GOP debate updates: TV ratings plummet as Haley addresses ‘scum’ spat

Chris Christie battled with Morning Joe’s Mika Brzezinski over the issue of abortion on Thursday after a raucous GOP debate the night before reflected on Republican losses on the abortion rights front in Ohio and Virginia.

The former New Jersey governor is a frequent guest of the Morning Joe crew and typically receives a warm welcome on the show; Thursday morning, however, saw him accused of dishonesty by Brzezinski on the issue of abortions in the ninth month of the pregnancy.

Specifically, the MSNBC host claimed that Mr Christie had accused Democrats of supporting limitless abortion that late into the pregnancy.

“I’m not calling you a liar; it’s not honest,” Brzezinski told Mr Christie. She added: “There isn’t abortion in the ninth month.”

John Bowden has the story.

The recent onset of the Israel-Hamas conflict was a major theme of the third Republican primary debate on 8 November, with candidates declaring their support for Israel in varying degrees.

Since the war began in early October, there have been disagreements regarding how the US should back Israel as an ally while also trying to protect the innocent Palestinians caught in the crossfire.

Candidates were under more pressure this time around because they were given more time to answer thoughtfully thanks to the dwindling number of participants who met the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) stricter criteria.

Ariana Baio reports.

Despite the fireworks on stage on Wednesday night, TV ratings slumped to the lowest yet of all three GOP debates to take place in the 2024 cycle.

NBC News announced on Thursday that just 7.51 million viewers tuned in to the network to watch the five candidates.

This marks a significant drop from 9.5 million viewers who watched the second debate on Fox News, Fox Business and Univision in September, which in turn was a sharp decline from 13 million viewers for the first debate in August.

As President Joe Biden likes to remind anyone who will listen, “This is not your grandfather’s Republican Party”.

That has never been more evident than when examining the way the 2024 Republican presidential candidates approach the topic of Ukraine.

Support for Ukraine is dividing the GOP field. Several candidates believe the US should continue to support the war effort – a stance that adheres to more traditional Republican foreign policy beliefs.

For years, leaders in the GOP like George W Bush sounded alarms about Russia and supported Nato membership for Ukraine.

But in more recent years, notably under former president Donald Trump, modern conservatives have embraced isolationism.

A number of other Republican candidates, including Mr Trump – the current frontrunner, have expressed support for this.

This is a rundown of what the GOP presidential candidates have said about Ukraine.

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel called out GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy for a low blow comment he made during the third GOP debate.

The Republican presidential debate took place in Miami on Wednesday night, with just five candidates taking to the stage after former vice president Mike Pence suspended his campaign and front-runner Donald Trump failed to attend.

The debate saw foreign policy issues dominate including the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, all the while the candidates continued to trade insults with each other.

But one particular moment caught the attention of Mr Kimmel, prompting the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host to condemn entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy as a “weird, unlikeable cartoon character of a person”.

Martha McHardy has the story.

Nikki Haley has quickly ascended in the polls, becoming the most likely Republican candidate to serve as the alternative to former President Donald Trump in the 2024 race – albeit still a long way behind the frontrunner.

Ms Haley boasts experience in foreign policy – at a time of extreme international instability – served as UN ambassador in the Trump administration and left, allowing her to align herself on some policies while putting just enough distance from the frontrunner, and served as the governor of South Carolina, an early voting state.

The 51-year-old differs from the bulk of the GOP field when it comes to abortion, social security, and foreign policy.

After three impassioned debate performances, the spotlight continues to shine on her.

Here is a glance at where she stands on the issues.

Ex-UN Ambassador Nikki Haley went after entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy during the third Republican debate in Miami, slamming him for mentioning her daughter’s use of the Chinese-owned app TikTok.

“In the last debate, she 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 said on Wednesday night about the app owned by the company ByteDance, which is based in Beijing.

“Leave my daughter out of your voice. You’re just scum,” Ms Haley responded, with Mr Ramaswamy’s attack leading to boos from the audience.

Gustaf Kilander has the story.

Vivek Ramaswamy was the source of most of the controversial moments at Wednesday night’s debate...

He appeared on Wednesday to call Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish, a “Nazi” during the latest GOP presidential debate.

During a line of comments in which the Republican argued Ukraine is anti-democratic and undeserving of US aid, Mr Ramaswamy claimed, “It has celebrated a Nazi in its ranks – the comedian in cargo pants, a man called Zelensky – doing it in their own ranks. That is not democratic.”

However, the entrepreneur’s campaign later walked back his comments – insisting that he was not calling Mr Zelensky a Nazi but that he stumbled over his words when he tried to comment about someone else.

Josh Marcus reports.

Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel clapped back at Vivek Ramaswamy after he argued that the GOP has done nothing but lose since she took over the party.

“He’s at four per cent. He needs a headline,” Ms McDaniel said on Fox Business Network. She argued that the biotech entrepreneur is “kind of new to the party. He voted for Obama”.

Mr Ramaswamy has said that he didn’t vote in either election that President Barack Obama was on the ballot, according to Reuters.

He voted for the Libertarian Party in 2004, but didn’t vote in 2008, 2012, or 2016, the news agency noted. In 2020, he voted for then-President Donald Trump.

During the third primary debate on Wednesday, Mr Ramaswamy argued that since Ms McDaniel became the chair of the RNC in 2017, the GOP has become the “party of losers”.

Continued...

Despite the fireworks on stage on Wednesday night, TV ratings slumped to the lowest yet of all three GOP debates to take place in the 2024 cycle.

NBC News announced on Thursday that just 7.51 million viewers tuned in to the network to watch the five candidates.

This marks a significant drop from 9.5 million viewers who watched the second debate on Fox News, Fox Business and Univision in September, which in turn was a sharp decline from 13 million viewers for the first debate in August.