GOP debate updates: TV ratings plummet as Haley addresses ‘scum’ spat
Five candidates faced off in the NBC News-hosted event in Miami, Florida
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The third Republican primary debate at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Florida, featured a number of contentious exchanges over candidates’ policies and records with even the moderators and RNC chair Ronna McDaniel coming under fire early on.
Five candidates qualified for the showdown, broadcast by NBC News – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, biotech entrepreneur and woke-bashing author Vivek Ramaswamy, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
Former President Donald Trump also qualified but did not attend, instead speaking at a rally in nearby Hialeah, Florida.
There were a number of fiery tussles throughout the evening including when Mr Ramaswamy was booed by the crowd for an attack on Ms Haley’s daughter with the former UN ambassador calling him “scum” in response — many agreed with her assessment.
Despite the fireworks, TV ratings slumped to the lowest yet in the 2024 cycle, with just 7.51 million viewers tuning in, according to NBC News.
The next debate is set for 6 December in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and will be hosted by NewsNation.
Election officials in five states receive letters containing substances including fentanyl
Election officials are keeping a watchful eye on letters that arrive after a series of envelopes containing suspicious substances were sent to officials in Georgia, Nevada, California, Oregon and Washington this past week.
Several election offices reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and US Postal Service Inspection Service that they received envelopes containing a “white powdery substance” and a threatening note about elections.
In Pierce County, Washington the auditor’s office shared a letter accompanied by the suspicious substance that read “End elections now”, according to The Associated Press.
Another “very similar” letter sent to the elections office in King County, Washington during the August primary contained fentanyl, elections director Julie Wise said.
Ariana Baio reports.
Letters containing suspicious substances sent to election officials in five states
Tuesday’s elections brought increased threats on election officials and workers across the country
Five key takeaways from the third GOP debate
The third Republican primary debate was an ugly slugfest reminiscent of the earliest Trump debates of 2015 — except the former president wasn’t even there.
A group of five candidates, minus their party’s frontrunner, appeared onstage Wednesday evening in Miami for what was billed as a presidential debate but in the end may have just been an exercise in futility, given the continued dominance of Donald Trump in every available poll of the GOP primary.
What transpired over two hours served as a reminder of what Mr Trump has done to this party, and raised the question of whether his shadow will loom over Republicans long after he fades from relevance.
Let’s look at the main takeaways from Wednesday’s showdown:
Third GOP debate: Five key takeaways
Another Trumpless debate poses the question: When does any of this start to matter?
Voices: GOP grapples with election losses: ‘It just means that the Republican platform sucks’
Eric Garcia writes:
“It just means that the Republican platform sucks, and that's not what America wants,” Sen John Fetterman (D-PA) told The Independent. Mr Fetterman, of course, largely won his Senate seat in Pennsylvania last year on the back of the Dobbs backlash, especially when his Republican opponent, celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz said that “women, doctors, local political leaders” should make decisions on abortion.
“And unfortunately, the states have to rebuild abortion in after the Supreme Court, but that's exactly what they're doing because that's what the people want,” he said.
And Republicans seem to understand that abortion motivates voters. Sen Thom Tillis (R-NC) tried to note that all three contests were low-turnout races. But he also warned that this could lead to Democrats putting more abortion referendums on state ballots come 2024.
‘You’re just scum’
The 2024 Republican candidates turned on each other in Donald Trump’s absence during a spirited third GOP debate on Wednesday with former UN ambassador Nikki Haley branding Vivek Ramaswamy “scum”.
The tech entrepreneur was booed by the crowd in Miami after attacking Ms Haley’s daughter during a heated exchange over security concerns about TikTok and China – a touchy topic of previous debates.
“In the last debate, [Ms Haley] made fun of me for actually joining TikTok while her own daughter was actually using the app for a long time so you might want to take care of your family first,” Mr Ramaswamy shot at Ms Haley.
The former UN ambassador responded furiously, “Leave my daughter out of your voice.”
As the crowd booed, Ms Haley shook her head, adding: “You’re just scum.”
Ariana Baio reports.
