Vivek Ramaswamy

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      Vivek Ramaswamy drops out of race for 2024 US Republican presidential nomination

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      Vivek Ramaswamy, the youthful entrepreneur who briefly threatened to disrupt the Republican primaries, has suspended his campaign for president, his team said on Monday after disappointing results in the Iowa caucuses.“As of this moment we are going to suspend this presidential campaign”, Ramaswamy said. “There’s no path for me to be the next president absent things that we don’t want to see happen in this country.”Ramaswamy’s withdrawal from the race comes after the 38-year-old failed to build on a strong start to his campaign in a state where he spent significant money and time hoping to gain traction.Virtually unknown before he announced his run for president, Ramaswamy rose to third place in national polls over the summer, amid a slew of appearances on cable news.His popularity, including in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire declined since then, as Donald Trump maintained his convincing lead, and voters gravitated toward candidates with more political experience.Addressing supporters in Iowa on Monday evening, Ramaswamy endorsed Trump. “As I’ve said since the beginning, there are two America first candidates in this race and I called Donald Trump to tell him that.”“I congratulated him on his victory and now going forward he will have my full endorsement for the presidency, and I think we’re gonna do the right thing for this country.”Ramaswamy is scheduled to appear at a Trump campaign event in New Hampshire on Tuesday.Ramaswamy, who made millions of dollars in a career in the biotech industry, became one of the most visible candidates through media appearances and a relentless engagement in culture wars.As the youngest person running for the Republican nomination, and as a son of Indian immigrants, he stood out in a field traditionally populated by older white men. In spite of being the only millennial in the GOP race, he often sought to present himself even further to the right than some of his older Republican rivals.Over the course of his campaign Ramaswamy claimed that the “climate change agenda” was a “hoax”, and said he would increase fossil fuel production, while he also supported a six-week, state-mandated ban on abortion.He was a hardliner on immigration, and said he would “universally” deport all undocumented immigrants – of whom there are believed to be 10 million living in the US – while promising to admit “darn close to zero” refugees.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionHe also suggested sending the US military into Mexico to tackle drug cartels, and said that as president he would cut aid to Ukraine and encourage the country to cede much of east Ukraine to Russia.During his campaign, Ramaswamy became increasingly critical of the Republican party as he sought to stress the differences between himself and candidates who had a longer association with the GOP.“We’ve become a party of losers at the end of the day,” Ramaswamy said during the third Republican primary debate in November.He blamed Ronna McDaniel, the chair of the GOP, for the party losing, or underperforming, in elections since 2017.Yet throughout his campaign, Ramaswamy was far less inclined to criticize Trump, who has been the de facto head of the Republican party across those electoral defeats.Ramaswamy declared that Trump was the best president of the 21st century, and pledged to pardon him if he were elected. More

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      Iowa caucuses 2024: who are the Republican presidential candidates?

