Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley go for it during the first Republican presidential primary debate hosted by Fox News.Credit:AP
This set off Pence,Christie and Haley,with the former UN ambassador pointing to thedeath of Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin as she declared that Putin was a killer and that Ukraine was “the first line of defence for us”.
“He wants to hand Ukraine to Russia. He wants to let China eat Taiwan. He wants to go and stop funding Israel. You don’t do that to friends... You have no foreign policy experience and it shows,” she told Ramaswamy as he repeatedly attempted to talk over her.
Abortion was also a divisive issue for the candidates,with DeSantis toutinghis six-week abortion ban in Florida,while Pence called for a 15-week national ban.
This prompted Haley to try to put a stop to it.
Chris Christie (left),Mike Pence,Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy at the first Republican presidential debate,which was skipped by Donald Trump.Credit:Bloomberg
“We need to stop demonising this issue. A federal ban would take 60 Senate votes and a majority of the House. So in order to do that,let’s find consensus … let’s treat this like the respectful issue that it is and humanise the situation.”
To qualify for the debate,candidates had to meet the Republican National Committee’s rules,which include getting at least 1 per cent in two national polls and at least 40,000 unique donors,as well as signing a pledge to support the person who eventually wins the nomination.
Those who qualified were Trump,DeSantis,Pence,Haley,Ramaswamy,Christie,Hutchinson,senator Tim Scott and current North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.