The debate is hosted by News Nation in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
In the fourth Republican Presidential Debate, four candidates are up against each other to secure a spot as the party’s presidential candidate through a stringent selection process. Indian-American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie are on stage for the face-off.
Indian-American Vivek Ramaswamy and Ron DeSantis are leading the fourth Presidential Debate, with Mr Ramaswamy taking the lead regarding speaking time just 30 minutes into the debate. The debate is hosted by News Nation in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
As of 7:44 am (IST), a close contest is taking place between Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy, with almost similar speaking times. Speaking time is not the sole metric to judge a candidate’s ability. More speaking time and convincing arguments can help sway public opinion in the candidate’s favour during the voting process.
Nikki Haley defended her decision to accept corporate money and is emerging as the top target of her rivals during the fourth Republican presidential debate.
The Republican debate started with a pile-up of allegations against Nikki Haley, with Ron DeSantis attacking Ms Haley, saying, “She caves anytime the left comes after her,” CNN reported and said he is the only candidate who has delivered against the democrats. Nikki Haley responded to the allegations and said, “He is lying about her track record”.
Vivek Ramaswamy attacked Ms Haley for acting on the will of the donors and said she had joined the board of Boeing after stepping down as US ambassador to the United Nations and gave paid speeches “like Hillary Clinton”.
A heated back and forth was seen between Vivek Ramaswamy, the leading candidate in the fourth debate and Chris Christie. The former Governor accused Mr Ramaswamy of changing his positions in the Ukraine war and said his plan for resolving the war in Ukraine was to give Russia all the territory it had seized in Ukraine. The Indian-American entrepreneur said this is not what he proposed.
“You do this at every debate. You go out on the stump and you say something, all of us see it on video, we confront you on the debate stage, you say you didn’t say it, and then you back away,” Mr Christie responded.
Chris Christie also questioned his opponents over their stance on sending US troops to Gaza in the ongoing war in the region and said he would “absolutely” send US troops to rescue American hostages and slammed Ron DeSantis for not responding to the question directly. Like the previous three Republican debates, Christie is after former US President Donald Trump, who is hoping for a Republican ticket to contest for another term and questioned his opponents on why they are not discussing Trump.
“Truth needs to be spoken. He is unfit,” Chris Christie said on Trump’s Republican ticket hopes and referred to him as Voldemort – the antagonist in J.K. Rowling’s series “Harry Potter,” CNN reported.