Which GOP presidential candidates will qualify for the debate stage?

Which Candidates Will Be on Stage for the Second Republican Debate?
Time | MINI RACKER
September 22, 2023 at 9:25 AM

After the first Republican presidential debate introduced the country to the candidates and shook up the polls last month, the second debate is set to winnow the field even further.

The debate is scheduled for next Wednesday, September 27. To qualify, candidates needed to draw donations from 50,000 individuals and reach 3% support in two national polls or in a mix of national and early state polls. Their donors must include 200 individuals from 20 different states. Additionally, they needed to sign a loyalty pledge agreeing to support whoever the party eventually nominates.The Republican National Committee set a deadline of Monday for candidates to meet the criteria and has not confirmed who has met the criteria so far.

Six candidates have told TIME and other outlets that they expect to appear onstage on Wednesday. Like the first debate, this one won’t include former President Donald Trump, who remains the clear frontrunner in most polls. On the evening of the debate, Trump is expected to travel to Michigan to give a speech to striking auto workers.

Here are the six candidates who say they have met the criteria to be on the debate stage:

Ron DeSantis
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been viewed for most of the year as Trump’s chief rival for the nomination. But his standing in the polls has fallen and he did not see a bounce in support after the last debate. DeSantis, 44, has faced criticism for his awkwardness on the campaign trail and for embracing right-wing culture war issues that could alienate some voters. Most recently, he has taken heat from Trump over signing a six-week abortion ban, which the former president called “a terrible mistake.” Nonetheless, the Governor won reelection in the Sunshine State last year by 20 points and still usually comes in second, if far below Trump, in national polls.

Vivek Ramaswamy
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, the right-wing, uber-wealthy author of Woke, Inc., became the focus of attacks during the first Republican debate last month, with his opponents slamming his lack of experience and his foreign policy positions. He has also attracted more scrutiny over the last month over his hardline positions on immigration and his comments about the Sept. 11 attacks. But the 38-year-old is still polling near the top of the field and will again stand center stage next to DeSantis.

Nikki Haley
Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley’s position in the polls has risen since her standout performance in the first presidential debate last month. During the August debate, Haley advocated for finding a national consensus on abortion and criticized fellow Republicans for not being straight with voters about the difficulty of passing a federal abortion ban. She also attacked Ramaswamy’s foreign policy platform, playing up her experience as Ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration. Since the first debate, she has climbed to third in some national polls.

Mike Pence
Former Vice President Mike Pence, long known for his evangelical faith and his close ties to the religious right, also had several standout moments during the last debate, mixing it up with Ramaswamy and defending his decision to certify the results of the 2020 election, which he insists was not stolen. Pence is continuing to run on a promise to restore American values and enact the most anti-abortion policy he can, though he is picking up little traction as he continues to poll in the single digits.

Chris Christie
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has been Trump’s most vocal critic in the Republican presidential field. He was booed at the last debate when he criticized the former President and became one of only two candidates who said they would not support him if he is convicted of crimes, even if he was the GOP nominee. Christie stood behind his performance afterwards, keeping in line with his strategy of framing his campaign in opposition to the former President.

Tim Scott
Since the last debate, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott has continued to focus his campaign on reducing inflation and securing the border, all while emphasizing his personal success story. The only Black Republican in the Senate, he frequently talks about how he was able to overcome disadvantages and achieve the American Dream and touts his signature legislative achievement—Opportunity Zones designed to funnel money into struggling communities. In New Hampshire this week, he named some possible running mates and avoided any direct criticism of Trump, while touching on a few areas of contrast, like his support for a 15-week limit on abortion and his criticism of the United Auto Workers strike. Recently, Scott’s campaign has urged the RNC to weigh early state polls above national ones in deciding which candidates get the best podium placement in the second debate.

Who could still qualify:
Both former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum were also on the debate stage last month. Neither appeared to have met the qualifications for the second debate as of Thursday. Neither campaign responded to TIME’s request for comment.

