Five days before the Iowa caucuses, CNN held the fifth Republican primary debate at Drake University, a private university in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 10. Only three candidates qualified for the debate: former President Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.
Hours before the debate, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced the end of his campaign. He wrote on X, previously known as Twitter, “I promise you this: I will make sure that in no way do I enable Donald Trump to ever be President of the United States again. That’s more important than my own personal ambition.”
The moderators at this debate were Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. Bash co-hosts the Sunday morning public affairs program State of the Union with Tapper on CNN.
As Iowan residents prepare to vote for the Republican party’s presidential nominee, a greater question arises as to whether Trump is eligible to run. The Colorado Supreme Court adjudicated that Trump was not eligible under the insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment, and the Supreme Court agreed to review this case and decide if Trump should be on the state’s ballot. They are scheduled to hear oral arguments Feb. 8, 2024.
“Why you?”
The two candidates took different approaches during the debate: DeSantis referenced his accomplishments as governor in past years, while Haley focused on her future plans.
DeSantis highlighted his past experience as governor as the reason he was most competent for the nomination. “Donald Trump is running to pursue his issues. Nikki Haley is running to pursue her donor’s issues. I am running to pursue your issues and your families issues and to turn this country around. I’m the only one running that has delivered on 100% of the promises that I have made.”
Haley’s campaign sought to clear her record after the most recent debate where DeSantis made numerous allegations about her past actions and statements. Throughout the debate Haley defended her innocence and maintained that they were false.
“We need a new generational leader. We have watched our country be in disarray … You are going to find out tonight that there is going to be a lot of Ron’s lies. Instead of him telling you all these lies, you can go to DeSantislies.com and look at all the lies he has told about me,” Haley said.
Donald Trump
Former President Trump and current frontrunner in the poll continued his absence from the debates.
Haley criticized the former president’s moral values. “The next president has to have moral clarity. You need to have moral clarity to understand it is taxpayer money and not your own money, moral clarity to understand that when you are dealing with dictators in the world, you have to fight for democracies and human rights and protect Americans and prevent war,” she said, expressing her view that Trump is not the right person for the job.
DeSantis echoed similar sentiment, also criticizing Trump on how he failed to keep several promises he made in office. “I’m running because I’m the guy that is going to be able to engineer a comeback for this country. I appreciate what President Trump did, but let’s be honest, he said he was going to build the wall and he would have Mexico pay for it, but he didn’t deliver. He said he was going to eliminate debt and he added $7.8 trillion to the debt. So we need to deliver and get this stuff done,” he said.
Economy
The debate entered a discussion regarding the economy, as Bash cited a recent Des Moines register poll that showed the economy as the top issue caucus participants were interested in. Although the current rate of inflation is down, prices remain high and some Americans struggle to afford necessities, making it a contentious issue among voters.
Haley focused her response on wasteful spending from both political parties, specifying particular programs whose funding she deemed should be better spent. “We have to acknowledge that both Republicans and Democrats have both done this. The fact that they have done all of this wasteful spending. They did a $2.2 trillion COVID stimulus bill that expanded welfare that left us with 80 million Americans on Medicaid,” Haley said.
DeSantis took a broader approach, discussing increased prices as compared to past years. “The American dream is slipping away. People are working hard. They are getting the most out of their god-given ability … Trying to afford a new home today, your monthly mortgage payment can be twice as much as what it would have been, if you were starting out five years ago. We have to make the economy work for those folks,” he said.
Southern border
The candidates also debated security on the southern border of the country. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas found that, in 2022, “remittances from the U.S. to Mexico reached a record $55.9 billion in 2022.” DeSantis stated that he would place a fee on the money to fund construction of a wall across the border.
“We will build a wall and actually will have Mexico pay for it the way I thought that Donald Trump was. We are going to charge fees on remittances that workers send to foreign countries. We will build the wall. He also promised record deportation. Donald Trump deported fewer people than Barack Obama did when he was president,” he said.
DeSantis also criticized Haley’s old comments regarding immigrants in 2015, claiming that she expressed sympathy for them. “We don’t need to talk about them as criminals. They’re not. They’re families that want a better life and they are desperate to get here,” said Haley, in a 2015 event in Colorado.
Haley defended her statement, while insisting that she didn’t support illegal immigration. “I saw them when I was at the United Nations, I saw them. That doesn’t mean that we should let them into our country … When I was governor of South Carolina, we passed the toughest illegal immigration law in the country … I have always said that we are a country of laws the second we stop being a country of laws we give up everything this country was founded on,” she said.
“What do you admire about the other person on the stage?”
A different question was posed to both candidates during the debate, asking DeSantis and Haley what they most admired about each other.
DeSantis cited Haley’s achievements in serving as an ambassador to the United Nations, as well as the state she served as governor for: South Carolina. “I think that at the United Nations. She spoke out strongly on some key issues and I appreciated that. I also appreciate the state of South Carolina … I think to be able to have been governor there’s a great achievement and I really appreciate everyone I’ve gotten to meet in South Carolina,” he said.
Haley gave a short answer, expressing her admiration for DeSantis’ role as Florida governor. “I think that he has been a good governor,” she said.
Looking forward
During closing statements, Haley cited recent polls that demonstrated she was the best contender to defeat current President Biden in an election. “We can’t go through four more years of chaos and if it’s Donald Trump there will be chaos … I defeat Biden by 17 points, that’s bigger than the presidency. That’s the house, that’s the senate, that’s governorships,” Haley said.
DeSantis, on the other hand, made a plea to Iowa caucus participants, once again referring to his past performance as a governor. “Iowa’s votes do not need to be corrected by any other state, you know what you are doing. We have an opportunity Monday to really change the course of history … I’m the only one that has delivered on 100% of my promises. I’m the only one running who has beaten the left time and time again,” he said.
CNN cancelled the Republican debate originally schedule on Sunday, Jan. 21, citing lack of participation from candidates. Candidate Nikki Haley said she would participate only if former President Donald Trump would — and the latter refused. Ron DeSantis, the only candidate willing to participate, announced the suspension of his campaign the same day.
