Haley to DeSantis: ‘If you can’t manage a campaign, how are you going to manage a country’

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis squared off and took the gloves off — again — in the fifth and final GOP presidential debate Wednesday night before the Iowa Caucus.

Haley and DeSantis are battling to be the sole candidate to take on Donald Trump in the battle for the GOP nomination as the former president is front-runner in the Republican race.

The debate was held at Drake University in Des Moines — just five days before the Iowa Republican Caucus.

Haley argued DeSantis isn’t capable of being president, pointing to how he has dropped in the polls even though he has had $150 million in support from a super PAC.

“If you can’t manage a campaign, how are you going to manage a country,” Haley said.

Haley repeatedly referenced a website her campaign started “DeSantislies.com” to point to falsehoods said by the governor.

The repetitious barrage received pushback from the DeSantis campaign.

“Nikki showed everyone tonight that she can’t speak beyond talking points. Problem for her is that she only read page 1 of her debate guide referencing a website,” DeSantis South Carolina State Director Michael Mule posted on X, formerly Twitter.

DeSantis hit Haley for not passing school choice when she was governor of South Carolina while touting his own record of pushing a private school scholarship program in Florida.

“You got to have a leader who’s going to fight the teachers unions and is going to deliver school choice,” DeSantis said.

Haley said she pushed for school choice in South Carolina but the state Legislature didn’t pass the proposed legislation.

“I have fought for school choice in my entire career because I think parents know their children best. And I think we should always do that,” Haley said. “That’s why we passed charter school legislation in our state. That’s why we empowered homeschoolers in our state. That’s why we changed the funding formula.”

The debate was held on the day former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie dropped out of the race.

Polling indicates that Haley most benefits from Christie dropping out as most of his supporters have Haley as a second choice.

Polls show a close race for second place in Iowa between Haley and DeSantis as Trump holds a substantial lead.

Haley has been surging in the polls in New Hampshire, and in some polls has been moved within single digits of Trump. An upset win or a strong second place in the Jan. 23 New Hampshire presidential primary for Haley could propel in her home state primary, which holds the First in the South Primary on Feb. 24.

With Haley’s improvement in the polls means more media attention.

“Now that she’s getting scrutiny, she has this problem with ballistic podiatry. She keeps shooting herself in the foot,” DeSantis said.

Trump chose not to participate in the debate and instead appeared at a town hall on Fox News.

Pastor and businessman Ryan Binkley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy did not qualify for the debate.

Haley has argued that she is the best candidate to take on President Joe Biden in the general election as she polls best against the incumbent.

When it came to abortion, DeSantis said no one is actually calling for jail time for women who have an abortion.

“That’s a trope, no one I’ve ever met thinks that that’s something that’s appropriate,” DeSantis said.

However, a bill sponsored by state Rep. Rob Harris, R-Spartanburg, would characterize abortion as murder and could lead to women who have an abortion being charged and facing jail time or even the death penalty. The bill is stuck in committee and has not moved in the South Carolina Legislature.

“We’re not going to demonize this issue anymore,” Haley said. “We’re not going to play politics with this issue anymore. We’re going to treat it like the respectful issue that it is.”