The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
January 11, 2024

Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis Face Off in 1-on-1 Debate After Chris Christie Withdraws from Race
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron De
Santis squared off at a CNN-hosted debate in Iowa ahead of the state's
January 15 caucus. Republican front-runner Donald Trump, who has yet to
participate in a primary debate, had been invited to attend, but he
opted to take part in a Fox News town hall instead. De Santis criticized
Haley for supporting sending more money and arms to Ukraine.

Gov. Ron De Santis: "She supports this $106 billion that they're trying
to get through Congress. Where is some of that money going? They've done
tens of billions of dollars to pay salaries for Ukrainian government
bureaucrats. They've paid pensions for Ukrainian retirees with your tax
dollars? We've got homeless veterans. We have all these problems. This
is the U.N. way of thinking, that we're somehow globalists and we have
unlimited resources to do. You know, I think here's the problem: You can
take the ambassador out of the United Nations, but you can't take the
United Nations out of the ambassador."

Haley questioned De Santis about whether he was ready to run the
country.

Nikki Haley: "The best way to tell about a candidate is to see how
they've run their campaign. He has blown through $150 million - I don't
even know how you do that - through his campaign. He has nothing to show
for it. He's spent more money on private planes than he has on
commercials trying to get Iowans to vote for him. If you can't manage a
campaign, how are you going to manage a country?"

Hours before the debate, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
dropped out of the race. He was caught on a hot mic saying, "She's going
to get smoked," in an apparent reference to Haley. Christie also
predicted De Santis would drop out after Iowa.

In other Trump news, closing arguments are scheduled for today in New
York in the civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General
Letitia James against Donald Trump. On Wednesday, the judge in the case
struck down a request for Trump to deliver his own closing statement
because the former president's legal team refused to abide by the
judge's restrictions not to turn his remarks into a campaign speech.


.