Trump To Skip Third GOP Debate, Announces South Florida Rally
Martin Walsh, October 23, 2023

Former President Donald Trump is preparing to skip the third Republican primary debate and will instead hold a rally in South Florida as counter-programming.

Trump’s campaign says he’ll hold a rally at a stadium in Hialeah on the evening of November 8th, roughly half an hour from where his opponents will be holding their own rally at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County. Trump has stated on multiple occasions that he does not see the point in running because of his overwhelming lead.

More than 95% of Hialeah’s population is Hispanic or Latino, making it a predominantly Hispanic suburb. The majority are either native Spanish speakers or Cuban immigrants, NBC Miami reported.

The Republicans’ desire to increase their share of the Hispanic vote in the 2024 elections is reflected in the location they’ve chosen. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Trump opponent, became the first Republican governor in 20 years to win Miami-Dade County, of which Hialeah is a part, in the midterm elections of 2022.

Trump would use a large crowd as a show of strength against DeSantis, who was once considered his greatest rival but is now fighting for second place.

Candidates must receive at least 4% of the vote in multiple polls and 70,000 unique donors in order to participate in the NBC-hosted debate in November.

Trump’s presidential campaign took in tens of millions of dollars during the third quarter, even exceeding his high second-quarter performance as he continues to surge ahead of his 2024 Republican rivals.

Trump’s campaign announced that it raised $45.5 million in the third quarter.

The campaign reported having more than $37.5 million in cash on hand, a release stated. In addition, Trump’s campaign said that GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who is in second place behind Trump in most polls, only had $5 million in cash on hand for the ongoing primaries, the Times added.

DeSantis’s campaign raised $15 million in the third quarter. Robert Bigelow, who donated $20 million to a DeSantis-allied PAC, said in August that he would stop donating if DeSantis didn’t moderate his policy positions.

In the release, the Trump campaign announced: “In an impressive testament to the overwhelming grassroots support behind President Trump that will lead to dominating victories, close to $36 million of the total cash on hand is designated for the primary.”

“While DeSanctus’ fundraising, like his poll numbers, has seen an exponential drop even from July, President Trump outraised his impressive $35 million haul in Q2 (which doubled Q1 fundraising) by more than $10 million,” the Trump campaign said.

“The Q3 numbers are even more impressive considering the summer months are usually when most campaigns experience lagging fundraising support,” the Trump campaign added. “President Trump and his campaign have completely shattered that notion.”

Meanwhile, as Trump becomes a juggernaut once again and appears, at this time, to be a shoo-in to win the GOP nomination, other surveys have him moving even with or past President Biden in some of the most critical swing states.

Voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin were polled by Bloomberg/Morning Consult, and their results showed that Trump was ahead of Biden by 4 percentage points due to widespread disapproval of the vice president’s handling of the economy.

Trump is leading Biden in Georgia by 5 points, Arizona by 4 points, North Carolina by 4 points, Wisconsin by 2 points, and Pennsylvania by 1 point. Biden leads Trump by 3 points in Nevada, and the two candidates are running even in Michigan, according to the survey.

In the seven swing states, 49% of voters said Bidenomics—the term the White House has used to describe Biden’s economic agenda—was bad for the economy.

In those seven states, 46% of undecided voters think Bidenomics is bad for the economy, while 41% either don’t know enough about it or have no opinion.

A survey found that 14% of voters who said they would vote for the president in 2020 now say they would vote for Trump, are undecided, or will not vote at all.

Only 9% of Trump voters in 2020 said they would vote for Joe Biden in 2024, while 91% of Trump voters in 2020 said they would vote for Trump again.

GOP debate fact check: Live look at what Ramaswamy, Haley are getting right (and wrong)
USA TODAY
CHRIS MUELLER, JOEDY MCCREARY, NATE TRELA AND BRAD SYLVESTER, USA TODAY
November 8, 2023 at 7:54 PM

Five Republican presidential candidates are on the stage tonight in Miami for a third debate ahead of the 2024 primary.

