Photo: MANDEL NGAN / AFP / Getty Images
Five Republican presidential candidates will take the stage at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County for the third presidential primary debate on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET.
The candidates participating include Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, and Vivek Ramaswamy.
The debate will be moderated by Lester Holt, Kristen Welker, and Hugh Hewitt.
Former President Donald Trump, who has a commanding lead in the polls, will not be participating. Instead, he will be holding a rally of his own about ten miles away in Hialeah.
With a smaller stage than the previous two debates, the candidates will have a chance to stand out and try to chip away at Trump's lead in the polls. Haley and DeSantis are expected to spar as they try to paint themselves as the alternative to Trump. DeSantis is currently in second place, while Haley is in a distant third.
Haley has already started her attacks, releasing a video ahead of the debate calling DeSantis a liar and mocking his boots.
"At the next debate, expect Ron DeSantis to lie about his record again," the video said. "You can't trust anything he [DeSantis] says."
The debate could also be the last chance for Christie, Scott, and Ramaswamy to make any headway. They struggled to meet the qualifications to earn a spot on the debate stage in Miami and could find themselves shut out of the fourth debate on December 6 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, if they can't improve their polling numbers.