With voting set to start in the 2024 Republican primary in less than six weeks, four of the top candidates again took the stage for a debate — this time on Wednesday night in Tuscaloosa, Alabama — and the event proved to be fiery.
Hosted by NewsNation and moderated by Elizabeth Vargas, Megyn Kelly, and Eliana Johnson, the debate featured Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. The primary’s front-runner, former President Donald Trump, continued to skip the event despite criticism from his rivals. He was fundraising in Florida.
Ramaswamy, who has described himself as the candidate who embraces a disruptive (even provocative) style on stage, got into his share of back-and-forths during the debate and ended up with the most approximate speaking time, according to ABC News count.
DeSantis trailed very closely behind, and then Haley and Christie were close together in their amounts — but with more than four minutes less, each, than Ramaswamy and DeSantis.
Haley, in her closing statement, said America under the Biden administration was a country “in chaos.”
But — “That’s what Donald Trump gives us,” she said. “My approach is different: no drama, no vendettas, no whining.”
In his closing remarks, Christie contended that Trump will be a felon by November 2024 given the four criminal cases against him. He has pleaded not guilty.
“I want you to have all kinds of pictures in your mind on Election Day. You’ll all be heading to the polls to vote. And that is something Donald Trump will not be able to do because he will be convicted of felonies before then and his right to vote will be taken away,” Christie said.
The statement drew loud boos from the crowd — a recurring theme for Christie’s comments about Trump.
Source-ABC