Follow along here with the USA TODAY Fact Check Team as we dig into candidates' claims and add context on expected campaign themes, including the war between Israel and Hamas, the war in Ukraine, the trials of former President Donald Trump, election fraud, the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and more. This file will be updated throughout the debate.

The candidates who qualified are Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina.

Nikki Haley claim: Ron DeSantis banned fracking in Florida

This is false. Ron DeSantis spoke out against offshore drilling and fracking in his first campaign for Florida governor in 2018, with an archive of his campaign website showing his opposition to both procedures. And DeSantis signed an executive order just days into his first term encouraging state agencies to oppose fracking.

However, none of DeSantis’s actions banned fracking. DeSantis was elected on the same ballot as a constitutional amendment that banned offshore drilling in Florida.

Haley accused DeSantis of banning fracking after he rebutted her claims that he had opposed the procedure. DeSantis clarified in in the debate, saying he opposed drilling in the Everglades but his energy plan for the nation includes offshore drilling for oil and natural gas, as well as fracking in shale formations.

-Nate Trela

Vivek Ramaswamy claim: Ohio constitutional amendment creates right to have an abortion up until birth without parental consent

“It was my home state of Ohio, I’m upset about this, yesterday, that passed a constitutional amendment that now effectively codifies a right to abortion all the way up to the time of birth without parental consent.“

Ramaswamy is overstating the nature of the amendment. While Ohio voters did approve a ballot measure to amend the state’s constitution to establish a right to abortion on Nov. 7, the would-be right is not unlimited.

Known as “Issue 1,” the ballot initiative states the amendment would make abortion available to “every individual” but notes “abortion may be prohibited after fetal viability.” Fetal viability is generally considered to be around 23 or 24 weeks, but the initiative states that determination is to be made by medical professionals on a case-by-case basis.

The measure says nothing about parental consent and therefore does not change Ohio’s existing parental consent law, which requires minors seeking abortions to have parental permission, according to the Associated Press.

Some believe the amendment may be interpreted in a way that allows for abortion without parental consent. But the existing parental consent law would have to be challenged and struck down in the state’s Supreme Court under that interpretation for any change to be made. This appears unlikely given the court’s current conservative majority.

-Brad Sylvester

Chris Christie claim: Migrant encounters at southern border topping 200,000 a month

"Customs and Border Patrol agents are overwhelmed. There (were) 200,000 encounters a month over the last 11 months."

This is accurate. A record of migrant encounters published by Customs and Border Protection shows monthly totals approaching or exceeding 200,000 over the past year. In September, the agency reported more than 269,000 encounters at the border.

It's worth noting, though, that number represents events, not people. One person could try crossing the border multiple times and every attempt would increase the tally.

Read more:

Claim: Post implies border floodgates opened under Biden, but not Trump administration (Missing context)

Claim: The Biden administration has 'no plan' to stop migrants once Title 42 ends (False)

-Chris Mueller

Nikki Haley claim: 87,000 IRS agents are ‘going after middle America’

This misleading figure has been debunked so many times that it has been called a “zombie falsehood.”

The 87,000 refers to a suggestion in a May 2021 U.S. Treasury Department report that included a proposal of what the Internal Revenue Service could do with an additional $80 billion in funding.

The IRS says audit rates on average households will not change, CNN reported in April. The money would help the IRS go after fighting high-end tax evasion, officials said.

One proposal would hire that many employees over the course of a decade – not all at once. They would replace others in the agency’s aging workforce who have retired. The IRS has lost roughly 50,000 workers in five years due to attrition, The Associated Press reported.

The agency expects to collect an average of $10 billion per year in new revenue over a 10-year period as a result of the improvements, according to CNN.

-Joedy McCreary

Tim Scott claim: Obama sent millions to Iran and Biden sent billions

While it is possible there are other transactions Scott is referring to, critics have held Joe Biden responsible for $6 billion in oil revenue released to Iran in September.

However, those funds were not held by the U.S., and none of that money ever made it to Iran.

