What You Missed in Likely Last GOP Debate Before Iowa Votes for President

The fourth, and perhaps final, Republican presidential primary debate of the 2024 campaign season is behind us as four candidates met Wednesday night in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Once again, GOP front-runner Donald Trump declined to appear.

Sarah Feldpausch, director of government relations at Heritage Action for America, joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss the biggest hits and misses of this fourth debate. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation, whose grassroots advocacy arm is Heritage Action.)

Gathered without Trump at the University of Alabama were Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. The debate could well be the final GOP presidential debate before the Iowa caucuses Jan. 15.  

Since the third GOP debate Nov. 8, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina dropped out of the race. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who didn’t meet qualification tests for the third debate, announced Monday that he is suspending his campaign.  Former Vice President Mike Pence already had dropped out.

Trump chose to skip the fourth debate as he did the preceding ones, instead participating Tuesday night in a live “town hall” meeting hosted by Fox News host Sean Hannity in Davenport, Iowa. On the night of the debate, Trump planned to hold a fundraiser in Florida.  

Feldpausch also assesses Trump’s live appearance Tuesday night with Hannity.

Listen to the podcast below:  

Have an opinion about this article? To sound off, please email [email protected] and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.