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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (NewsNation) — The fourth Republican presidential debate centered on the viability of the four candidates on stage to mount a serious threat to front-running former President Donald Trump. You can read NewsNation’s full recap here.
The candidates each took turns attacking the others’ credibility on dinner table issues and personal grounds. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy said former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was an identity-politicker too corrupt to trust. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the other candidates were too afraid of offending Trump to trust in a room with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
There were moments of policy discussion, such as DeSantis calling on universities to back student loans, Christie cautioning against government getting involved in gender-affirming care (which inspired a quick rebuke from his opponents), Haley rejecting calls for bombing Iran in response to the Oct. 7 violence in Israel, Ramaswamy calling for the strong defense of Taiwan against China and the candidates agreeing quick action on the border is needed.
Below is our live blog for the debate, featuring regular updates and analysis from a team of journalists from NewsNation, our sister publication The Hill and The Dispatch.
Providing expert analysis are David M. Drucker, senior writer for The Dispatch, and Jesse Byrnes, senior editor for The Hill. They will add regular political insight and analysis throughout the debate. You’ll see additional updates from Tulsi Kamath, managing editor of digital for NewsNation, about the scene in Alabama, and regular summaries of the questions and candidate responses and additional context from NewsNation Digital Producers Tyler Wornell, Steph Whiteside and Damita Menezes.
We’ll also follow your commentary through social media about tonight’s debate. We’ll be watching the hashtag: #GOPDebate. Use it as you post about tonight’s debate, and we may incorporate your comments into our coverage.
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Ahead of the 2024 election, NewsNation is committed to covering the issues that matter most to voters so they can make the most informed choices possible at the polls. You can read the policy breakdowns of the GOP candidates running for the White House as well as that of incumbent Democratic President Joe Biden:
- Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley
- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
- Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy
- Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
- Former President Donald Trump
- Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson
- President Joe Biden
Our voter guide also compares policy issues that stand out to constituents and the latest polls that predict where each candidate currently stands. Some of the issues we are looking at include:
Four candidates will be on the debate stage tonight: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Candidates’ positions on the stage have been determined by their polling numbers. Currently, DeSantis leads among the four but trails former President Donald Trump, who is skipping the debate.
Haley’s poll numbers have surged in recent weeks, vaulting her into the No. 2 spot on the stage and No. 3 in national polling. Ramaswamy and Christie sit behind her.
To qualify for the fourth debate, candidates needed at least 6% support in two national polls or 6% in one national poll as well as two polls from four of the early-voting states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. All the polls used for qualification must have been approved by the Republican National Committee.
The White House hopefuls also needed at least 80,000 unique donors, with at least 200 of those coming from 20 states or territories. They also had to sign an RNC pledge promising to support the party’s eventual nominee.
This is the final Republican debate before the Iowa caucuses in January.