On Nov. 8, the third Republican Debate featured Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Fla.
Previously, the second Republican Debate featured North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum — who did not meet the polling threshold to qualify for the third debate — and former Vice President Mike Pence, who suspended his campaign on Oct. 28.
“I wanted to see where everybody was standing. As far as from the last debate to now, I was expecting to see a little bit of tension between Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, and that is what I did see. And this time around, I was expecting to see a little bit less tension between Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley and that was very evident, but I was shocked at the fact that there was such a low attendance,” United States Government Honors teacher Kailey Almonte said.
Below are the main topics discussed in the debate:
Foreign Policy
All five contenders expressed their support for Israel amidst the Israel-Hamas War, condemning all anti-Semitism taking place, specifically on U.S. college campuses.
However, contenders did not have the same views regarding the Russia-Ukraine War; Haley, Scott and Christie all supported the idea of backing military support to Ukraine. On the other hand, Ramaswamy did not support the idea of more funding for Ukraine, calling the country “undemocratic” and saying that “Ukraine is not a paragon of democracy.” DeSantis expressed skepticism about the money that the U.S. had been sending Ukraine and focused on wanting to end the war.
Abortion
Just following the passage of the Ohio voter’s constitutional amendment, allowing access to abortion and other reproductive health care, Republican contenders were asked about their stances on abortion rights. DeSantis, who has signed a six-week abortion bill into law, acknowledged that all states deal with the issue differently, but disagreed with allowing abortions without time restrictions. Haley encouraged finding a consensus on the issue between the two political parties in the Senate, while Scott called abortions “unethical and immoral.” Ramaswamy and Christie both agreed that abortion should be left to federal governments, but Ramaswamy stated he would not sign a national ban into place.
Social Security
During the debate, contenders addressed whether they would make any reforms to social security, including the potential raise in age of retirement. Both Christie and Haley advocated raising the retirement age and limiting payments to the wealthy. Scott and DeSantis argued they could increase economic growth by keeping the retirement age as it is currently. Ramaswamy suggested he could save the Social Security program through large-scale spending cuts.
TikTok
TikTok, a video app owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has become a pressing issue in the U.S., with attempted bans on the app, claiming it has stolen user’s data. When asked about TikTok and how he would restrict an app he uses, Ramaswamy pivoted the focus to Haley, accusing her daughter of having used the app. The rest of the contenders vowed to ban TikTok, citing not only national security concerns but also anti-Semitic content on the app.
“Definitely because of the way that the times are, speaking about foreign policy is obviously important, but definitely the safety of the nation regarding our artificial intelligence, social media and so on,” Almonte said.
