Fifth GOP debate: Nikki Haley's team takes to social media to fact-check Ron DeSantis' claims against her

DES MOINES, IOWA: In the first one-on-one Republican debate of the election cycle in Des Moines, Iowa, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis are engaged in a heated exchange, challenging each other's records.

This debate holds particular significance as it is the final one before Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucus scheduled for Monday.

Throughout the initial hour of the debate, the candidates have been fact-checking each other and engaging in sparring matches over various questions posed by CNN moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.

While DeSantis claims he has video of Haley, the latter keeps pointing at a website she and her team created for tracking the Florida governor’s lies.

Nikki Haley team’s fact checks Ron DeSantis lies on social media

As Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley kept on accusing on stage one another of repeatedly lying, both came prepared to state facts about each other.

When the moderators questioned about Haley’s federal gas tax, DeSantis took a brutal dig at her stating, “Not only did she say it, she is on videotape saying it. We have all the greatest hits.”

He continued, “She kind of admitted that she did try to raise the gas tax. She is on video saying this.”

While the two continued to accuse each other, Haley’s team fact-checked her records on social media as they took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and wrote, “Ron, we eliminated the grocery tax. Get your facts straight.”

The tweet presented an article where it was stated that South Carolina “will now be one of 30 states that doesn’t have to pay taxes on food, but local taxes will still apply.”

Another tweet read, “Fact checkers have already called out Ron’s lies about my record on taxes. I never raised net taxes. Every tax increase was coupled with a much larger tax cut. It’s really sad to see how desperate Ron has become.”

In this tweet, Haley’s team presented an article from PolitiFact that cleared out that Haley co-sponsored a 2006 bill that raised the sales tax by 1 cent while also cutting property taxes.

Internet takes a dig at Nikki Haley

Many people on the internet slammed Nikki Haley.

One person wrote, “She's losing,” and another said, “Nikki Haley using woke, leftist rag Politifact as a “fact-checker” tells you everything you need to know.”

An X user slammed Haley, “Not liking you and how you are speaking at this town hall. You are offending me with how you’re speaking today,” and another wrote, “Queen of the RINO Party. You still running for President of Dollar General?”

One more person called out Haley, “She has lied 5 time so far. She is desparate,” and another said, “Go away please, who on earth is going to vote for you? And who is voting for you?”

“I am glad she is running because we now see that she can not be trusted and is just a part of the swamp,” said another.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.