Haley, DeSantis fire shots at Trump in head-to-head debate: ‘He did not deliver’

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Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis went head-to-head in the fifth GOP presidential primary debate Wednesday night, but not without taking several shots at the front-runner in the race who was absent from the matchup – former President Donald Trump.

Trump declined to attend the CNN debate in Iowa, as he has for previous debates, despite qualifying. The former president instead attended a town hall on Fox News Channel, which was also held in Des Moines, Iowa.

Haley and DeSantis were asked whether Trump has the "character" to be president again.

"I think the next president needs to have moral clarity," responded Haley, a former two-term South Carolina governor. "I think you need to have moral clarity to understand that it's taxpayer money, not your own money. I think you need to have moral clarity to understand that when you're dealing with dictators in the world, that we always have to fight for democracies and human rights and protecting Americans and preventing war."

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"So I don't think that President Trump is the right president to go forward," she said. "I think it's time for a new generational leader that's going to go and make America proud again."

"I wish Donald Trump was up here on this stage," she added later.