Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis will tonight go head to head in the final televised debate before next week’s vital Republican caucus in Iowa.

The presidential hopefuls will take to the stage heavily trailing Donald Trump in the race to be the next Republican nominee.

Mr Trump, who has a 50-point lead in some polls, has decided to try to pinch some limelight from his rivals by taking part in a televised Fox News town hall at the same time that Ms Haley and Mr DeSantis square off on CNN.

Tonight’s debate in Des Moines, Iowa, is the last chance Ms Haley and Mr DeSantis will get to convince the state’s Republican voters that they are better placed than Mr Trump to defeat President Biden in November.

Earlier on Wednesday, Chris Christie became the latest Republican candidate to drop out of the race. The former governor of New Jersey had been polling poorly and his departure will likely give Ms Haley an extra boost in the New Hampshire primary in less than two weeks.

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