By
At Wednesday night’s presidential debate, the candidates running against former President Donald Trump were asked to explain why they would serve as a better president than the former one.
“Donald Trump’s a lot different guy than he was in 2016. He owes it to you to be on this stage and explain why he should get another chance,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said.
Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who is a frontrunner alongside DeSantis, said of Trump, “I don’t think he’s the right president now.”
Still, all five candidates on the stage refrained from attacking him at other points in the debate, instead opting to trade barbs against one another, NBC’s Jonathan Allen wrote after the debate.
And, as NBC’s Matt Dixon reported from across town in Hialeah, Florida, where Trump rallied with supporters to counter-program the debate, the former president ignored Tuesday night’s election losses from the party and celebrated his position as the frontrunner in the GOP primary.
