This Wednesday, December 6, Republican presidential candidates Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Nikki Haley and Chris Christie appeared at the fourth Republican debate organized by NewsNation at the Moody Music Hall at the University of Alabama in the city of Tuscaloosa.
The winners of the night were clear: DeSantis, governor of Florida, and Ramaswamy, the 38-year-old millennial businessman who is making waves on social media, took down the former UN ambassador and the former governor of New Jersey tonight with several truly savage attacks.
The Republican governor, for example, drew applause from the public when he clearly exposed Christie after recalling that the governor of New Jersey is in favor of sex change surgeries for minors.
“[Parents] do not have the right to abuse your kids. This is mutilating these minors,” DeSantis said, refuting the argument of Christie, who said he opposed state laws against transgender surgeries because it meant a greater government presence in people’s lives. “These are irreversible procedures and this is something that other countries in Europe like Sweden — once they started doing it they saw it did incalculable damage they’ve shut it down.”
As a parent, you do not have the right to abuse your kids. pic.twitter.com/HgJ4qhTJp2
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) December 7, 2023
DeSantis shined with several interventions throughout the night, recalling, for example, his promise to hold federal government agencies accountable for their handling of the COVID-19 crisis. Florida’s governor noted that while states locked down citizens and forced them to take mandatory vaccines, the individual freedoms of Floridians were respected under his watch.
We need a reckoning for what this government did during COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/Hca1aFE4FL
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) December 7, 2023
Likewise, he drew applause when he advocated cleaning up security agencies, such as the FBI: “I used to have such a high regard for these agencies. What they did to Donald Trump with the Russia Collusion was one of the biggest abuses of power in the history of our country. These agencies need to be cleaned out.”
DeSantis: "I used to have such a high regard for these agencies. What they did to Donald Trump with the Russia Collusion was one of the biggest abuses of power in the history of our country. These agencies need to be cleaned out." pic.twitter.com/yS3Aub6Vkm
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) December 7, 2023
DeSantis also launched several attacks on former ambassador Haley, who is currently competing with the governor for second place in polls that show former President Donald Trump as the clear favorite.
On one occasion, Haley wanted to attack DeSantis by falsely claiming that the governor did not sign a law prohibiting biological “trans” men from entering the women’s bathroom; DeSantis gave a seething response: “You killed it. I signed it. I stood up for little girls — you didn’t.”
I stood up for little girls — Nikki Haley didn’t. pic.twitter.com/XNVRV2nToE
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) December 7, 2023
However, despite the multiple clashes between DeSantis and Haley, perhaps where the governor came out best was when he criticized the former ambassador’s plan to eliminate the figure of anonymity from social networks.
The governor of Florida argued that many Americans have been canceled or even imprisoned for what they say on social media and that Haley’s plan would be turned “to weaponize that against our own people” by the “regime.” The public once again applauded the governor.
WATCH: Gov. Ron DeSantis scathes Haley over her social media de-anonymize plan
"'All social media - I want your name' [...] You can roll the tape."
"You know the regime would use that to weaponize that against our own people." pic.twitter.com/qeV2MU5XWB
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) December 7, 2023
A bright night for Ramaswamy but a gloomy one for Haley
Although Christie did not perform well in the debate, it is also a fact that he was the candidate who had the least at stake. Instead, Haley, who had been building momentum in the electoral race with the strong financial support of the Koch brothers and some favorable polls, had to endure Vivek Ramaswamy’s incessant and effective attacks.
The 38-year-old businessman, perhaps the only Republican candidate who can genuinely be described as an “outsider,” attacked Haley for her intellectual “dishonesty,” pointing out that, despite her career at the UN, she cannot sustain the argument that she is a foreign policy expert.
The businessman proceeded to compare Haley to Biden, noting that “Neither of them could even state for you three provinces in eastern Ukraine that they want to send our troops to actually fight for.”
Haley was unable to respond to Ramaswamy’s comment.
Vivek Ramaswamy: "One thing that Joe Biden and Nikki Haley have in common is that neither of them could even state for you three provinces in eastern Ukraine that they want to send our troops to actually fight for." pic.twitter.com/ENGL3H0j8T
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) December 7, 2023
“Reject this myth that they’ve been selling you that somebody had a cup of coffee stint at the UN and then makes 8 million bucks after has real foreign policy experience,” added the businessman, who at another point in the debate accused Haley of gaining wealth thanks to her position in the United Nations.
Vivek goes scorched earth on Nikki Haley and the establishment GOP:
"Nikki, you were bankrupt when you left the UN. Now you're a multi-millionaire, that math does not add up. When I said they were bought and paid for, I meant the Republican establishment, not the Democrats." pic.twitter.com/YXj0NKaVw6
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) December 7, 2023
“Nikki, you were bankrupt when you left the UN. Now you’re a multi-millionaire, that math does not add up. When I said they were bought and paid for, I meant the Republican establishment, not the Democrats,” Ramaswamy said.
In another epic moment of the night, the outsider, instead of winning applause, earned boos from the audience when he took out a sign that said “Nikki equals corrupt.”
“Nikki is corrupt. This is a woman who will send your kids to die so she can buy a bigger house,” Ramaswamy said in what was possibly the bloodiest attack of all the Republican primaries. A tactic that seems taken from the “Trump 2016” manual, when the then-Republican candidate swept all the candidates of the Republican establishment.
One of the most noteworthy moments of the night when Vivek Ramaswamy attacks Nikki Haley:
"Nikki is corrupt. This is a woman who will send your kids to die so she can buy a bigger house."
pic.twitter.com/wNgme43DBX— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) December 7, 2023
