Vivek's suicide bombs

Ramaswamy distracted Nikki Haley from her primary mission, but unlikely helped himself with Iowans.

The third Republican primary debate in Miami on Wednesday included the slimmest field of contenders to date, with three central candidates jousting among the five left on stage for primacy to become the last standing contender against Donald Trump.

But the anticipated showdown between Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley was usurped by a series of bitter exchanges between entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and the former South Carolina governor, with an exasperated Haley at one point calling Ramaswamy “scum.”

Ramaswamy attacked Haley as an overly hawkish pawn for the defense industry, citing her time serving on Boeing’s board of directors after her tenure as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Haley retorted that U.S. adversaries like Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping were salivating at a hypothetical President Ramaswamy.

DeSantis sparred with Haley on fracking policy in Florida and the business they each did with China during their governorships.

But Ramaswamy’s pugnacious performance is what will be remembered in this November clash, forcing Haley into a two-front verbal battle that complicated her goal of eclipsing DeSantis.

“DeSantis continues to mostly rise above the fray in these debates,” said Aaron Kall, director of debate at the University of Michigan. “This allows him to appear presidential and avoid the harshest attacks and viral moments that emerge.”

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