. Hate crimes did, in fact, drop.
Total reported hate crimes in 2010 numbered 775, the newspaper reported. The total number of hate crimes then dropped each year through 2015 -- from 606, to 553, 459, 373 and, finally, 367 in 2015.
Religiously motivated hate crimes also trended downward until 2015. That year they increased nearly 10% in New Jersey.
-Analysis by Aaron Sharockman of PolitiFact
Haley: America needs to 'soul search'
Haley said the country needs to "soul search" when asked what she would say to Americans who are afraid in this current environment, as the candidates discussed concerns over antisemitism and Islamophobia amid the Israel-Hamas war.
She said she is angered that Jewish students are feeling afraid on college campuses.
She said Americans should not be celebrating terrorists, genocide or "violence toward anybody."
"We need to go back and soul search in our country and remember what we are about. And we are about taking care of people, not going and making them live in fear," she said.
-ABC News' Meredith Deliso
On responding to Iran, GOP hopefuls say how far they'd go
Some candidates were asked how far they'd go in responding to Iran given what the Pentagon has called recent attacks by Iranian-backed proxy groups on U.S. military bases in Syria and Iraq.
Haley said the U.S. needs to take out the infrastructure used to launch those attacks, arguing Iran responds to "strength."
"You punch them once, you punch them hard, and they will back off," she said.
DeSantis warned of reprisals against Iran if American service members are harmed.
"I would say you: You harm a hair on the head of an American service member and you are going to have hell to pay," he said.
-ABC News' Alexandra Hutzler