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      The Republican race for the 2024 presidential nomination began with a surprisingly large field but has rapidly winnowed down. Now voters are flocking to the Iowa caucuses – the first contest in the process.In a US election, Republican and Democrats hold contests in each state to decide who their nominee will be in the presidential election in November. The winner in each state gets delegates who vote at the party conventions in the summer to choose their nominee. The state elections are usually called primaries with a simple vote, but in some states the election follows a more complex, meeting-based format known as a caucus.So far the 2024 Republican race has been heavily dominated by former US president Donald Trump, who has had a strong poll lead in Iowa itself, as well as in national surveys. Many experts expect a rerun of the 2020 race with Trump facing off against Democratic incumbent Joe Biden for the White House.The trailing pack of Republican candidates has seen numerous highly regarded figures – such as former vice-president Mike Pence and South Carolina senator Tim Scott – drop out. Those remaining have now split into two distinct groups of those who are (just about) potential rivals to Trump and those who are also-rans.Here are the key candidates dueling it out in Iowa:The favoriteDonald TrumpThe former US president’s campaign to retake the White House and once again grab his party’s nomination got off to a slow start that was widely mocked. But his campaign has steadily moved into a position of dominance and never looked likely to be dislodged from that.Trump declined to attend any of the Republican debates, has used his court appearances and many legal woes as a rallying cry to mobilize his base, and has run a surprisingly well-organized campaign. His extremist rhetoric, especially around his plans for a second term and the targeting of his political enemies, has sparked widespread fears over the threat to American democracy that his candidacy represents.His political style during the campaign has not shifted from his previous runs in 2016 and 2020 and, if anything, has become more extreme. Many see this as a result of his political and legal fates becoming entwined with a return to the Oval Office being seen as Trump’s best chance of nixing his legal problems.The potential rivalsNikki HaleyThe former South Carolina governor and ex-US ambassador to the United Nations under Trump has mostly hewed a fine line between being an alternative to Trump, while not outraging his base with too much direct criticism.That has paid off as Haley has shone in debates and worked hard on the campaign trail and risen in the polls to give her a shot at coming second in Iowa and causing an upset in New Hampshire – where she is polling strongly. However, that prominence has now earned Trump’s ire and the two campaigns are openly hurling insults at each other.Ron DeSantisThe rightwing Florida governor was widely seen as the most likely rival to Trump but DeSantis has proved a disaster as a campaigner on the national stage. Positioning himself as an extreme culture warrior, DeSantis has run a campaign of hardcore rightwing politics but he himself has proved a serious turnoff to voters.He has failed to use the debate stage to break through and been subject to a brutal months-long assault from Trump and his surrogates as his stiff campaign trail style damaged his standings. The result has been a prolonged tanking in the polls and Haley has largely overtaken him as the main “non-Trump” candidate.The also-ransVivek RamaswamyThe entrepreneur and extreme Trump fan had a moment in the sun during the early debates where he briefly seemed to be emerging as someone even Trumpier than Trump – but with a younger, more dynamic candidacy. That did not last long though as his poll numbers never caught on and his extremist comments generated endless negative press. He failed to qualify for the final debate.Asa HutchinsonFormer Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson has remained in the race – but few people would really know why. He has not qualified for recent debates and is not expected to make any meaningful impression in Iowa or nationally and frequently dips below 1% in polls. Hutchinson feels like an older school pre-Trump Republican campaigning in a vastly different age from the one where he carved out a career as a traditional conservative.@font-face{font-family:”Guardian Headline Full”;src:url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GHGuardianHeadline-Light.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:300;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:”Guardian Headline Full”;src:url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GHGuardianHeadline-LightItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:300;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:”Guardian Headline 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Full”;src:url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GHGuardianHeadline-SemiboldItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:600;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:”Guardian Headline Full”;src:url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GHGuardianHeadline-Bold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:”Guardian Headline Full”;src:url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GHGuardianHeadline-BoldItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:”Guardian Headline Full”;src:url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GHGuardianHeadline-Black.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:900;font-style:normal}@font-face{font-family:”Guardian Headline Full”;src:url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GHGuardianHeadline-BlackItalic.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:900;font-style:italic}@font-face{font-family:”Guardian Titlepiece”;src:url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.woff2) format(“woff2”),url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.woff) format(“woff”),url(https://interactive.guim.co.uk/fonts/garnett/GTGuardianTitlepiece-Bold.ttf) format(“truetype”);font-weight:700;font-style:normal} More

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      Vivek Ramaswamy stops spending on TV ads weeks before key contests

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      Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican presidential nomination contender and biotech billionaire, has stopped spending on TV ads, it was reported on Wednesday.According to his campaign and analysis from an ad-tracking firm obtained by NBC News, the candidate spent just $6,000 on TV ads last week compared with $200,000 in the first week of December.Still, Ramaswamy’s campaign maintains it is still spending money on ads less than a month before the 15 January Iowa caucuses and the 23 January New Hampshire primary – just not on TV, which is the largest beneficiary of political advertising by medium with as much as $5.1bn estimated for the current US election cycle.In a post on X, Ramaswamy said “presidential TV ad spending is idiotic, low-ROI [return on investment] & a trick that political consultants use to bamboozle candidates who suffer from low IQ”.Tricia McLaughlin, the campaign’s press secretary, told the network that the campaign was “focused on bringing out the voters we’ve identified – best way to reach them is using addressable advertising, mail, text, live calls and doors to communicate with our voters on Vivek’s vision for America, making their plan to caucus and turning them out”.McLaughlin acknowledged that the strategy “isn’t what most campaigns look like” and it was “intentionally structured this way so that we have the ability to be nimble and hypertargeted in our ad spending”.Former president Donald Trump, who built his 2016 campaign using social media and text, reacted to his rival’s change of strategy on Truth Social, writing: “He will, I am sure, Endorse me. But Vivek is a good man, and is not done yet!”Trump has treated the young political neophyte as something of standard bearer, despite being a trailing rival, and has lauded him as winner of Republican TV debates.“Vivek WINS because he thinks I’m great,” Trump remarked after the most recent Republican nomination TV showdown in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, this month. The former president took a swipe at his closest polling rival, Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and US ambassador to the UN, saying: “Birdbrain looked different & lost, but I give her second place.”On X, Ramaswamy indicated that his campaign’s change in strategy was planned.“We’re doing it differently. Spending $$ in a way that follows data … apparently a crazy idea in US politics. Big surprise coming Jan 15,” he said. More

