The fourth Republican presidential primary debate for the 2024 election cycle was held in January, featuring four candidates: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Notably absent from the debate was former President Donald Trump.
The debate, hosted by CNN, was held in Iowa and New Hampshire, two states conducting the opening stretch of the 2024 GOP presidential nomination race. To qualify for participation in the debates, candidates were required to receive at least 10% in three separate national and/or state polls.
The debate covered a wide range of topics, including LGBTQ+ rights, Israel, immigration, corruption, elections, policy and legislation, gun violence, abortion, climate change, and foreign policy. The candidates also criticized each other, with Ramaswamy and DeSantis attacking Haley, and Christie defending Haley.
In addition to the policy discussions, the candidates also discussed their inspirations for their possible future administrations. Interestingly, none of them named former President Donald Trump as an inspiration. The debate was marked by pointed questions from the moderators and fiery exchanges among the candidates.
The battle for second place between Haley and DeSantis was expected to intensify during the debate. Ramaswamy, who has aligned himself closely with Trump, planned to be frank in his responses. The moderators for the debate were Elizabeth Vargas, Megyn Kelly, and Eliana Johnson.
The debate was fact-checked by PolitiFact, which scrutinized the claims made by the candidates on a wide range of topics. The fact-checking report did not find any major deceptions or contradictions in the candidates' statements.
