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Donald Trump was the winner simply by staying away and the nation gave a collective yawn when the fourth Republican debate failed to disrupt the highest levels of television viewership.
You could be forgiven for thinking that Wednesday’s showdown in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, was just like the rest: Republican hopefuls fighting each other without any of them having done enough to have a decisive moment.
But with the smallest debate field yet and 40 days before the pivotal Iowa caucuses, it was one of the last, best opportunities to showcase political beliefs.
And sometimes there was as much light as heat.
These are the conclusions of the fourth Republican debate:
And then there were four. Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy took the stage for the fourth Republican presidential debate in Alabama on Wednesday.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley endured a night of attacks, indicating her rivals considered her the most dangerous candidate on stage.
Haley is seen as the clear danger.
Not because he had a good night (although he did), but because during stretches of the night the former South Carolina governor was the main focus of attack, particularly by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and technology entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. .
“I love all the attention guys, thanks for that,” he said.
DeSantis accused Haley of not supporting a ban on gender-based health care for young people and opposing bathroom laws when she was governor, both of which she denied.
And he questioned whether she would act in the best interests of ordinary Americans or Wall Street donors.
“We know from her history that Nikki will defer to those big donors when necessary and that is not acceptable,” DeSantis said.
Ramaswamy hit her even harder, also mentioning her support from big donors and her time on Boeing Co.’s board, and suggesting she was bankrupt when she left office.
“Added to that is the fact that you are corrupt,” he said.
Haley was ready for that line of attack.
“And in terms of these donors who support me, they’re just jealous,” he told the audience. “They wish they were supporting them.”
The attacks and her responses made her the center of attention of the night, and her name led candidate searches on Google for most of the night, according to the analytics service Google Trends.
Democrats won’t get help to take down Trump
Another good night for former President Donald Trump, while most of his rivals get tangled up in questions about the favorite for the Republican nomination.
Democratic strategists have been expecting a difficult Republican primary, in which rivals conspire with each other to weaken the eventual candidate.
Just one problem: Donald Trump’s power means that three of the four people on stage Wednesday avoided a frontal attack on the front-runner for fear of alienating his base.
Chris Christie was the exception, as he has been throughout the race. He called Trump a “dictator and bully.”
He also pointed out the reluctance of his rivals.
“We’re 17 minutes into this debate and… we’ve had these three acting like this race is between the four of us,” he said before describing how he was treated like “Voldemort” in the Harry Potter stories. , and everyone is reluctant to say his name.
He was later booed when he said Trump would be convicted, and his rivals met most of his comments with silence.
At one point, Haley joined the criticism, saying Trump had not been tough enough on China.
But the moderators let everyone off the hook and didn’t return to the topic until after an hour of debate.
Ramaswamy is a conspiracy theorist
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy exposed a series of conspiracy theories
The biotech entrepreneur has thrilled viewers during previous debates by being the loudest voice in the room and the Trumpiest of the candidates.
On Wednesday he took things to the next level in what might after all be his last appearance on the national debate stage.
He claimed that the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol was an “inside job” and not an assault by Trump supporters, an idea propagated by the far right but widely discredited.
“That the government lied to us for 20 years about Saudi Arabia’s involvement in 9/11,” he said, citing another conspiracy theory that lacks evidence, before moving on to a theory popular on Fox News that Democrats They are welcoming illegal ethnic minorities. to maintain their control of power.
‘That the great replacement theory is not some grand right-wing conspiracy theory, but a basic statement of the Democratic Party platform.
‘That the 2020 elections were really stolen by big tech companies, that the 2016 elections, the ones Trump won, for sure, were also stolen by the national security establishment in the Trump-Russia collusion hoax that they knew that was false. .’
These are all ideas spread in dark corners of the Internet, but they lack evidence.
Christie thinks her rivals are idiots
Christie had to bide her time, but for much of the night she dominated proceedings.
It took almost 14 minutes for the former governor of New Jersey to be called to speak.
“I’m not normally someone to be missed, but okay, let’s go,” he said.
Until that moment he leaned on his lectern watching the other three candidates with a bewildered expression on his face.
And then he left. He aimed his fire at those around him and called Ramaswamy “the most detestable braggart in America.”
He attacked DeSantis, as the Florida governor waffled on a question about whether Trump was fit to be president. “He doesn’t want to answer,” Christie said, pointing to what everyone could see.
The only person he didn’t attack was Haley. In fact, she came to her defense, if only to confront the savage Ramaswamy who had questioned his intelligence.
“The only thing he knows how to do, the only thing he knows how to do, is insult good people,” Christie said, before stating that he has known Haley for 12 years, longer since Ramaswamy has been a Republican.