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      Man charged with threatening to kill Vivek Ramaswamy at campaign event

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      A man from Dover, New Hampshire, faces a federal criminal charge after threatening the Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and attendees at a campaign event.The US attorney’s office for New Hampshire said Tyler Anderson, 30, “received a text message from the victim’s campaign notifying him of a political event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.“Anderson responded to the text message on 8 December 2023, stating: ‘Great, another opportunity for me to blow his brains out!’ and ‘I’m going to kill everyone who attends and then fuck their corpses.’”The federal release did not name the candidate or say when the event was but charging documents identified a breakfast meeting on Monday, a time when only Ramaswamy was scheduled to stage such an event in the state.A spokesperson for the biotech entrepreneur told NBC Boston: “Unfortunately it is true. We are grateful to law enforcement for their swiftness and professionalism in handling this matter and pray for the safety of all Americans.”Anderson is charged with transmitting in interstate commerce a threat to injure the person of another, an offense that can lead to a prison sentence of up to five years and a fine of up to $250,000.He was due in court in Concord, New Hampshire, on Monday afternoon.As cited by NBC, charging documents said federal agents searched Anderson’s residence on Saturday, finding guns as well as the phone used to send the texts regarding Ramaswamy.Agents also found threats to another candidate, NBC said, including a promise to “blow that bastard’s head off” and the message: “Thanks, I’ll see you there. Hope you have the stamina for a mass shooting!”Anderson reportedly admitted sending messages to “multiple” campaigns.New Hampshire will hold the second event of the Republican presidential primary, with voting on Tuesday 23 January.The website fivethirtyeight.com gives the former president Donald Trump a comfortable New Hampshire lead over the former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, 44.7% to 18.9%.Ramaswamy shone early in the primary campaign but has fallen back, amid a series of abrasive debate performances. According to fivethirtyeight.com, he now sits fifth in New Hampshire, on 6.7% support, with only the former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson below him. More

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      The Republican debate was another grim exercise in futility and attention-seeking | Lloyd Green

