The 2024 Republican primary is less than six weeks away, and on Wednesday night in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the four leading candidates reenacted their heated primary debate from earlier.
The debate, which was moderated by Elizabeth Vargas, Megyn Kelly, and Eliana Johnson and hosted by NewsNation, included Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida; Nikki Haley, the former governor of New Jersey; Chris Christie; and Vivek Ramaswamy, a businessman. The front-runner in the primary, former President Donald Trump, persisted in not attending the event despite his opponents’ criticisms. In Florida, he was making a fundraising effort.
Despite abysmal polling and virtually no chance at winning the GOP nomination, Christie again affirmed that he plans to remain in the Republican primary race until the convention in July.
During an interview on CNN, Christie also lashed out because one of the network’s reporters didn’t credit him for attacking Trump at a debate. After the interview, Christie doubled back to slam Jeff Zeleny for not crediting him for attacking Trump. Co-anchors Phil Mattingly and Poppy Harlow jumped to Zeleny’s defense:
