‘You’re just scum’.

Three words muttered under Nikki Haley’s breath, quite clearly caught on the microphone positioned inches in front of her mouth, pretty much said it all.

If there was a moment for the former U.N. Ambassador’s rising Republican star to rocket into the stratosphere it was this one on the GOP primary debate stage in Miami.

But she ran into Vivek the Destroyer.

Or more accurately, Vivek the Annoyer.

Look, Nikki ain’t wrong.

The accomplished ex-governor couldn’t contain her disgust after the millennial motormouth – having tamed his bouffant but evidently turning his obnoxiousness up to 11 – evoked Haley’s 25-year-old daughter.

Showing that he’s not too proud to sink so low, Vivek defended his own use of Chinese-owned Tik Tok by pointing out that Haley’s kid was also on the social media app.

Yes, classless. But Haley’s anger belied a loss of control and, unfortunately, a missed opportunity.

She was the only candidate behind a podium last night who has seen a recent rise in the polls and, surely, she hoped to capitalize on that momentum.

Yet, Vivek was just too irritating for her to ignore.

He started the night swinging wildly — hitting out at RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel for yet another GOP election debacle. It seemed a bit uncouth and uncalled for as McDaniel had just warmed up the live audience and is more or less unknown to everyone else but, hey, when has Vivek allowed tact or taste to dictate his behavior?

‘You’re just scum’. Three words muttered under Nikki Haley’s breath, quite clearly caught on the microphone positioned inches in front of her mouth, pretty much said it all.

If there was a moment for the former U.N. Ambassador’s rising Republican star to rocket into the stratosphere it was this one on the GOP primary debate stage in Miami. But she ran into Vivek the Destroyer. Or more accurately, Vivek the Annoyer.

In the same breath, he started attacking the debate moderators. That gag always does well. But it felt a bit like slapping the host at their own dinner party.

Then this foreign policy-focused debate really took off when it turned to wars.

Vivek – now apparently an aspiring Telegram influencer – bizarrely seemed to accuse the Jewish president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, of being a Nazi.

It’s a smear straight out of Vlad Putin’s playbook.

Later, Ramaswamy’s campaign claimed that he was referring to the Canadian Parliament mistakenly celebrating the life of a 98-year-old Ukrainian-Canadian veteran who served in the Nazi military.

Fine. But how then do they explain their candidate repeating another Kremlin talking point that Russia has held some Eastern regions of Ukraine for years? And mind you, he left out that’s only because Putin invaded during the hapless Obama administration and Barack, as usual, sat on his hands.

Haley had the pitch-perfect response: Putin and China’s President Xi are salivating over the prospect of Vivek sitting behind the Resolute desk.

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A direct hit. But you could almost see her blood starting to boil.

Sexist jokes about high heels — Nikki’s and Ron’s — followed.

‘Do you want Dick Cheney in three-inch heels?’ Vivek quipped.

He hates Neo-cons, you know. He read all about them on Wikipedia right before the debate.

Yes, he’s truly the spawn of Trump without that winning reality show charm, an on-stage arsonist spraying flames from his throat and burning it all down.

His best argument seems to be that he’s The Donald but younger. The pesky question remains: if Vivek thinks Trump is the best, then why is he running against him?

The ever-ebullient Chris Christie almost looked presidential, looming above the fray, but only because he’s taken as seriously as Senator Tim Scott — who won the prize yet again for kindest person on stage.

On Israel, the hawks had their wings fully extended. ‘Finish them,’ was the line of nearly every single candidate when asked about how they’d support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in handling Hamas.

The ever-ebullient Chris Christie almost looked presidential, looming above the fray, but only because he’s taken as seriously as Senator Tim Scott — who won the prize yet again for kindest person on stage.

Sexist jokes about high heels — Nikki’s and Ron’s — followed. ‘Do you want Dick Cheney in three-inch heels?’ Vivek quipped.

Vivek, the Great Contradictor, wasn’t so courageous here. He suggested that Bibi should ‘smoke those terrorists on his southern border,’ while, as president, he will be ‘smoking the terrorists on our southern border.’

Cute but delusional. Israel’s defense relies on America’s vocal support. His bumper sticker policy doesn’t quite cut it.

You could see Haley fighting to regain composure. Her answers were rushed, a bit jumbled. She seemed a bit too uncomfortable. Is this the person to guide America through a crisis?

And amid all the squabbling, Ron DeSantis, preferring to play the silent observer in these melees, straddled the Trumpian isolationist line on Ukraine while remaining staunchly pro-Israel.

In the brightest moment of the night, the GOP’s thus far disappointing savior from Florida had one of the sharpest attacks on the GOP frontrunner.

‘[Trump] owes it to you to be on this stage and explain why he should get another chance,’ Ron scolded, ‘He should explain why he didn’t have Mexico pay for the border wall. He should explain why he racked up so much debt. He should explain why he didn’t drain the swamp.’

He needs more of that.

Yes, Ron DeSantis carried the night and the Daily Mail post-debate poll reflected that. Most importantly, one could picture him in the Oval Office.

Sadly, for Nikki Haley, this was her moment and she missed it. But one woman’s strike out is another man’s at bat.

Ron suddenly looks like he may get another chance at dethroning Don. But the hour is growing late. His second chance may be his last.