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      On Wednesday night, the Republican party staged its fourth primary debate, the last one before next month’s Iowa caucus.Once again, Donald Trump won in absentia. His repeated absences from these dust-ups have burnished his image among the party faithful. He holds an insurmountable and growing lead. Indictments and headlines have only boosted his popularity. He laps the field, running 40 points ahead of Ron DeSantis nationally. Other than Chris Christie, no one on the stage in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, did anything to alter these realities.Vivek Ramaswamy was his usual loud and attention-seeking self. He loves the sound of his own voice. Yet his boomlet is dead. At this juncture, there is no primary that he can conceivably win. He is killing time, hoping for a spot in a second Trump administration. With the 45th president polling ahead of Joe Biden, it is a reasonable strategy.Ramaswamy tried to take a hatchet to Christie and Nikki Haley, only to bloody himself. His attacks on Haley smacked of sexism. He left the night with little doubt that he really is a bully and a fan of conspiracy theories.Next up, DeSantis, Florida’s hapless governor. Like a chicken with its head lopped off, he staggers aimlessly. His campaign and affiliated political action committee burn through cash with nothing to show for their efforts. On a personal level, he has failed to distinguish himself from Trump other than by claiming greater mental acuity and youthfulness.Months ago, he had a chance to land a meaningful blow on Trump. Instead, he pulled his punches and whiffed. Doubling down as a social warrior has left him in a perpetual state of retrograde. Picking a fight with Disney turned out to be stupid. The company is Florida’s largest employer; everyone loves Mickey Mouse.DeSantis, a Harvard law school graduate with membership in St Elmo, a Yale secret society, has repeatedly demonstrated himself to be tone-deaf, unrelatable and unlikable, the worst sin for any politician.He couldn’t even land a lasting blow on Gavin Newsom, California’s Democratic governor. When the two clashed last week on Fox, DeSantis was forced to defend his own record on abortion, crime and Covid, to the delectation of Trump. Florida really is a place where people go to die.For DeSantis, the Iowa caucus is a must-win contest. If he can’t win there, he can’t win anywhere. According to the latest polls, he trails Trump in Iowa by more than 20 points. The endorsement he received from Bob Vander Plaats, a leading Iowa evangelical, appears to be little more than a headline-grabbing nothing-burger. There is a reason why Haley is poised to overtake him among the Republican also-rans.As for New Hampshire, DeSantis’s brand of social conservatism has found few takers. This is the “Live Free or Die” state, in case he forgot. Regardless, DeSantis gave Trump a pass on pledging to be a dictator, and refused to say whether or not he believed Trump to be unfit to hold office.Turning to Nikki Haley: the fact that she is the darling of the deep-pocketed set should not be confused with popularity among actual rank-and-file voters. Her appeal to the higher-end of the Republican electorate will not be enough to get her first to the finish line; not even close.A November poll out of South Carolina, where Haley served as governor, shows Trump beating her by more than 30 points. In other words, those who know her best don’t appear to like her all that much.Chris Christie, however, may have delivered the evening’s most memorable performance. He labeled Trump a dictator, called him unfit for office, and referred to him as Voldemort – that is, he who must not be named.“I understand why these three are timid to say anything about him,” Christie jibed. “He just said this past week he wants to use [the Department of Justice] to go after his enemies. He is unfit to be president.” Christie also trashed Ramaswamy as an “obnoxious blowhard” and questioned his credentials as a Republican.Yet Christie, too, faces the realities of the primary map. He runs poorly everywhere except New Hampshire. How he can get beyond that small piece of real estate is unclear. With Haley surging, he struggles to retain relevance.Disturbingly, Tom Fitton, the leader of the well-funded, rightwing Judicial Watch, was one of the night’s questioners. He is a Trump lackey who helped script Trump’s defiance. In a 31 October 2020 email, Fitton urged Trump to declare himself the election winner, regardless of the actual outcome.He called for Trump to demand that only votes “counted by the election day deadline” be tallied. Later, Fitton argued that White House records were Trump’s to keep. These days, the 45th president stands under federal indictment in Washington DC for January 6 and in Florida for allegedly absconding with government records.The clock clicks down. The primaries and Trump’s trial dates creep up. The open question is whether Trump prevails in both sets of forums.
      Lloyd Green is an attorney in New York and served in the US Department of Justice from 1990 to 1992 More

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      Republican debate: chaos erupts as Christie defends Haley and Ramaswamy calls her ‘fascist neocon’ with lipstick – as it happened

