Vivek Ramaswamy calls Nikki Haley 'Dick Cheney in three-inch heels'. Her response

Nikki Haley, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy during the third Republican presidential primary debate.

Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, the two Indian-origin Republican presidential hopefuls, clashed fiercely in the third round of the Republican presidential televised debate ahead of the 2024 US presidential election, indulging in personal attacks and name-calling.

An angry Haley hit back at Ramaswamy who had taken on the former by mentioning her daughter’s TiKTok usage.

“In the last debate, (Haley) made fun of me for actually joining TikTok while her own daughter was actually using the app for a long time. So you might want to take care of your family first,” Ramaswamy said when the moderator of the debate asked him how he can ban the Chinese-owned app given he too uses it on campaign trail.

“Leave my daughter out of your voice,” Nikki Haley told him on stage.

TikTok is banned on US government devices, by saying he was reaching out to young people.

“You have her supporters propping her up, that’s fine,” Ramaswamy said.

“You’re just scum,” Haley said, referring to her rival.

More fireworks erupted between Haley and Ramaswamy, who is seen as a political novice, when he branded Haley "Dick Cheney in three-inch heels," referring to the former Republican former vice president.

Giving a fitting reply that drew a loud applause from the audience, Haley shot back, “I’d first like to say they’re 5-inch heels, and I don’t wear them unless you can run in them. The second thing I will say is, I wear heels. They’re not for a fashion statement. They’re for ammunition.”

A former governor of South Carolina and Trump's first ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley is the only woman in the Republican primary contest. Meanwhile, the popularity of Vivek Ramaswamy, 38, has been on the rise since his performance at the first Republican presidential primary debate. Before he announced his presidential election bid, the entrepreuner was dubbed by the New Yorker magazine as the “CEO of Anti-Woke Inc”.

The third televised debate occurred just a day after Democrats snatched key election victories in conservative and swing states, particularly over abortion rights, but the perennially thorny issue was not discussed until more than 90 minutes into the two-hour event.