Haley lashes out at ‘scum’ Ramaswamy for daughter swipe at GOP debate
Questions about TikTok opened the door for one of the messiest exchanges of the night between Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy
Full story: Third GOP debate brought in lowest ratings yet
The third Republican presidential primary debate only drew in about 7 million viewers, making it the least-watched debate of the election season this year.
The NBC News broadcast aired during primetime, between 8pm and 10pm on Wednesday, and delivered 6.8m television viewers, of which 1.3m were in the 25-54 age demographic favoured by advertisers, according to Nielsen Media Research. All told including streaming, NBC News said it attracted about 7.5 million viwers.
The viewership data does not include those who watched the event on streaming services or viewed clips on social media and video streaming sites like YouTube.
Your guide to the winners and losers of the GOP debate
Republican presidential candidates descended on Miami for a debate on Wednesday – and the third one without former president Donald Trump sharing the stage.
All of the Republican candidates continue to trail behind the twice-impeached, four-times-indicted former president. Still, some of the sharpest exchanges took place when discussing foreign policy, the Israel-Hamas war, Russia’s incursion into Ukraine and China’s rising influence. Many of the Republican presidential candidates once again attacked Vivek Ramaswamy as the millennial businessman came out swinging.
Here are the winners and losers from the third Republican debate.
Who won the third GOP debate? Your guide to the winners and losers
Nikki Haley has a breakout night as Republicans pile on Vivek Ramaswamy
White House says ‘Biden’s values won big’ after making gains on election day
The White House said Joe Biden’s “values and agenda won big” across the US as the Democrats won a number of key races ahead of next year’s presidential election on Tuesday night. Mr Biden’s party won critical races in Virginia and Pennsylvania, while Democratic governor Andy Beshear was re-elected in Kentucky. “President Biden’s values and agenda won big across the country last night,” Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said. “In Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, voters once again sided with President Biden’s agenda to stand up for fundamental freedoms, build an economy for the middle class and protect democracy.”
Trump slams ‘weak and ineffective’ GOP rivals at rally
Donald Trump has slammed his “Weak and ineffective” Republican rivals for the party’s presidential nomination as he again skipped the latest GOP debate.
The former president urged the party establishment to ditch his opponents and get behind his campaign to try and retake the White House in 2024.
“You have about seven or eight candidates left. I think they are at a debate tonight no one is talking about it, everyone is watching…it’s 61 per cent for your favourite president – me – 10 per cent for Ron DeSanctimonious and 7 per cent for Bird Brain (Nikki Haley),” said Mr Trump at his counter-programming debate in Hialeah, Florida, on Wednesday evening.
“Our nation is in very serious trouble and it is time for the Republican establishment to stop wasting time and resources trying to push weak and ineffective RINOs and Never Trumpers that nobody wants and nobody is going to vote for.
“I watched these guys coming in and they are not watchable. The last debate was the lowest-rated debate in the history of politics, so do you think we did the right thing by not participating?”
Moms for Liberty and the ‘parental rights’ agenda enter flop era
Right-wing activists using local school board races to push for greater control of public education didn’t make a dent in Tuesday’s election results.
One year away from the 2024 presidential election, voters largely rejected candidates backed by groups like Moms for Liberty that have aligned with GOP campaigns to undermine public education and restrict access to books, classroom materials and honest discussions of race, racism, LGBT+ people and gender and sexuality.
Moms for Liberty founder Tiffany Justice told former Trump aide-turned-podcaster Steve Bannon this week that the organisation has helped elect 365 candidates to local school boards within the last two years.
The group added 50 on Tuesday – among more than 24,000 seats up for election this year.
Alex Woodward reports.
Moms for Liberty and the ‘parental rights’ agenda flopped in 2023
Voters rejected school board candidates using ‘manufactured’ culture wars to win elections
What do the off-year election wins mean for Democrats and Biden heading into 2024?
Democrats breathed a collective sigh of relief as last night’s election results rolled in.
In nearly every one of the states that hold their electoral contests in odd-numbered years — Virginia, Kentucky, and a handful of others — Democrats came up winners by impressive margins.
What off-year election wins mean for Democrats and Biden heading into 2024
Analysis: The election results were largely favourable to Democrats, with the exception of Mississippi
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