Third Republican Presidential Debate Underway Shortly

Five Republican presidential candidates are shortly due to face off in Miami in the third Republican presidential debate. The debate will be moderated by “NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt and “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker. Livestream.

• The field has been shrunk by two since the second debate with North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum (R-ND) failing to qualify and former Vice President Mike Pence withdrawing in the face of poor polling numbers on his anti-Trump platform.
• Former President Donald Trump, whose huge polling lead provides little incentive to appear, will again skip the event and attend a rally in nearby Hialeah, Florida.
• Lineup: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL), former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (R-SC), businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
• Semafor notes: “The center of attention this time is likely Nikki Haley, who the field increasingly sees as a threat to move into the (extremely distant) second-place slot against Donald Trump. Ron DeSantis’ campaign is coming off a big endorsement from Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and has argued Haley is incapable of consolidating MAGA and non-MAGA voters.”
• The Washington Post reports that, “DeSantis and Haley are likely to spar over who is tougher on China.”