Five Republican presidential candidates will debate on stage in Miami
Five GOP primary presidential candidates participated in the debate AFP

Five primary Republican presidential candidates debated for two hours Wednesday night in Miami, aiming to portray themselves as alternatives to former President Donald Trump as the party's nominee for the 2024 election.

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, tech and finance entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Senator Tim Scott, of South Carolina, participated.

Trump, the leading candidate in the polls, skipped the debate for the third time. He held a rally in Hialeah, Florida, where he demanded that the Republican Party stop "wasting time" with "unwatchable" debates.

The debate started with a question on why the candidates should be the party's choice, instead of Trump.

"I can tell you that I think he was the right president at the right time," Haley said. "I don't think he's the right president now."

DeSantis tried to link the former president to GOP losses in Tuesday's elections.

"He said Republicans were gonna get tired of winning," DeSantis said. "Well, we saw last night - I'm sick of Republicans losing!"

Christie reminded the audience of Trump's legal challenges.

"Anybody who's going to be spending the next year and a half of their life focusing on keeping themselves out of jail and courtrooms cannot lead this party or this country."

Israel, TikTok

All candidates pledged support to Israel in its fight against Hamas and criticized the way President Joe Biden is conducting the U.S. position.

DeSantis and Haley, who were expected to concentrate attacks as polls shows them in a close race for the second place, disagreed on the policy on China. Both accused each other of being too friendly to the Asian country when, as governors, they allowed Chinese investments in their states.

An NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll released at the end of October showed that DeSantis and Haley both had 16% of preference among likely caucus-goers in Iowa. In August, DeSantis had 19% and Haley 6%. Trump had a commanding lead of 43%.

The main personal attack was between Haley and Ramaswamy, when he mentioned that Haley's daughter is a user of TikTok.

"Leave my daughter out of your voice," she angrily responded. "You're just scum."

The fourth GOP primary debate is scheduled for Dec. 6 in Alabama.