A reduced field of Republican presidential candidates turned on ascending candidate Nikki Haley on Wednesday as they sparred, sometimes in harshly personal terms, over numerous issues on the debate stage in Miami.
Ms. Haley’s poll numbers have been on the rise and she took center stage alongside Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and flanked by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, biotech tycoon Vivek Ramaswamy, and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina.
Among the issues covered were U.S. involvement in the Israeli war against Hamas, funding for the Ukraine war, the threat of China and who among the field is the most qualified among them to replace front-runner and former President Donald Trump on the 2024 ticket.
The group of five tried to claw their way out of mostly stagnant poll numbers and Mr. Ramaswamy and Mr. DeSantis took turns attacking Ms. Haley, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who is now running a distant second behind Mr. Trump in South Carolina and New Hampshire and is nipping at Mr. DeSantis’ No. 2 position in Iowa.
Ms. Haley hit back hard and the fighting took a bitter turn. She called Mr. Ramaswamy “scum” for pointing out her own daughter has a TikTok account after she criticized him for campaigning on the platform.
Ms. Haley slammed Mr. DeSantis after he accused her of calling China “a great friend,” and allowing them to set up businesses in South Carolina when she was the state’s governor.
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She called Mr. DeSantis “liberal” on environmental issues and said he supported a ban on fracking in the past, which he denied.
U.S. involvement in foreign conflict pitted Ms. Haley against Mr. Ramaswamy, who picked fights with the former ambassador and sought to paint her as a corrupt war hawk.
“The last thing we need to do is to tell Israel what to do. The only thing we should be doing is supporting them and eliminating Hamas,” Ms. Haley said.
Mr. Ramaswamy said he wanted to avoid “fighting wars that send thousands of our sons and daughters, people my age, to die in wars that did not advance anyone’s interests, adding $7 trillion to our national debt.”
He lashed out at Ms. Haley, who he called “Dick Cheney in 3-inch heels,” and said she left her job at the United Nations to take a lucrative job on the board of Boeing “and is now a multimillionaire.”
Ms. Haley responded, “They are 5-inch heels and I don’t wear them unless you can run in them.”
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Ms. Haley was the only candidate on stage to back raising the age to qualify for Social Security. The others pitched different ways to bolster the financially troubled entitlement.
The thinned-out field of qualifying candidates excluded North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who did not make the cut. Mr. Trump skipped the debate again and held a rally about 10 miles away in Hialeah.
Mr. Ramaswamy attacked Ms. Haley over her support for more U.S. taxpayer funding for the Ukraine war and she fired back.
China and Russia “are salivating at the thought that someone like that could become president,” Ms. Haley said.
Mr. Scott said the United States, “in order to have a powerful response,” must strike at Iran, which is funding Hamas and other terror groups in the region, and is “the head of the snake.”
Mr. Ramaswamy, who has slipped in the polls, came out of the gate swinging — against the NBC News moderators, Kristen Welker and Lester Holt.
He accused them of rigging the last several elections with left-wing media bias and pushing the false claim that Mr. Trump colluded with the Russians to win the 2016 presidential election.
“Was that real? Or was that Hillary Clinton made up disinformation?” Mr. Ramaswamy said. “Answer the question. Go.”
They didn’t answer.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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