NBC on Wednesday night hosted the third Republican primary debate, held in Miami, Fla. Did a new GOP frontrunner (or, perhaps, a new vice president for former POTUS/current frontrunner Donald Trump) emerge on stage at the Adrienne Arsht Center?
The two-hour debate — moderated by NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt, Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker and syndicated radio host Hugh Hewitt — featured five candidates: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.
Neither former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who qualified for the first GOP debate on Aug. 23, nor North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who most recently qualified for the second debate on Sept. 27, qualified for Wednesday’s melee. Former Vice President Mike Pence, who was also on stage for the first two debates, suspended his campaign on Oct. 28.
The second GOP debate of the 2024 election cycle reached 9.5 million viewers across Fox News, Fox Business, Univision and Fox digital platforms. Moderators Stuart Varney, Dana Perino and Ilia Calderón earned an average TVLine reader grade of “D+,” while roughly 40% of those who participated in our poll said Haley won the debate.
Based on what you saw and heard Wednesday night, which candidate do you think has the best shot of knocking Trump off the Republican ticket — or, perhaps more likely, join the ticket as his VP? And how did Holt, Welker and Hewitt do as moderators? Vote in our polls, then drop a comment below.
The fourth Republican presidential primary debate is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 6 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.(per Politico). Additional details have not been made available as of press time.