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:
Haley swipes at Trump over economy, Ukraine
Haley indirectly swiped at Trump over growing economic hardships and his foreign policies, arguing that he has waffled on support for Ukraine amid Russia's invasion.
She also targeted the former president over his gripes over the 2020 election, arguing, "We can't live in the past, we can't live in other headlines."
-ABC News' Tal Axelrod
'We've become a party of losers,' Ramaswamy says
Asked why he should be the GOP nominee instead of Trump, Ramaswamy continued going after Trump, like others on stage, responding: "We've become a party of losers."
"We got trounced last night in 2023," Ramaswamy said, referring to Tuesday's disappointments for conservatives in Kentucky, Ohio and Virginia, adding that there needs to be "accountability in our party."
-ABC News' Meredith Deliso
DeSantis slams Trump's absence in first question of debate
NBC's Lester Holt posed the first question of the night to DeSantis, asking him why he should be the nominee instead of Trump.
"Now if you look where we are now, it's a lot different than we were in 2016 and Donald Trump's a lot different guy than he was in 2016," the Florida governor said, immediately setting a tone on stage in which the various candidates more bluntly criticized the absent front-runner -- something they had not done throughout much of the early primary campaign.
"He owes it to you to be on this stage and explain why he should get another chance," DeSantis continued. "He should explain why he didn't have Mexico pay for the border wall. He should explain why he racked up so much debt. He should explain why we didn't drain the swamp. He said Republicans were going to get tired of winning. What we saw last night, I'm sick of Republicans losing. In Florida, I showed how it's done."
-ABC News' Alexandra Hutzler
DeSantis probably didn’t turn Florida red
DeSantis just cited his large 2022 victory in Florida as a reason why he’s a stronger candidate than Trump. But I looked into this question a few months ago, and I found that the evidence that DeSantis turned Florida into a red state is pretty thin.
-Analysis by Nathaniel Rakich of 538
Christie, addressing global challenges, calls America the 'indispensable nation'
Christie, asked why he should lead the party rather than Trump, largely focused on the global challenges the U.S. is facing, including the Israel-Gaza war and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"Tonight, we need to decide which president is going to be the one to tackle the big issues. Who's going to make this country look once again, not just inward, but look outward at the world and say, 'America is the country, the indispensable nation, that makes this a safer world'?" Christie said. "And in a safer world, American innovation, American hard work has always been the thing that has driven our country to greater things. I'm going to be the president who will do those big things."
On Trump, Christie said at the end of his answer, "Anybody who's gonna be spending the next year and a half of their life focusing on keeping themselves out of jail and courtrooms cannot lead this party." (Trump denies wrongdoing.)
-ABC News' Alexandra Hutzler