A crowd of students gathered in the New Hampshire Institute of Politics to hear from five candidates during the third Republican presidential debate on Wednesday, Nov. 8.
The candidates on the stage were former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott.
William Streeter ’27 said he found the debate more peaceful and less crowded than the others, so voters got to hear more from the candidates.
Donny Sweeney ’27 said the candidates were “getting worse.” “A lot of them have really similar positions on things and it’s the very small deviations where they just attack each other mercilessly. And go for each other’s throats,” he said.
The candidates spent a large portion of the debate answering questions about foreign policy issues that have been especially prevalent with the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Israel.
“My key takeaway was how it was about an hour before they actually talked about domestic issues, said Mario Ventresca ’25. “I thought there was a major disconnect between the American public and what was discussed on the stage,” he continued.
Ramaswamy was critical of Ukraine for not being a pillar of democracy, citing banned opposition parties and media consolidation. He also called President Zelensky a Nazi and a “comedian in cargo pants.”
“I didn’t understand why Vivek thought it was a good idea to attack Ukraine the way he did because even though they’re not exactly a bastion of democracy, they’re still holding back Russia. I feel like if we take care of the big problem, the Russia problem first, then we can worry about helping Ukraine become a better democracy,” Sweeney said.
When asked what they thought about the candidates and their performances at the debate, multiple students focused on two candidates in particular. “I think the strongest candidates were Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, they’re both really strong on their positions, but I think Nikki is a much more reasonable candidate,” Streeter said.
The two candidates seemed to spar most on the stage. When asked about banning TikTok, Ramaswamy came under fire for personally using the app to campaign. He said Haley should look at her family first because her daughter uses TikTok. Haley replied, calling Ramaswamy “scum.”
“I don’t think anyone performed exceptionally well, but I think that Vivek and his personal attacks were not a good look for him when he attacked Nikki Haley’s daughter and present,” Ventresca said.
“I think Nikki Haley definitely took the most hits,” said Hannah Ross ’24.
Former President Donald Trump was once again absent from the debate stage. Streeter shared his thoughts on how this could have future ramifications. “I think this could set a bad precedent. If he wins the nomination, should Biden do the same thing and say ‘I’m not going to go to any of the debates because you didn’t do to any of the debates?’”
“I think at least some point before the primary he should probably try to talk with the other candidates,” Streeter continued.
The fourth Republican presidential debate is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. in Alabama. With increasingly higher standards of qualification for each debate, it is unclear which candidates from the third debate will make the cut next month.
This article originally appeared in a digital format on the NHIOP blog as event coverage for the Kevin B. Harrington Student Ambassadors Communication Committee.
