DES MOINES, Iowa — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley “another mealy-mouthed politician” who represents a “warmed-over corporatism” beholden to “woke” Wall Street donors, caves under pressure from the left, and so often says different things to different groups that she suffers from “ballistic podiatry, shooting herself in the foot.”
The two Republican presidential candidates, who are seeking to stand out as the primary challenger to the front-running former President Donald Trump for the party nomination, engaged in a slugfest during a two-hour debate at Drake University on Jan. 10. With little focus on policy, the debate, which was filled with snappy insults and slap-downs, took place just four days before the Iowa caucuses kick off the 2024 election cycle.