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      We’ve reached the shouting stage of the debate. It started with Christie trying to defend Haley against Ramaswamy – “This is a smart, accomplished woman and you should stop insulting her” – and descended into a shout-off between the two men.Ramaswamy punched back with a reference to Bridgegate and some casual fat shaming. He then seemed to compare Nikki Haley to Dick Cheney. “You can put lipstick on a Dick Cheney – it is still a fascist neocon,” he said.Haley and DeSantis, who have the most to gain or lose tonight, have bubbled back into the background.That wraps up the fourth Republican primary debate. There was shouting, there was misinformation, and there was a lot of discussion of the one candidate not in the room – Donald Trump.
      Nikki Haley delivered a relatively muted performance, ultimately presenting herself as a calm foil to Trump’s chaos. She arguably had the most to gain – or lose – tonight, given her recent momentum in polls.
      Ron DeSantis doubled down on far-right talking points on transgender rights and immigration, and was feisty in his attacks of Haley, who has been gaining on him.
      Chris Christie was one of the feistiest debaters, coming down especially hard on Trump and DeSantis, whom he accused of parroting the former president.
      Vivek Ramaswamy was characteristically on the attack, swiping especially hard at Haley.
      The moderators posed some of the sharpest questions we’ve yet seen at a Republican debate, asking direct, pointed questions about these candidates’ viability against Trump and their past equivocating.
      Read more:In the final question, the candidates were asked which former president they draw inspiration from.Christie said Ronald Reagan, because he was a “slave to the truth”. Haley said George Washington. DeSantis said Calvin Coolidge, someone who “knew the proper role of the president” and small government. Ramaswamy chose Thomas Jefferson, for his youth.DeSantis promoted the election police force he created.The force arrested 20 people. More than half of the cases have either been dismissed or have resulted in plea deals with no jail time. Several of those charged did not know they couldn’t vote and were not informed of their ineligibility.Turns out Vivek Ramaswamy is still going to be a bully. When a question about Ramaswamy’s swipes about Nikki Haley’s faith and identity as a fellow Indian American arose, he attempted to spin a response into doubts about her authenticity and then tried to redeem sexist comments from past debates.He then held up a sign that said “Nikki = Corrupt”. The audience audibly booed at Ramaswamy, and cheered when Haley said she wouldn’t bother to respond.On gender-affirming care, for example, the candidates repeatedly made reference to “genital mutilation”, baselessly implying that the gender-affirming care – which is endorsed by major medical associations – was abuse.One-upping each other, DeSantis and Haley sparred over who had been more restrictive of the rights of queer people.“I did a bill in Florida to stop the gender mutilation of minors. It’s child abuse, and it’s wrong. She opposes that bill. She thinks it’s fine and the law shouldn’t get involved with it,” DeSantis said.DeSantis took a rare swing at Trump. He said Trump didn’t use his executive powers to fire Dr Anthony Fauci and FBI head Christopher Wray, or to deport even more undocumented migrants. He then mentioned Trump’s age and said the American people shouldn’t vote for someone who is nearly 80.But Christie still pounced on DeSantis, saying he was too scared to directly take on Trump.Discussion had turned back to Trump, and his assertion that he’d restrict immigration from Muslim countries.Haley said she opposed a “straight Muslim ban”, and said policy should focus on countries that are a threat to the US. DeSantis, meanwhile, framed the issue of Muslim people immigrating to the US as a cultural issue.“Look what’s happened in Europe,” he said. “They imported mass numbers of people who reject their culture. Europe is committing suicide with the mass migration.”Echoing a common, xenophobic talking point, he baselessly implied that immigrants were responsible for antisemitism in the EU.Turning to questions of what’s ailing the economy, and what to do about it, the candidates had different theories on the former issue, but few concrete ideas on the latter.Haley said inflation and high interest rates were making it difficult for Americans seeking homeownership. DeSantis said both parties were borrowing, printing and spending too much money, while Ramaswamy said that he wanted to reduce the central bank’s headcount by 90%.Ramaswamy accused China of sending chemicals to Mexico for the manufacture of fentanyl.Here’s more context on that:Picking up a familiar line of attack, DeSantis also attacked Haley as sympathetic to China.This is something he’s attacked her on at previous debates, capitalizing on a letter she wrote to China’s ambassador to the US in 2014, thanking him for congratulating her on her re-election.After a short break, we are back with discussion of fentanyl and the southern border of the US.DeSantis, who had made this a key political issue – flying asylum seekers to Democrat-led areas – said he would make it legal to shoot suspected drug traffickers at the border, whom he would classify as terrorists.We’ve reached the shouting stage of the debate. It started with Christie trying to defend Haley against Ramaswamy – “This is a smart, accomplished woman and you should stop insulting her” – and descended into a shout-off between the two men.Ramaswamy punched back with a reference to Bridgegate and some casual fat shaming. He then seemed to compare Nikki Haley to Dick Cheney. “You can put lipstick on a Dick Cheney – it is still a fascist neocon,” he said.Haley and DeSantis, who have the most to gain or lose tonight, have bubbled back into the background.Haley, meanwhile, has had to clarify her past inscrutable responses to questions about Israel and Hamas.“You said in last month’s debate that by contrast to the Biden administration’s approach to Iran, you would ‘punch them once and punch them hard’. Were you saying that it’s time to bomb Iran?” asked Eliana Johnson.Haley said that’s not what she meant, but that the administration has been too accommodating of Iranians by weakening sanctions to secure the return of American prisoners.So far any discussion on Israel has been focused on the Israelis killed by Hamas in the deadly 7 October attack. The candidates have not mentioned the more than 16,000 people killed largely by Israeli strikes in Gaza, including thousands of children.The next set of questions is about Israel.The question comes on the same day that Senate Republicans blocked a supplemental funding bill that included financial aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, and border security provisions. The vote was held up by Republicans who wanted more stringent border policies in exchange for their support.DeSantis accused the Biden administration of hurting Israel’s ability to defend itself. Christie said he would send troops to save hostages held by Hamas.Kelly is out with another biting question, this time for Chris Christie:“Your best state is New Hampshire and even there, two thirds of GOP voters say they would be angry and disappointed if you won. Respectfully, Governor, you have not stopped Mr Trump, and voters may wonder how you could possibly become the nominee of a party that does not appear to like you very much.”Christie responded that Trump (who he referred to as “Voldemort – he who shall not be named”) was the candidate that everyone here is really competing with. “I’m in this race because the truth needs to be spoken,” he said. “He is unfit. This is a guy who just said this past week that he wants to use the Department of Justice to go after his enemies when he gets in there. And the fact of the matter is, he is unfit to be president, and there is no bigger issue in this race, Megan, than Donald Trump.”“I love all the attention, fellas, thank you for that,” said Haley, as DeSantis and Ramaswamy piled on her about cybersecurity and her corporate donations.Vivek Ramaswamy made a splash in the first Republican debate, but what some considered witty, antiestablishment repartee has now been deemed bullying. A low point for Ramaswamy came after he evoked Nikki Haley’s daughter’s TikTok account in the last debate. As Ramaswamy continues to drop in polls and popularity, some are waiting to see if he will change tact. More

