Who won the debate? Third GOP face-off is drier than prior matchups

The third Republican presidential debate held Wednesday in Miami offered a drier program than the previous events, with five candidates spending significantly more time diving into their policy positions and less time attacking one another.

The two-hour program included lengthy discussions of Social Security benefits and a long foray into whether 291 U.S. naval ships are enough to deter China from invading Taiwan.

It still had a couple of fiery moments. Participants included former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina governor and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.

They gathered at an arts center for the event moderated by Kristen Welker, Lester Holt and Hugh Hewitt.

Former President Donald Trump held his own event nearby at an outdoor stadium.

Arizona Republican consultant Barrett Marson said candidates mostly evaded the moderators' questions and leaned on canned comments from the campaign trail, and that the performance is not likely to change the standings much for any candidate.

"For the third time in as many debates, no candidate came close to a breakout performance that in any way challenges the front-runner, Donald Trump," Marson said.

The following are five key moments from the debate presented by NBC News, Salem Radio Network and the Republican Jewish Coalition.

'You're just scum': Haley rips Ramaswamy for mentioning her daughter

About 10 minutes into the debate, the candidates were asked about the war between Israel and Hamas, and what they would be telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were they president.

"Finish the job once and for all,” DeSantis said, adding that Israel cannot exist with such a severe security threat next door. Then he referenced his plan that spent millions of dollars to send aircraft to help evacuate Americans out of Israel after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.

Haley was similarly blunt.

"Finish them" would be her message to Netanyahu.

Scott similarly said Israel has the right “to wipe Hamas off the map.”

Christie said the U.S. needs to continue to isolate Iran.

Ramaswamy made a quip about encouraging Israel to “smoke terrorists” on its southern border and he would be “smoking the terrorists on our southern border.”

Then he spun his answer into a critique of Haley profiting from connections she made as U.N. ambassador.

"Do you want a leader from a different generation who is going to put this country first, or do you want Dick Cheney in 3-inch heels?"

Haley shot back the next time she was given a question.

“They are 5-inch heels and I don’t wear them unless you can run in them,” Haley said to applause.

Haley and Ramaswamy would tangle later in the debate over the social media app TikTok.

When asked if he supports a TikTok ban, Ramaswamy noted Haley previously made fun of him for joining the platform to campaign. He accused Haley of allowing her daughter to use TikTok while at the same time she criticized his use of the platform.

“Leave my daughter out of your voice,” Haley seethed. “You’re just scum.”

Candidates try to outdo each other on border security, shrug off diplomatic concerns

Immigration was not discussed in depth until near the end of the third Republican debate, when the candidates were asked how they would curb the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.

Fentanyl has become a leading source of American drug overdose deaths, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

Scott and Christie, first to answer, laid out similar plans. Both called for modernizing the technology used to monitor ports of entry, a move that has garnered bipartisan support on Capitol Hill, and said that addressing Americans’ mental health issues is needed to curb demand for those drugs.

Christie also said he would sign an executive order that would send the National Guard to partner with Customs and Border Patrol agents, who he said are “overwhelmed” by encounters at the border.

“We simply do not have the man and woman power at the border to be able to deal with it,” Christie said.

DeSantis was asked for specifics about his plan to shoot drug smugglers “stone-cold dead” as they cross the border, an oft-repeated line from the Florida governor’s stump speech. DeSantis ran through a laundry list of hard-line policies, including sending the U.S. military to the border, imposing fees on remittances that immigrants send home, deporting undocumented migrants, and designating cartels as foreign terrorist organizations “or something similar to that.”

Haley was asked what her U.N. colleagues would think of U.S. military action in Mexico without giving that government prior notice. Some Democratic lawmakers have argued the move would violate U.S. commitments under the U.N. charter.

“I don’t care what my colleagues at the United Nations think,” Haley said, characterizing China’s role in the fentanyl supply chain as “murdering Americans” and saying she would send special operations forces in to “take out the cartels.”

Asked for his thoughts on some of those measures, Ramaswamy said the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. amounts to “poisoning” and is “closer to bioterrorism,” saying “that does warrant more aggressive means to deal with it.”

