DeSantis, Haley assail each other at debate as Trump skips out again

DES MOINES, Iowa - Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley repeatedly accused each other of lying in an acrimonious debate that mixed policy with insults as the two candidates battled to emerge as the top alternative to Donald Trump days before the campaign’s first votes are cast.

But with the former president absent once again from the debate stage, the rivals focused most of their ammunition on each other, rather than the clear front runner in the race.

“We don’t need another mealy-mouthed politician who just tells you what she thinks you want to hear just to try to get your vote, then to get an office and to do her donors’ bidding,” Mr DeSantis said.

In response, Ms Haley touted a website her campaign has created to document what she said were dozens of DeSantis falsehoods and at one point called him “so desperate”.

The two rivals have engaged in an increasingly rancorous battle ahead of Jan 15’s first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses, with little time left to halt Trump’s march toward the nomination.

The former president had the support of 49 per cent of Republicans in a nationwide Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Jan 10, far ahead of Ms Haley in second place at 12 per cent.

For the fifth time, Trump skipped the debate and instead was holding a Fox News town hall nearby in Des Moines, giving him a prime-time platform with a friendly television audience.

The debate took place just hours after former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a fierce Trump critic, announced an end to his own presidential campaign after drawing little support from Republican voters.

“I would rather lose by telling the truth than lie in order to win,” Mr Christie told the audience at a town hall in Windham, faulting his rivals for failing to confront Trump more directly.

Ms Haley and Mr DeSantis both offered only muted criticism of Trump during the debate’s opening hour.

“I agree with a lot of his policies, but his way is not my way,” she said. “I don’t have vengeance, I don’t have vendettas, I don’t take things personally.”

Mr DeSantis listed several examples of campaign promises that he said Trump did not keep: having Mexico pay for a southern border wall, reducing corruption in Washington and lowering the federal debt.

He also faulted Trump for not deporting more migrants who crossed the border illegally.

Later, Ms Haley criticised Trump for calling Jan 6, 2021 – when

a pro-Trump mob stormed the United States Capitol

– a “beautiful day” and said unequivocally that he lost the 2020 election, despite his continued false claims of voter fraud.

Last and best chance

Mr DeSantis was more animated and delivered sharper criticisms on Jan 10 than in previous debates, perhaps more comfortable with only one other competitor on stage after other candidates failed to qualify for the event.

He strove to turn Ms Haley’s foreign policy chops into a weakness, arguing that she has essentially supported an unlimited flood of aid to Ukraine.

“People like Nikki Haley care more about Ukraine’s border than she does about our own southern border, which is wrong,” he said, adding that the US needs to “find a way to end” the war.

Ms Haley offered a lengthy answer on why helping Ukraine repel Russia’s invasion ultimately strengthens US national security by preventing a broader military conflict.

Mr DeSantis, once considered Trump’s top challenger, has seen his campaign struggle amid infighting, while Ms Haley has steadily climbed in polls.

Ms Haley jabbed at Mr DeSantis regarding his candidacy, asking how he intended to run the country when he could not properly manage a presidential campaign.

“He spent more on private planes than on commercials to appeal to voters in Iowa,” she said.

Two surveys released on Jan 9 showed Ms Haley cutting Trump’s lead in the second state due to pick its Republican candidate, New Hampshire, where a primary will be held on Jan 23. Mr DeSantis is trailing in fourth place there, polling averages show, while he and Ms Haley are essentially tied for second in Iowa.

Beating each other out for second place in Iowa will be critical in their efforts to turn the race into a one-on-one match-up against Trump.

The Republican nominee is set to face President Joe Biden in November’s election, where the latest Reuters/Ipsos polling puts Trump and Mr Biden tied at 35 per cent.

Trump’s Iowa campaign has been far more organised and heavily staffed than his 2016 effort, when he placed second in the mid-western state to US Senator Ted Cruz.

Trump mostly has avoided smaller, more intimate gatherings in bars and school gyms, the traditional staple of Iowa campaigns, opting instead to deploy allies to hold such events on his behalf while he headlines large rallies.

Mr DeSantis, meanwhile, is banking his campaign on a strong showing in Iowa. He has visited all 99 counties and has been wooing evangelical Christian voters, a powerful voting bloc in the state.

Ms Haley has pitched voters in Iowa on her more pragmatic approach to issues such as abortion, and on her hawkish foreign policy, a stance at odds with the more isolationist Trump and Mr DeSantis. REUTERS