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      Swings, misses but no clear winner: five takeaways from the fourth Republican debate

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      The fourth Republican debate in Alabama featured just four people – winnowing the broad pool down to Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Chris Christie and Vivek Ramaswamy – but once again missing the frontrunner Donald Trump.The debate, hosted by NewsNation and moderated by Megyn Kelly, Elizabeth Vargas and Eliana Johnson, devolved into conspiracy theories and confusing personal attacks despite some clear and forthright questions.With primary elections just weeks away now, the four candidates tried to make their mark on stage yet again, but largely fell short. Here are the key takeaways.When pressed on Trump, the candidates took some swings and many misses at the likely Republican nomineeChris Christie again positioned himself as the anti-Trump candidate, pointing to Trump’s legal issues and calling him a “dictator” who would weaponize the justice department to settle his scores.Haley and DeSantis focused instead on specific policy issues. Haley said she opposed a “straight Muslim ban”. DeSantis avoided saying if Trump was unfit for office, but said the former president had not delivered on several promises, and the American people should want a young president.Christie chided his opponents for continuing to skirt around direct Trump attacks.The Israel-Hamas war once again featured heavily in the debate, largely centered on antisemitismThe candidates, other than Ramaswamy, doubled down on their aggressive, pro-Israel rhetoric. Haley said she would introduce legislation to tie anti-Israel sentiment with antisemitism and made a comparison between pro-Palestinian protests and KKK marches.DeSantis accused Biden of restricting support for Israel (Biden has requested at least $14bn in additional funding for Israel aid) and once again touted his own actions as governor of Florida.Personal attacks were common, and Vivek Ramaswamy was at either end of many of themWith four desperate candidates pulling out all the stunts, Ramaswamy once again stood out for his antics on stage. From holding up a paper saying “Nikki = Corrupt”, to making fat phobic digs at Christie, the entrepreneur attempted to stay relevant, but was met multiple times with audience boos.But there were some other attacks too. Haley and DeSantis, both struggling to save a second-place spot, called each other hypocrites on China policy, transgender issues and other conservative red meat topics.Transgender issues cycled in and out of both the answers and questions in the debate, though the issue doesn’t seem to be a decisive vote winner for most RepublicansDeSantis attacked Haley on a failed “bathroom bill” in South Carolina and touted his own anti-trans bills in Florida. Ramaswamy called transgender identity a mental health issue. Christie attempted to walk the middle road by saying he would let parents decide and stay out of the discussion on whether children should be able to get gender-affirming treatment.There was no clear winnerAll the candidates seemed to do what they were expected to do. Christie focused on his anti-Trump posturing. DeSantis focused on his wins as a governor. Haley played the role of steady conservative hand. And Ramaswamy attempted to make memes and headlines by being a bully and firebrand. More

