'She caves': Takeaways from Gov. DeSantis' aggressive debate performance against Haley

The first question during Wednesday's fourth GOP presidential primary went to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis about his struggling campaign and he turned it into an attack on former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, saying she "caves" to the left.

That early bit of debate stage jiu jitsu by DeSantis demonstrated how committed he is to halt Haley's momentum. Haley has been rising in the polls, threatening DeSantis' second-place status nationally and surpassing him in some early states.

And DeSantis has ramped up his criticism of Haley on the campaign trail. His performance Wednesday on the debate stage in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, was much more aggressive than in the past, a sign that his more restrained approach earlier in the race may have backfired and given Haley room to climb.

The fourth debate was a more pugilistic performance from DeSantis, with Haley sometimes struggling to respond.

DeSantis also brawled with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who accused him of dodging questions, and attracted attention for calling clothes worn by Al Qaeda "man dresses" and saying he is inspired by former President Calvin Coolidge. Here are five takeaways from DeSantis' debate performance:

DeSantis goes on the offensive

Speaking during the pre-debate programming on NewsNation, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said the candidates were running out of time to make an impression. The Iowa caucuses are six weeks away.

"It's now or never," Hogan said.

DeSantis seemed to recognize that Wednesday. Previously, he often disappeared for long stretches in debates and rarely went on the offensive.

That wasn't the case in the fourth debate. The governor was on the attack from the beginning and never let up, sparring mostly with Haley but also getting into an extended back-and-forth with Christie and some brief exchanges with tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

The strategy implied a realization by DeSantis that Haley is a significant threat — and he hasn't done enough to blunt her momentum. It also showed his campaign has recognized a need to change the narrative that he is falling and Haley is rising.

DeSantis' combative streak is part of what originally endeared him to GOP voters, and tapping into that helped him stand out more during the fourth debate. He was relentless in pressuring Haley.

DeSantis on Nikki Haley: 'She caves'

DeSantis first jab at Haley came less than four minutes into the debate.

"I have delivered results," he said. "That's what we need for this country and you have other candidates up here like Nikki Haley. She caves anytime the left comes after her, anytime the media comes after her."

Haley responded that DeSantis "continues to lie about my record" but he didn't let up, pressuring her on the issue of transgender health care for minors, which he banned in Florida.

DeSantis returned to criticizing Haley, unprompted, repeatedly throughout the debate and was joined by Ramaswamy.

The criticism from DeSantis and Ramaswamy was so aggressive during the first 15 minutes of the debate that Haley responded, “I love all the attention fellas, thank you for that.”

Haley has used sharp exchanges with Ramaswamy to stand out in past debates, but had a more difficult time defending herself from DeSantis.

Transgender issues come to the fore

DeSantis was particularly aggressive on transgender issues, accusing Haley of opposing his bill limiting transgender health care for minors.

"If you're not willing to stand up and say that it is wrong to mutilate these kids, then you're not going to fight for the people back home," he said.

Haley said she never opposed the legislation, prompting DeSantis to fire back "we have it on video."

"I said that if you have to be 18 to get a tattoo, you should have to be 18 to have anything done to change your gender," Haley said.

The issue came up again later in the debate, with DeSantis also criticizing Haley's stance when she was governor of South Carolina that the state didn't need a law mandating transgender individuals use the bathroom that corresponds with their birth sex.

Haley explained her position by saying that there were only a "handful of kids" dealing with the issue when it came up during her time as governor and "I said we don't need to bring government into this, but boys go into boys' bathrooms, girls go into girls' bathrooms, and if anyone else has an issue, they go into a private bathroom."

Haley also called DeSantis "hypocritical" on the issue.

"When he was running for governor and they asked him about that, he said he didn't think bathroom bills were a good use of his time," Haley said.

"I signed a bathroom bill in Florida, so that's obviously not true," DeSantis said, adding, "I signed it, you didn't. You killed it, I signed it. I stood up for little girls, you didn't do it."

DeSantis and Haley also argued about their treatment of Chinese companies as governors, immigration and anonymous activity online.

DeSantis' constant criticism seemed to catch Haley flatfooted at times, but whether it was enough to affect the trajectory of the race remains to be seen.

DeSantis also came under fire, most notably from Christie, who slammed his response to a question about Trump.

Christie takes swipe at DeSantis: 'He won't answer'

DeSantis has struggled throughout the campaign with how to take on former President Donald Trump, often seeming worried about going too far and offending his base of supporters.

Asked by the debate moderators Wednesday about Trump's age and mental acuity and whether he is fit for office, DeSantis said "father time is undefeated."

“I think we need to have somebody younger, I think when you get up to 80, I don’t think it’s a job for that," DeSantis said of Trump.

That wasn't enough of an answer for Christie.

"Why doesn't he just answer the question? The question was very direct: Is he fit to be president or isn't he," Christie said. "The rest of the speech is interesting but completely nonresponsive and if we were in a courtroom, they'd strike the answer."

"No, they wouldn't," DeSantis said.

Christie and DeSantis then got into a heated back and forth, talking over each other. "Is he fit? Is he fit? No, is he fit or isn't he?" Christie kept asking at one point.

"I don't know how he would score on a test, but I know this: We have an opportunity to nominate someone and elect someone for two terms who's going to be spitting nails on day one," DeSantis said.

"So you do think he's fit?" the moderator asked.

"We should not nominate somebody whose almost 80 years old," DeSantis said.

"Is he fit or isn't he? This is the problem with my three colleagues: They're afraid to offend," Christie said. "And let me tell you something, if you're afraid to offend Donald Trump, then what are you going to do when you sit across (from the leaders of China, Iran and Russia). You have to be willing to offend with the truth."

'Man dresses' and Calvin Coolidge

DeSantis' combative approach wasn't the only part of his performance that drew attention. His comments about the clothing wore by Al Qaeda drew criticism.

“When I was in Iraq, the Al Qaeda wasn’t wearing a uniform. You'd see anyone walking down the street, they all had man dresses on. You didn’t know if they had a bomb, an IED, attached or not," DeSantis said.

DeSantis appeared to be referring to the traditional Islamic robes, or thobe, that are worn by men across the Middle East. The term "man dresses" was viewed by some as insulting.

DeSantis also made a surprising choice when asked by the debate moderators to name a president he draws inspiration from. Other candidates mentioned George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan.

DeSantis picked Calvin Coolidge, who held office from 1923 to 1929. Coolidge was known for cutting taxes and regulations, and is credited by some for the booming economy in the 1920s, although the Great Depression also began under his watch.

"People don't talk about him a lot, he's one of the few presidents that got almost everything right," DeSantis said. "He understood the proper role of the federal government under the Constitution... we can learn an awful lot from Calvin Coolidge."

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Ron DeSantis hits Nikki Haley hard in fourth GOP primary debate