A look at exchanges between the two candidates on abortion, immigration and the war in Ukraine.
Des Moines, Iowa — In a CNN debate Wednesday night with just days before the Iowa caucuses, former U.S. United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis accused each other of lying in their attacks on each other and of shifting their positions on certain issues.
Groups tied to both candidates have been spending millions of dollars on attack ads in Iowa leading up to Monday’s caucuses and a majority of the topics in those ads – such as each others‘ records on China, taxes and – were points of contention on the stage at Drake University Wednesday night.
In 16 instances, according to the CNN transcript, Haley pointed to her campaign’s creation of a website, „Desantislies.com,“ featuring fact checks on attacks from DeSantis.
„You’re gonna find out tonight that there’s gonna be a lot of Ron’s lies that have happened. There’s at least a couple of dozen so far that he’s done. What we’re going to do is, rather than have him go and tell you all these lies, you can go to ‚DeSantislies.com,'“ she said. „Every time he lies, Drake University, don’t turn this into a drinking game because you will be overserved by the end of the night.“
DeSantis pointed to his own campaign’s website and repeatedly said there was video of Haley making comments about immigration, China and state taxes. Haley is a former governor of South Carolina.
„One good rule of thumb – if she says she’s never said something, that definitely means she’s said it,“ DeSantis said. After the debate, DeSantis deputy campaign manager David Polyansky referred to Haley’s repeated mention of the website as a „crutch.“
„That’s a tool we use in this business for congressional races and sometimes Senate campaigns. On the presidential stage, if you rely on it 12 times in a debate, that’s … not a tool, it’s a crutch,“ Polyansky asserted.
Some context on some of the attacks between the two:Abortion
Earlier this week on a Fox News town hall, DeSantis said Trump „is not pro-life“ and brought up Trump’s comment that Florida’s six-week ban is a „terrible, terrible“ thing. Asked if she agreed with DeSantis, Haley said she thought Trump „did some pro-life things when he was president. You’d have to ask him.