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      Four Republican presidential hopefuls to meet for fourth debate in Alabama

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      Four White House hopefuls will meet onstage in Alabama for the fourth Republican presidential primary debate, the smallest lineup yet as the window for denting Donald Trump’s lead narrows.Wednesday night’s debate, hosted by the cable network NewsNation at the Moody Music Hall at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, offers one of the last major opportunities for the candidates to make their case to Republican voters before the party’s nominating contest begins next month.The two-hour event will feature Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, and Nikki Haley, a former governor of South Carolina and former United Nations ambassador, who are locked in an increasingly combative scrap to be the second-place alternative to Trump. They will be joined by Chris Christie, a former governor of New Jersey and Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur, who both trail far behind.The three previous debates have so far failed to pull Republican voters away from Trump, who maintains a dominant lead in national and early-state polls with six weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses launch the 2024 GOP nomination calendar.A national Monmouth University poll released on Wednesday before the debate found Trump 40 percentage points ahead of DeSantis, his next closest rival. Nodding to her momentum on the campaign trail, the poll found Haley’s standing rose the most since July, climbing 9 points from 3%.The vast majority of Republican voters said Trump would be their strongest candidate against Joe Biden, including four in 10 Republicans who currently support another candidate. Further complicating their path to the nomination, supporters of Trump’s Republican rivals are divided on whether the remaining candidates should stay in the race or coalesce around a single alternative.“We can parse these numbers until the cows come home, but the results don’t look good for any candidate not named Trump,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.DeSantis, whose campaign has stalled since he entered the race this summer, has staked his campaign’s success on a strong showing in Iowa, which holds its caucuses on 15 January.“We’re going to win Iowa,” DeSantis said during a Sunday interview on NBC’s Meet the Press. “I think it’s going to help propel us to the nomination.”DeSantis earned the high-profile endorsement of Iowa’s Republican governor, Kim Reynolds, and is touting his visits to all of the state’s 99 counties. Yet an NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll released at the end of October showed DeSantis tied for second with Haley in Iowa and lagging far behind Trump.Haley is hoping to build on her campaign’s momentum following a series of strong debate performances. In recent weeks, she has closed in on DeSantis, pulling ahead of him in New Hampshire, while winning over Wall Street donors and racking up endorsements from anti-Trump Republicans, including Americans for Prosperity Action, the political network founded by conservative billionaires, Charles and David Koch.Trump, who faces 91 federal charges in four cases, including his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost, has sought to portray himself as the inevitable nominee. A series of recent polls showed him leading Biden in several swing states even as he continues to articulate an increasingly anti-democratic vision for a second term. In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Tuesday night, Trump vowed to only be a dictator “other than day one”.To qualify for the fourth debate, candidates needed at least 6% support either in two national polls or one national poll as well as two polls from states with early nominating contests. They also needed to have at least 80,000 unique donors, up from 70,000 for last month’s debate.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionAll candidates must also have signed a pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee, which Trump has refused to do. That means the former president, who is trouncing the field in polling and fundraising, technically would not qualify for the debate, even if he chose to attend.Unlike past debates, Trump is not planning to hold a dueling rally at a location near the debate venue. Instead he will spend the evening at a fundraiser in Florida.Earlier this week, North Dakota governor Doug Burgum, who failed to qualify for the third debate and was on track to miss the fourth, suspended his campaign, denouncing the RNC’s “clubhouse debate requirements” that he said were “nationalizing the primary process”.Burgum’s departure came after Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina abruptly ended his campaign, saying that voters “have been really clear that they’re telling me, ‘Not now, Tim.’”Wednesday’s debate will be hosted by Elizabeth Vargas of NewsNation alongside conservative moderators Megyn Kelly, a former Fox News anchor and Eliana Johnson, editor-in-chief of the Washington Free Beacon. More