Fifth US Republican presidential debate: All you need to know
Al Jazeera
Haley and DeSantis will go head-to-head, while Trump holds a competing town hall just days ahead of the Iowa caucuses.
And then there were two. The fifth Republican Party debate of the 2024 United States presidential election cycle unfolds on Wednesday with only two candidates in the spotlight: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former United Nations envoy Nikki Haley.
It is the smallest showing yet for a primary debate in the 2024 race, and it comes mere days ahead of the Iowa caucuses on January 15 — the inaugural contest in the US primary season.
The next week’s caucuses offer the first real opportunity to take the temperature of the US electorate. But the race for the Republican nomination has been muted this year, as former President Donald Trump remains the clear frontrunner, according to recent polls.
Nevertheless, the caucuses will allow observers to formally gauge how much support Trump has, compared with his Republican rivals.
For their part, Trump’s challengers are hoping that a strong showing in Iowa — and on the debate stage in the state capital, Des Moines, on Wednesday night — will boost their campaigns and cut into the ex-president’s lead.