The funds were Iranian oil revenue held in South Korea. The Biden administration signed off on a sanctions waiver allowing the money to be transferred with the condition that it could only be released for humanitarian purposes. The Qatari central bank oversaw the releases, and after Iran-backed Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, the U.S. and Qatar agreed to block the release of any of the funds to Iran.

The funds released under Barack Obama that Scott was likely referring to were held by the U.S. Iran had deposited funds in escrow for purchases from American defense contractors in the 1970s, but the U.S. seized the funds after revolutionaries took over the country. The administration agreed to release $1.7 billion, beginning with a $470 million cash payment in August 2016.

-Nate Trela

Ron DeSantis claim: Flights brought 'over 700 people to safety' from Israel after Hamas attacks
"I scrambled resources in Florida, I sent planes over to Israel and I brought back over 700 people to safety."

This is a reference to an executive order that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Oct. 12 that directed the state to help Americans in Israel who were left stranded due to the conflict, according to Politico.

DeSantis' order came just hours after the Biden administration also announced plans to arrange charter flights for any Americans trapped in Israel. DeSantis' office later announced that the state had helped nearly 700 Americans return from Israel.

The State Department on Oct. 13 began chartering flights from Tel Aviv to help Americans leave Israel amid the ongoing conflict in the region, and those flights continued through the end of the month, Reuters reported.

-Chris Mueller

Nikki Haley claim: ‘Half a million people have died because of Putin’

“We all remember what that thug did when he invaded Ukraine. We know half a million people have died because of Putin.”

This overstates the known casualty counts in the Ukraine.

That number matches an August estimate, but it's a tally that includes troops who were either killed or wounded in the war’s first 18 months, The New York Times reported.

Ukraine only has about 500,000 troops – about a third of the 1.3 million that Russia has, according to analysts.

Officials also cautioned that those numbers are tough to estimate because they believe Moscow undercounts its casualties and Kyiv does not disclose its official figures, the newspaper reported.

– Joedy McCreary

Chris Christie claim: New Jersey ‘is the most ethnically diverse state in this country’

The former governor’s claim is off the mark. While multiple studies found the Garden State to be one of the most diverse states in the nation, it is not the most diverse.

In 2020, the U.S. Census Bureau ranked New Jersey as the state with the sixth-highest diversity index in the country, behind Hawaii, California, Nevada, Maryland and Texas. It ranked similarly in 2010, when Christie was governor.

A 2023 report from WalletHub that examined a variety of factors to determine the most and least diverse states in the country came to a similar conclusion. It ranked New Jersey as the fourth most diverse state, again behind California, Texas and Hawaii.

-Brad Sylvester

Chris Christie claim: He was appointed US attorney in New Jersey one day before 9/11 attacks
"I was appointed by President Bush to be the U.S. attorney in New Jersey on Sept. 10, 2001."

Christie has made this claim before, including at another Republican primary debate in 2015. At the time, a spokesperson for Christie said he received a phone call on Sept. 10, 2001, from then-Attorney General John Ashcroft that set in motion a months-long hiring process, according to PolitiFact.

While that may have started the process, Christie wasn't confirmed by the Senate until Dec. 20, 2001. He was sworn into office on Jan. 17, 2002. He served in that role until 2008.

-Chris Mueller

Vivek Ramaswamy claim: Ukraine banned 11 opposition parties

Ramaswamy recycled this claim from the second GOP debate, and it's still misleading.

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy announced in March 2022 that Ukraine suspended 11 political parties because of their ties to Russia, as reported by The Guardian. The announcement came one month after Russia launched its invasion of the country.

“Therefore, the national security and defense council decided, given the full-scale war unleashed by Russia, and the political ties that a number of political structures have with this state, to suspend any activity of a number of political parties for the period of martial law,” Zelenskyy said, according to the outlet.

Ukraine’s parliament voted in July to extend the country’s martial law until Nov. 15, Reuters reported.

— BrieAnna Frank

Vivek Ramaswamy claim: ‘This media rigged the 2020 election’

The election was not rigged by the media or any other group – and the sheer number of protective measures in place makes the idea of rigging an election impossible. Votes in each state are counted and recounted by an array of staffers and volunteers to ensure the votes counted match the votes cast and that tallies are tabulated correctly.