What is fracking? These GOP candidates support the oil technique

When asked how they would address rising prices and international instability threatening oil supplies, the candidates called for more domestic fracking.

Fracking, also known as hydraulic fracturing, is a technique that releases petroleum or natural gas from the ground. Injecting a high-pressure fluid creates fractures in rock formations, allowing oil and gas to flow more freely.

The practice has been an environmental concern for activists and policymakers pushing for a transition to renewable energy.

When asked about how he would respond as president to the political situation in Venezuela, DeSantis said he would not rely on Venezuela for American oil supplies. If elected, DeSantis said he would “unleash all of America’s energy potential on day one.”

Haley accused DeSantis of banning drilling and fracking in Florida, reiterating a claim she made in the previous debate. She said DeSantis opposed oil production before Floridians voted on it.

“We are absolutely going to frack,” DeSantis said. “But I disagree with Nikki Haley. I don’t think it’s a good idea to drill in the Florida Everglades, but I know most Floridians agree with me.”

The moderators then asked candidates how they would offset the rising cost of living in the short term, and energy independence was the candidates' solution.

Scott said by becoming energy-independent and energy-dominant, America could reduce the price of energy, food and electricity. He supports expanding oil production and approving the Keystone XL Pipeline, an extension that would transport fracked gas from Canada into Nebraska.

Ramaswamy doubled down on promises to increase drilling, fracking, coal burning and investments in nuclear energy.

Christie agreed with Scott, saying bringing the cost of energy down would improve prices overall.

“Energy is the key to bringing this down,” Christie said. “It’s what every American needs to turn on their lights, fill up their car, and go to the grocery store.”

Trump ducked third debate this year

At Trump's campaign event, the former president spoke after a series of speakers, including Donald Trump Jr. and his fiancee, Kimberly Guilfoyle, who hosts a political show on Rumble, former mixed-martial arts fighter Jorge Masvidal, actress Roseanne Barr and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump’s former White House press secretary who is now Arkansas governor.

Christina Bobb, who has worked as a lawyer for Trump and also helped raise money for the so-called "audit" of the 2020 Arizona election, hosted the event with Brian Glenn on Right Side Broadcasting Network.

Sought help: Cyber Ninjas CEO traded nearly 2,000 texts with current Trump lawyer on 'audits,' money

Kari Lake, the former gubernatorial candidate who is now running for U.S. Senate in Arizona, posted a video of herself greeting and taking photos with fans, but didn't speak from the stage before Trump.

Sanders spoke before Trump and touted her recent endorsement of the former president.

Despite being one of Trump’s fiercest defenders while in office, Sanders has taken several months to officially back Trump, reportedly causing angst among his associates.

“President Trump made us great and I know that he will do it again,” she told the crowd.

Once Trump finally took the stage, he fell into familiar territory discussing his 2016 election.

“The American people delivered the greatest election victory, probably, that the world has ever seen,” Trump said. “The only one that’s going to be more important is the one that’s coming up in one year from now.”

Ramaswamy refuses to criticize Trump

The first question from Holt was what the candidates would say to voters about Trump.

Ramaswamy continued to show reluctance to criticize the former president even when asked directly to do so.

Ramaswamy answered by saying he was upset by the Republican losses in Tuesday’s off-year elections.

“We’ve become a party of losers,” Ramaswamy said. But rather than blame Trump, he blamed Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel.

Then, without mentioning Trump, Ramawsamy tried to ask the moderators why the media spent so much time reporting on Trump’s Russia ties in the 2016 election cycle.

Ramaswamy’s reluctance to say anything negative about Trump has led to speculation he is running in hopes of being tapped as a vice presidential candidate for Trump.

More about it: Maricopa County Republicans are bucking the state party on Trump. Here's why

Other candidates were not so easy on Trump.

Haley said Trump was “the right president at the right time. I don’t think he’s the right president now.”

“We can’t live in the past. … We’ve got to start focusing on what is going to make America strong and proud,” Haley said.

Christie, as usual, gave the harshest rebuke of Trump, saying that anyone who will spend the next year and a half trying to avoid prison doesn’t deserve to run the country, a reference to Trump's four criminal indictments.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Who won the debate? Heated moments during third GOP debate in Miami