News/Commentary

Sparks fly as DeSantis and Haley throw down days before Iowa votes

January 11, 2024 | | Print Article

According to two news sources, there was “no debate” over who won the fifth GOP primary debate on CNN between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and ex-United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley on Wednesday night.

The problem is, the sources can’t agree on who the winner was.

According to the New York Post, “There was no debate about who came out on top in Wednesday night’s head-to-head showdown between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Of the five veteran politics watchers surveyed by The Post, four said Haley was the clear winner.”

But if you glance at the Daily Mail, you’ll read a very different tale: “Ron DeSantis won the Iowa Republican showdown with Nikki Haley on Wednesday evening, according to an exclusive Daily Mail snap poll of viewers which rewarded him for adopting a more aggressive approach. Some 55 percent of respondents said the Florida governor won the debate, while 31 percent said his rival performed better.”

The GOP frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, again declined to debate his opponents and held a Fox News town hall on Wednesday. Meanwhile, candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who failed to poll high enough to qualify for the CNN debate, and his supporter, conservative podcaster Candace Owens, joined independent journalist Tim Pool for a lengthy discussion of the issues.

That left DeSantis and Haley alone to duke it out in front of the Des Moines, Iowa audience just days before Monday’s pivotal primary caucus.

Republican consultant and former Fox News host Bill O’Riley praised Haley, claiming she had “a great night,” The Post reports.

ADVERTISEMENT

“She was sharp, informed, and compelling throughout the night,” O’Riley said. “Her use of ‘DeSantisLies.com’ was a smart rhetorical tactic by her campaign.”

“Few will actually go to the website, but viewers heard that message over and over again,” he added. “She drove it home.”

To hear many on X tell it, Haley “drove it home,” plowed it through the garage, and set it on fire in America’s living rooms.

“Take a drink every time Nikki Hayley says ‘DeSantisLies.com,'” suggested one user.

“Nikki Haley every time she gets called out and doesn’t have a legit response: DeSantisLies.com,” said another. “MAKE IT STOP.”

ADVERTISEMENT

“If Nikki Haley says “gO TO dEsanTis LiEs DoT cOm” one more time I’m gonna lose it,” stated a third.

But, to be fair, DeSantis detractors saw the website as “ingenious.”

ADVERTISEMENT

“Honestly, DeSantisLies.com has to be the most ingenuous thing any of them has done so far in this campaign,” stated one user. “The fact that you can easily fact-check the lying reptile in real-time is sublime politicking.”

DeSantis, according to the Daily Mail, “put on the sort of display that his supporters have wanted to see for months.”

The Florida governor compared his actions against those of Haley when she was governor of South Carolina.

“Nikki Haley campaigned for governor saying she was going to do school choice. She never did it — she caved to the teachers’ unions,” DeSantis wrote on X. “I delivered the biggest school choice expansion in the history of the United States — we beat the teachers’ union.”

ADVERTISEMENT

He vowed to end the “weaponization” of the IRS.

“The IRS has been weaponized against conservatives going back to the Obama administration. No one has been held accountable …” DeSantis said. “The weaponization of federal power ends the day I become president. There’s going to be a new sheriff in town.”

On the subject of immigration, DeSantis said he’ll do what Trump promised but failed to accomplish during his time in the White House.

“We will build the wall,” he said. “We will actually have Mexico pay for it in the way that I thought Donald Trump was. We’re going to charge fees on remittances that workers send to foreign countries, billions of dollars, we’ll build the wall.”

The Florida governor noted that “Trump deported fewer people than Barack Obama did when he was president” and said that the “eight million” people President Biden has let into the country “all have to go back.”

He then warned voters, “Do not trust Nikki Haley with illegal immigration.”

“That’s like having the fox guard the hen house,” DeSantis said.

(Video: YouTube)

“She is bankrolled by people who want an open border, and she said there shouldn’t be a limit on immigration,” he alleged, telling his opponent, “You should work with corporate CEOs.”

Haley hit back, claiming, “When I was governor, we passed the toughest illegal immigration law in the country.”

“Obama sued us over it, and we won,” she stated before repeatedly referring viewers to DeSantisLies.com.

“This is more than him just constantly being desperate and throwing things on me,” Haley said.

James Johnson, cofounder of J.L. Partners, conducted the poll cited by the Daily Mail.

“Though a different, punchier DeSantis was on display last night, this tallies with what we have known for some time,” he told the outlet. “Nationally the Republican primary audience is very socially conservative, does not want the US to get involved in foreign wars, and is one modeled in the image of Donald Trump.”

“DeSantis ticks those boxes more than Haley, and was successful in showcasing those assets last night,” Johnson said. “The question now is whether he can convert his debate boost into a clear second place showing in Iowa.”

Melissa Fine
Latest posts by Melissa Fine (see all)

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles