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:
Fact-checking the back-and-forth between DeSantis and Haley on China
In campaign ads and on the trail, the DeSantis campaign has been attacking Haley for recruiting a Chinese fiberglass company to South Carolina while she was governor.
On stage, Haley turned the table on DeSantis.
“Ron, you are the chair of your economic development agency that, as of last week, said Florida is the ideal place for Chinese businesses,” Haley said.
“I abolished that agency that she's talking about,” DeSantis responded.
Haley is pointing to the web page of Select Florida, Florida’s economic development entity. The website talked extensively about business opportunities in China, according to The Messenger. It included a quote from a 2020 report that discussed “positioning Florida as an ideal business destination for Chinese companies.” The references were removed from the website last week.
DeSantis’ office told The Messenger it removed some items from Select Florida's website that were "outdated information on a website for an organization that the governor abolished, so it was updated accordingly."
"Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 5 to eliminate Enterprise Florida (EFI), the state’s public-private business development agency. In doing so, DeSantis ended more than 30 years of EFI providing incentives to corporations and – prior to DeSantis’ crackdown – courting Chinese investments," the DeSantis campaign said.
-Analysis by Aaron Sharockman of PolitiFact
Something must be done about TikTok, candidates say
The candidates took on TikTok, arguing that the enormously popular if controversial social media app should be banned in the U.S.
Trump "talked tough about TikTok, I heard him do it many times, but when it came down to it, he did not ban them when he could have and should have," Christie said. "In my first week as president, we would ban TikTok."
"I think that China's the top threat we face. They've been very effective at infiltrating different parts of our society," Desantis, the father of three young kids, said. "These kids get these devices, and they have a mind of their own."
Ramaswamy, who has waffled on TikTok usage, targeted Haley's daughter's use of the app, drawing some boos, which he played down as coming from Haley supporters.
"We have to ban any U.S. company actually transferring U.S. data to the Chinese," Ramaswamy added. "Even U.S. companies in Silicon Valley are doing it."
"What we should do is ban TikTok, period," Scott said.
-ABC News' Tal Axelrod
TikTok bans are popular, but not among young voters
As 538’s Cooper Burton wrote a few months ago, TikTok bans are popular among roughly half of Americans. But one group that is strongly opposed is young Americans, which Republicans have historically struggled with.
-Analysis by Nathaniel Rakich of 538
Haley calls Ramaswamy 'scum'
The two candidates who have perhaps the most acrimonious relationship on stage, Haley and Ramaswamy, have spent a notable amount of the debate sparring with each other.
After Ramaswamy mentioned that Haley's daughter has used TikTok, despite Republican criticism of the Chinese-owned app -- drawing boos from attendees -- Haley admonished him.
"Leave my daughter out of your voice," she said, adding with an eye roll: "You're just scum."
-ABC News' Adam Carlson
Candidates voice support of Israel
Asked what they would be urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do if they were president, the candidates were united on Israel's right to defend itself against the terrorist group Hamas.
DeSantis said he would tell Netanyahu to "finish the job once and for all with these butchers, Hamas."
"The only thing we should be doing is supporting them in eliminating Hamas," Haley said, while also stressing the need to bring hostages home.
Ramaswamy said he would tell Netanyahu to "smoke those terrorists on his southern border, and I'll tell him as president of the United States, I'll be smoking the terrorists on our southern border."
Scott said he would tell President Joe Biden that diplomacy is a "weak strategy."
"You cannot negotiate with evil. You have to destroy it," he said.
Christie echoed the other candidates, saying, "You must make sure that Hamas can never do this again."
-ABC News' Meredith Deliso