A mountain of evidence – including lawsuits, recounts, forensic audits and even partisan reviews – affirmed the results of the 2020 election.

"The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history," the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and its partners said in a November 2020 statement. "There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes or was in any way compromised.”

Numerous audits and recounts affirmed Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over Republican Donald Trump. A six-month audit in Arizona’s largest county confirmed the state’s election results, and three separate audits in Georgia found no evidence of wrongdoing affecting the outcome of the election.

In Wisconsin, some people falsely claimed late-night vote dumps for Biden were proof of fraud – but the state is not allowed to count absentee ballots until Election Day. That resulted in a late addition of absentee votes that trended heavily Democratic.

Other false claims about fraud centered around an election-night typo in Michigan and misconstrued footage of poll workers placing ballots in their proper storage containers

– Joedy McCreary

Abortion sparks debate, misinformation after Roe v. Wade ruling


Abortion rights are likely to be a key issue for voters, as they already played an important role in Tuesday's elections.

In Ohio, voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment enshrining access to abortion in the state constitution. In Kentucky, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear won a second term after a campaign that focused on abortion rights. And in Virginia, Republicans lost control of the state's House of Delegates in a blow to Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who vowed to curb abortion rights if his party gained unified control of the state legislature.

Since the Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in June 2022, more than a dozen states have banned, or attempted to ban, abortion. The court's decision eliminated the constitutional right to have an abortion.

Democrats have sought to use the issue to mobilize voters ahead of the 2024 election. Republican presidential candidates have generally been opposed to the procedure, but vary in how they would try to regulate it if elected.

Former President Donald Trump, who will not participate in the debate, has suggested he would work with “both sides” of the abortion issue and has denounced total restrictions on abortions. He criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signing of legislation banning abortion after six weeks in his state.

At the first GOP presidential debate in August, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, the only woman on stage, called for finding “consensus” among people across the political spectrum on the issue, while Pence responded by saying “consensus is the opposite of leadership.”

Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy has said he does not support a federal ban on abortion and believes the matter is a state issue, though he does support state bans of the procedure “around the six-week mark” of gestation. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina has advocated for a federal ban on abortion after 15 weeks, while former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has called for leaving the matter up to individual states.

Abortion has sparked a flurry of misinformation online:

Claim: Nebraska teen charged with a felony after using abortion pills faces five years in prison (Partly false)

Claim: The abortion pill caused 28 maternal deaths and over 4,200 adverse events (False)

Claim: Texas teen got 96 years in prison for crossing state lines for abortion (Satire)

Claim: A California ballot measure would ‘extend abortions up to 9 months’ (False)

Claim: A 12-year-old girl who gets an abortion in Alabama is thrown in prison for life (False)

Claim: Planned Parenthood clinics are shutting down all over the country (False)

Claim: Biden proposed a constitutional amendment to overturn Roe v. Wade in 1982 (Partly false)

Claim: Abortions were banned before AR-style semi-automatic rifles (Missing context)

Claim: Roe v. Wade marked the end of women dying from abortions (False)

Jan. 6 riot remains an issue in primary

The Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot remains a point of contention in the campaign, even with one of that day’s central figures – former Vice President Mike Pence – no longer in the race.

Pence, who Trump repeatedly and falsely claimed could have thrown out electoral votes cast for Joe Biden, ended his campaign on Oct. 28. Pence had made his handling of the election certification and restoring civility in politics key themes of his campaign.

The day’s events remain front and center in the campaign, however, as court cases began last week in Colorado and Minnesota seeking to disqualify Trump from the ballot, the first of dozens of such lawsuits. Each effort is based on a post-Civil War-era clause of the 14th Amendment that bars anyone who "engaged in insurrection" after taking an oath to uphold the Constitution from holding higher office.

