GOP debate updates: TV ratings plummet as Haley addresses ‘scum’ spat

MSNBC host Ari Melber quoted the movie Scarface and said that Republicans had bought into too many of their own lies about the 2020 presidential election.

Melber spoke on Thursday evening about how Republicans faced massive electoral defeats in Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia and noted how the Republican Party is now in thrall to the wing that supports former president Donald Trump and his lies about the 2020 election.

“The fact that the Trump wing of the party embraced denialism has hurt the party’s ability to get anywhere near competitive,” he said. “If you’re watching this and want a healthy democracy, that’s a bad thing. If you’re watching and want Republicans to keep losing elections you’re hoping they keep making this mistake.”

Melber then played a clip from the movie Scarface wherein Elvira Hancock, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, said “Lesson two, don’t get high on your own supply.”

Eric Garcia reports.

Eric Garcia writes:

“It just means that the Republican platform sucks, and that’s not what America wants,” Sen John Fetterman (D-PA) told The Independent. Mr Fetterman, of course, largely won his Senate seat in Pennsylvania last year on the back of the Dobbs backlash, especially when his Republican opponent, celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz said that “women, doctors, local political leaders” should make decisions on abortion.

“And unfortunately, the states have to rebuild abortion in after the Supreme Court, but that’s exactly what they’re doing because that’s what the people want,” he said.

And Republicans seem to understand that abortion motivates voters. Sen Thom Tillis (R-NC) tried to note that all three contests were low-turnout races. But he also warned that this could lead to Democrats putting more abortion referendums on state ballots come 2024.

Election officials are keeping a watchful eye on letters that arrive after a series of envelopes containing suspicious substances were sent to officials in Georgia, Nevada, California, Oregon and Washington this past week.

Several election offices reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and US Postal Service Inspection Service that they received envelopes containing a “white powdery substance” and a threatening note about elections.

In Pierce County, Washington the auditor’s office shared a letter accompanied by the suspicious substance that read “End elections now”, according to The Associated Press.

Another “very similar” letter sent to the elections office in King County, Washington during the August primary contained fentanyl, elections director Julie Wise said.

Ariana Baio reports.

The third Republican presidential primary debate only drew in about 7 million viewers, making it the least-watched debate of the election season this year.

The NBC News broadcast aired during primetime, between 8pm and 10pm on Wednesday, and delivered 6.8m television viewers, of which 1.3m were in the 25-54 age demographic favoured by advertisers, according to Nielsen Media Research. All told including streaming, NBC News said it attracted about 7.5 million viwers.

The viewership data does not include those who watched the event on streaming services or viewed clips on social media and video streaming sites like YouTube.

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel called out GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy for a low blow comment he made during the third GOP debate.

The Republican presidential debate took place in Miami on Wednesday night, with just five candidates taking to the stage after former vice president Mike Pence suspended his campaign and front-runner Donald Trump failed to attend.

The debate saw foreign policy issues dominate including the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, all the while the candidates continued to trade insults with each other.

But one particular moment caught the attention of Mr Kimmel, prompting the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host to condemn entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy as a “weird, unlikeable cartoon character of a person”.

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As President Joe Biden likes to remind anyone who will listen, “This is not your grandfather’s Republican Party”.

That has never been more evident than when examining the way the 2024 Republican presidential candidates approach the topic of Ukraine.

Support for Ukraine is dividing the GOP field. Several candidates believe the US should continue to support the war effort – a stance that adheres to more traditional Republican foreign policy beliefs.

For years, leaders in the GOP like George W Bush sounded alarms about Russia and supported Nato membership for Ukraine.

But in more recent years, notably under former president Donald Trump, modern conservatives have embraced isolationism.

A number of other Republican candidates, including Mr Trump – the current frontrunner, have expressed support for this.

This is a rundown of what the GOP presidential candidates have said about Ukraine:

Chris Christie battled with Morning Joe’s Mika Brzezinski over the issue of abortion on Thursday after a raucous GOP debate the night before reflected on Republican losses on the abortion rights front in Ohio and Virginia.

The former New Jersey governor is a frequent guest of the Morning Joe crew and typically receives a warm welcome on the show; Thursday morning, however, saw him accused of dishonesty by Brzezinski on the issue of abortions in the ninth month of the pregnancy.

Specifically, the MSNBC host claimed that Mr Christie had accused Democrats of supporting limitless abortion that late into the pregnancy.

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The onset of the Israel-Hamas conflict was a major theme of the third Republican primary debate on 8 November, with candidates declaring their support for Israel in varying degrees.

Since the war began in early October, there have been disagreements regarding how the US should back Israel as an ally while also trying to protect the innocent Palestinians caught in the crossfire.

Candidates were under more pressure this time around because they were given more time to answer thoughtfully thanks to the dwindling number of participants who met the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) stricter criteria.

Read what they had to say:

Nikki Haley has quickly ascended in the polls, becoming the most likely Republican candidate to serve as the alternative to former President Donald Trump in the 2024 race – albeit still a long way behind the frontrunner.

Ms Haley boasts experience in foreign policy – at a time of extreme international instability – served as UN ambassador in the Trump administration and left, allowing her to align herself on some policies while putting just enough distance from the frontrunner, and served as the governor of South Carolina, an early voting state.

The 51-year-old differs from the bulk of the GOP field when it comes to abortion, social security, and foreign policy.

After three impassioned debate performances, the spotlight continues to shine on her.

Here is a glance at where she stands on the issues:

Ex-UN Ambassador Nikki Haley went after entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy during the third Republican debate in Miami, slamming him for mentioning her daughter’s use of the Chinese-owned app TikTok.

“In the last debate, she made fun of me for actually joining TikTok while her own daughter was actually using the app for a long time. So you might want to take care of your family first,” Mr Ramaswamy said on Wednesday night about the app owned by the company ByteDance, which is based in Beijing.

“Leave my daughter out of your voice. You’re just scum,” Ms Haley responded, with Mr Ramaswamy’s attack leading to boos from the audience.