SC’s Haley takes fiery swings at first GOP debate as Scott flies under the radar

On the day South Carolina’s six-week abortion ban was ruled constitutional, the state’s former governor stood on a national stage, the sole woman among eight Republicans making their cases for the presidency, and said national consensus on the issue is needed because any national ban would require 60 votes in the U.S. Senate.

Former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley came out fiery in the first Republican presidential debate, held Wednesday night in Milwaukee.

“Let’s treat this like a respectful issue that it is and humanize the situation and stop demonizing the situation,” Haley said.

Haley said consensus is needed on abortion while calling herself unapologetically pro-life, as fellow South Carolinian U.S. Sen. Tim Scott reiterated his call for a 15-week national ban.

“We can’t allow states like California, New York and Illinois to have abortion on demand up to the day of birth,” Scott said.

From abortion to the southern border to the legal woes of former President Donald Trump — the GOP frontrunner who opted to skip debating his fellow candidates — the first debate of the 2024 presidential campaign turned into a series of shouting matches with candidates taking hard swings at entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who are most closely trailing Trump in national polls.

Haley didn’t hesitate to call out Scott, DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence for raising the national debt during the Trump administration.

“The truth is that Biden didn’t do this to us. Our Republicans did this to us too,” Haley said. “They need to stop the spending. They need to stop the borrowing. They need to eliminate the earmarks that Republicans brought back in, and they need to make sure they understand these are taxpayer dollars.”

Haley attacked DeSantis for his previous comments calling the war in Ukraine a territorial dispute with Russia.

“First of all, the American president needs to have moral clarity, needs to know the difference between right and wrong and know the difference between good and evil,” Haley said.

She also went after Ramaswamy for wanting to cut funding for Israel.

“You have no foreign policy experience, and it shows,” the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said.

Scott, however, played nice for the two-hour debate, as where he repeated his familiar messages on abortion, China and the southern border. Scott stayed away from attacks on any other candidates by name and, by and large, flew under the radar in his time on screen compared to the more heated candidates of the night.

Scott attempted to be the adult in the room when the debate devolved into shouting matches among a handful of the candidates.

“Here’s what the American people deserve, is a debate about the issues that affect their lives. Going back and forth and being childish is not helpful to the American people, to decide on the next leader of our country,” Scott said.

When it came to national spending, Scott touted how he helped write the Trump-era tax cut bill.

“If you don’t send (money) to Washington, we can’t spend it. That’s good news for the American people,” Scott said.

Scott didn’t necessarily address questions related to whether climate change is human caused, and he dodged a question on China, instead referring to the U.S. southern border. He also continued to reference his religious beliefs and his strength through God, as did Pence.

The debate, moderated by Fox News’ Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier, heavily featured Ramaswamy attacking almost every candidate, with most — with the exceptions of Scott and Burgum — firing back.

The elephant in the room — or, as Baier put it, “the elephant not in the room” — was quickly evident, as the debate turned to the topic of Trump, whose presence hung over the room despite his physical absence.

Trump, who is facing four criminal indictments, opted to not participate in Wednesday’s debate and instead prerecorded a one-on-one counter program with former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson, as he holds healthy leads over the rest of the field of candidates.

Both Haley and Scott said they would support Trump if he were convicted in a court of law and still won the Republican presidential nomination.

However, they both said Pence did the right thing on Jan. 6, 2021, in certifying the election.

Scott went on to criticize the U.S. Department of Justice and its pursuit of Trump.

“We should be asking ourselves a bigger question about the weaponization of the Department of Justice,” Scott said. “The first thing I would do is fire (Attorney General) Merrick Garland. The second thing I would do is fire (FBI Director) Christopher Wray.”

Haley pivoted to say the party needs to move on from Trump, who lost the popular vote in both of his presidential elections.

“Trump is the most disliked politician in America. We can’t win an election that way,” Haley said.

Before the debate, South Carolina Democratic Party Chairwoman Christale Spain took aim at both Haley and Scott.

Spain criticized Haley for signing a 20-week abortion ban when she was governor. The ban did not have exceptions for rape or incest.

Spain also hit Scott for helping write the Trump-era tax cut bill, which Democrats criticized for benefiting the wealthy.

“Haley and Scott do not represent the best of South Carolina, and it’s a shame that they’re going to use this national platform to spew dangerous rhetoric and uplift policies that could harm folks in our state,” Spain said.

Haley’s campaign defended the former governor’s record.

“Governor Haley proved every critic wrong, turned South Carolina into an economic powerhouse, and was the bold leader the state needed when crisis struck,” said Haley spokesman Ken Farnaso. “South Carolinians trusted her to get the job done—not once, but twice. Her success shows the kind of leadership she will bring to the White House.”