The race for the White House has begun as the 2024 United States election nears, with presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and former UN envoy Nikki Haley facing off in the fifth Republican debate in Iowa on Wednesday.
The CNN-hosted debate saw Haley and Destantis tear each other apart by accusing each other of lying, insulting each other with tapes and characters, while Donald Trump decided to skip and participate in an interview with Fox News on the same day at the same time.
Critics believe this is a deliberate move to draw viewers away from his rival’s events using a “counter-programming” strategy.
The Iowa Caucus is set to begin on January 15, the opening contest in the US election season. The presidential election is scheduled for November 5.
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President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former UN envoy Nikki Haley are potential candidates, along with several others.
The results from the Iowa caucuses will set the mood for this year’s election season. It will allow US citizens to measure the performance of parties and candidates.
According to an average of polls compiled by the FiveThirtyEight website, Trump had 50% support among Republican primary voters in Iowa, while his next closest rivals were DeSantis at 18.4% and Haley at 15.7%.