The debate started with a flurry of charges and counter-charges of lying that was very hard to follow and didn’t serve either candidate well. After that, I thought DeSantis got the better of the night. After other debates, I’ve complained that DeSantis wasn’t willing to mix it up, preferring simply to deliver his message. Tonight, I thought he was at his strongest when he was doing that, while mixing in his hits against Haley. As for the former South Carolina governor, she wasn’t bad, but obviously overdid the references to the DeSantis-lies website, often looked annoyed, complained about being “demeaned” when she wasn’t, and seemed to be talking particularly fast. She landed her most telling blows when she blasted the failures of DeSantis’s campaign, and he basically couldn’t answer.
Overall, both criticized Trump, but for much of the debate you’d have had no idea that he is currently crushing both of them in Iowa.