Five Republican presidential hopefuls, including former New Jersey Gov Chris Christie, took part in a debate in Miami Wednesday night. On the debate stage along with Christie were Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Hailey, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
The front-runner, former President Donald Trump, did not take part in the debate; he held a rally just a few miles down the road in Hialeah.
Matt Arco, a politics reporter for NJ Advance Media who was at the debate, said in an interview with NJ Spotlight News, “The narrative right now in and outside of Miami is that it’s a two-person race between Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis to see who could be the distant second from Donald Trump. … I don’t think this debate did anything to change that.”
He added, “Certainly, in terms of folks talking about debate coverage, Christie was an afterthought. But as far as he’s concerned, he’s going to be staying in this for a while.”