Trump on Nov. 2 called people convicted for their roles in the riot “hostages.” Other candidates have also brought up the riot, with DeSantis calling it not an insurrection but a “protest” that “ended up devolving, you know, in a way that was unfortunate.” Ramaswamy blamed the riots on “pervasive censorship” and called it “unproductive” to point the finger at Trump.

The attack has been a consistent source of misinformation for nearly three years. Here are some claims we’ve previously debunked:

Fact check roundup: False narratives linger two years after Jan. 6 attack on Capitol

Claim: FBI operatives organized the attack (False)

Claim: Pence was arrested that day (False)

Claim: The Jan. 6 House select committee destroyed records that would exonerate Trump (False)

Claim: GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado took photos with rioters the day before (False)

Claim: A video showed the Trump family celebrating the riots from a nearby tent (False)

– Nate Trela

Trump's absence doesn't stop talk of indictments, civil trial

The former president won't be on the debate stage tonight, but Donald Trump still looms large over the Republican primary in light of his commanding lead in the polls and his unprecedented legal troubles.

Trump lately has been occupied with his civil fraud trial in New York, where prosecutors claim he committed fraud by inflating the value of his assets and are seeking an estimated $250 million in damages, among other penalties.

Trump has already testified, and he has called the trial a “scam” and a “disgrace,” asserting the judge who ruled he committed fraud knew nothing about him. Trump's sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, have also testified.

Trump and several allies were indicted in August by a Georgia grand jury that accused them of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state, where Trump lost to President Joe Biden in Georgia by about 12,000 votes.

The charges against Trump in Georgia are part of a series of prosecutions against him that began in March, when he was indicted for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush-money payments intended to silence two women before the 2016 election. Trump also faces charges for allegedly mishandling classified documents and allegedly conspiring to steal the 2020 presidential election, including his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

While recent polls show Trump doesn't seem to have lost support among Republican primary voters as a result of his criminal charges, a general election could be a different story. A poll released Sept. 24 by NBC News found 62% of voters have either major or moderate concerns about Trump’s indictments.

Trump's legal woes have been the subject of an array of false or misleading claims on social media:

Fact check roundup: What’s true and false on Trump indictments

Claim:New York Attorney General Letitia James was arrested (False)

Claim: 80% of Donald Trump's civil fraud case was dismissed for violating the statute of limitations (False)

Claim: Trump had Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis impeached (False)

Claim: Charges against Trump include potential for death penalty (False)

Claim: Trump was charged with espionage (False)

Claim: Biden ordered Trump's indictment in classified documents probe (False)

– Chris Mueller

Concerns over election integrity remain key for GOP hopefuls

The debate comes less than a year before the next presidential election – and before the end of the fight about the results of the last one.

Allegations of voter fraud from Trump and his allies are at the root of two indictments against the former president, who is accused of trying to steal the 2020 election. His claims have resonated throughout the Republican Party and eroded confidence in the process, even as state-level reviews of the 2022 midterm elections found no indication of systemic problems with voter fraud.

Whether the five candidates on the debate stage trust the election process in the U.S. remains a key issue. Some have made moves in their states intended to enhance the integrity of elections.

DeSantis created Florida’s Office of Election Crimes and Security. A year ago, his administration accused 20 felons ineligible to vote of illegally casting ballots in 2020 and charged them with third-degree felonies.

Haley as governor signed a law in 2011 that requires South Carolina voters to show photo ID.

Christie vetoed a bill in 2016 that would automatically register New Jerseyans to vote when they obtain or renew their driver’s license, calling it “a cocktail of fraud,” NJ.com reported.

Misinformation has circulated about the integrity of the elections. Here are some that have been debunked:

Fact check roundup: False claims about election fraud, candidates swirl amid 2022 midterms

Claim: Douglass Mackey was sentenced to prison for 'making memes disparaging Hillary Clinton’ (False)

Claim: A software company's contract allows officials to override election results (False)

Claim: Malware, remote access caused printer problems; 200,000 'ejected' ballots in Arizona (False)

Claim: A chart shows election fraud in the Michigan AG’s race (False)

Claim: Georgia is Democrats' test site for 2024 'private takeover of election offices’ (False)

Claim: Blackout in live stream in Nevada points to election theft (False)

Claim: Fraud due to Texas voting machine adding voters as polls close (False)

Claim: Photo showing ballots from 2022 midterms in the trash is evidence of fraud (False)

Claim: Democrats used 47 million mail-in ballots to steal every election (False)

Claim: Joe Biden did not legally win the presidential election (False)

– Joedy McCreary

Candidates voiced support for Israel, concerned about Biden, Trump’s leadership

In the month since Hamas militants attacked Israel, the five Republicans who take the stage tonight have offered full-throated support for Israel in its war. But they have differing views of what U.S. involvement in the Middle East should look like in the future and expressed doubts about Biden and Trump’s ability to lead.

A pair of candidates used the Republican Jewish Coalition forum last month to offer direct critiques of Trump, after the former president criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged intelligence failures before the Oct. 7 attack. Haley portrayed Trump as too unpredictable and said, “We cannot have four years of chaos, vendettas and drama.” Christie told the same crowd it is "much too serious a moment for unserious people."

DeSantis and Scott have expressed harder positions. DeSantis said all residents of Gaza were “anti-Semitic” at a campaign stop last month, while Scott has said that Biden has “blood on his hands” and was “complicit” in the surprise attack by Hamas.

Ramaswamy has been more nuanced with his position, questioning how much financial support the U.S. should provide Israel and for how long.

The fog of war has allowed misinformation about the conflict, which has left thousands dead, to flourish. Here are some claims we have debunked:

Fact check roundup:Israel-Hamas war sparks many misleading claims online

Claim:Hamas attack on Supernova music festival was a false flag (False)

Claim:Hamas surrendered and Israel has seized Gaza (False)

Claim:Yemen declared war on Israel in October 2023 (False)

Claim:The Islamic Black Flag raised in Iran signifies a call to war (False)

Claim:A U.S. media outlet reported American-made MK-84 bomb caused Gaza hospital explosion (False)

Claim:Israeli newspaper investigation found no babies were beheaded during Hamas attack (False)

Israel-Hamas War newsletter: Sign up to get the latest news and analysis on the conflict in your inbox.

– Nate Trela

US aid to Ukraine divides Republican candidates

More than a year and a half after Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, there remain differing views among Republican presidential candidates about continuing U.S. support for Ukraine's defense.

Trump, who again chose to skip the debate, has repeatedly suggested the U.S. is providing too much support to Ukraine. He has also refused to say whether he wants Russia or Ukraine to prevail in the conflict.

DeSantis has been skeptical of U.S. support for Ukraine, saying in a March statement that the war is a "territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia" and not one of the country's "vital national interests."

In a Fox News interview, Ramaswamy said the U.S. has done enough to help Ukraine.

Christie has said he supports continuing U.S. support for Ukraine, as has Scott.

Haley, though, has said U.S. support should not come in the form of cash or troops on the ground, but through collaborating with allies to be sure Ukraine has "the equipment and the ammunition to win."

Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers have been increasingly split over whether to tie aid to Ukraine and Israel together in a single legislative package. House Republicans have been supportive of a standalone aid package for Israel, but the Senate and White House both favor approving aid to the two key allies together.

The war in Ukraine has frequently been the subject of misinformation:

Fact check roundup: What's true and what's false about the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Claim: Zelenskyy surrendered and Ukraine has fallen (False)

Claim: Putin invaded Ukraine to take out the ‘main hub’ for bioweapons labs, child trafficking and money laundering (False)

Claim: US accidentally sent Ukraine an extra $6.2 billion (False)

Claim: US aid to Ukraine is double expenditure for Afghanistan War (False)

Claim: NATO sent 10,000 troops to Ukraine (False)

Claim: China is providing tanks for Ukraine to use against Russia (False)

– Chris Mueller

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Republican debate fact check: What candidates get right (and wrong)

The December 6th debate - - long article:

https://www.aol.com/news/republican-primary-debate-live-updates-230043616.html