Republican presidential candidates gathered in Miami on Wednesday for their third debate, minus former President Trump, who is polling higher than all his rivals put together—and for the third time, Trump was widely seen as a winner. While Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Tim Scott discussed issues including foreign policy, Trump held a raucous rally in nearby Hialeah. During the debate, criticism of the frontrunner was largely restrained, with the five candidates focusing on attacking each other. More:
- Nikki Haley. The New York Times describes her as a "power center" on the stage who delivered a "forceful performance that took advantage of the night's focus on foreign policy to present a clear and hawkish vision of America's role in the world." The former US ambassador to the UN is battling it out with DeSantis for the No. 2 spot in the polls, and her rising profile made her a target for other candidates including Ramaswamy, which led to one of the night's more memorable exchanges.