Highlights from first 2024 Republican presidential debate

Republican presidential candidates on the debate stage were asked to raise their hand if they would support former President Donald Trump if he became the party's nominee — even if he were to be convicted in a court of law.

In order to qualify for the first debate, the Republican National Committee required candidates to sign a pledge saying they would back the party's nominee.

"You all signed a pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee. If former president Trump is convicted in a court of law, would you still support him as your party's choice? Please raise your hand if you would," moderator Brett Baier asked.

Vivek Ramaswamy's hand immediately shot up, followed by Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, Doug Burgum, Ron DeSantis and Mike Pence. Asa Hutchinson did not raise his hand.

At that point, Chris Christie, who has been critical of the former president, glanced at the six candidates with hands up to his left and raised his hand off the podium with his finger pointing up, lowering it and shaking his head, and then raising a finger again, this time also flattening his hand and shaking it back and forth.

Baier pressed Christie to clarify his gesture, asking him: "Just to be clear, Governor Christie, you were kinda late to the game there, but you raised your hand?"

"No, I am doing this. Not this," Christie said firmly as he again raised and shook his hand back and forth in a disapproving gesture.

He then used the moment to launch into his frequent criticism of Trump, as well as of the support the former president still receives from his party.

"Here is the bottom line. Someone's got to stop normalizing this conduct. OK... Whether or not you believe the criminal charges are right or wrong, the conduct is beneath the office of president of the United States," Christie said.

Responding to booing from the crowd, "This is the great thing about this country, booing is allowed but it doesn't change the truth."  

Ramaswamy defended Trump, calling him "the best president of the of the 21st century" and slammed Christie's answer.

The question on Trump came about an hour into the debate.

More on Trump's legal challenges: Trump faces 91 criminal charges across four indictments. This month, he was indicted by a federal grand jury in the special counsel’s investigation into the aftermath of the 2020 election and arraigned in a Washington, DC, courtroom, where he pleaded not guilty. 

Then later in the month, Trump and 18 allies were charged in efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat in Georgia. He and the co-defendants have until this Friday to surrender to the Fulton County jail. Trump is expected to turn himself on Thursday.

He also pleaded not guilty in June to dozens of federal counts related to the special counsel investigation into mishandling of classified documents. 

In New York, a hush money payment to an adult film star resulted in his indictment by a Manhattan grand jury over his alleged role in the scheme. That was the first time in American history that a current or former president was criminally charged, an event now matched three other times this summer. 

Trump denies any wrongdoing or criminality in all matters, state and federal, and he has aggressively maintained his innocence. 

CNN’s Dan Berman contributed reporting to this post. 

The post has been updated to reflect the entire exchange between Christie and the moderator.

Former Vice President Mike Pence has clocked in the most speaking time one hour into the debate, with more than 5 minutes on the board. Coming up next is former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, while Gov. of North Dakota, Doug Burgum, has had the least amount of speaking time so far.

Follow along as we track the candidates' speaking time live here.

Mike Pence and Nikki Haley – who both served in the Trump administration -- disagreed over whether a federal ban on abortion could ultimately be passed, with Haley pressing Pence to “be honest with the American people.”

“When it comes to a federal ban, let's be honest with the American people and say it will take 60 Senate votes, it will take a majority of the house. So, in order to do that, let's find consensus,” Haley said.

Pence, who has been outspoken against abortion, said, “To be honest with you, Nikki, you’re my friend. But consensus is the opposite of leadership.” 

“When the Supreme Court returned this question to the American people, they didn't just send it to the states only. It's not a states-only issue. It's a moral issue,” Pence said. He argued that there should be a minimum standard for abortion to be banned at 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Haley, in her response, argued that “when you are talking about a federal ban, be honest with the American people. We haven’t had 45 pro-life senators in over 45 years. So no Republican president can ban abortions any more than a Democratic president can ban all the state laws.” 

“Don't make women feel like they have to decide on this issue when you know we don't have 60 Senate votes in the House,” she told Pence.

“Seventy percent of the American people support legislation to ban abortion after the baby is capable of experiencing pain,” Pence fired back.

“But 70 percent of the Senate does not,” Haley interjected.

Some background: Among Republican candidates, there’s some disagreement over whether a national ban should be a priority, or whether the issue is best left to the states.

Trump, for example, has called the six-week ban signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Florida “too harsh.”

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina favors a federal law banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.Pence supports a six-week federal ban.

Democrats see opportunity in almost any Republican conversation about abortion, citing how the issue has consistently helped galvanize voters in elections – from ballot initiatives to last year’s midterms – since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that erased Roe v. Wade last year and returned the question of abortion rights to the states.

CNN’s John King contributed reporting to this post.

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has several headed exchanges on the debate stage already with other GOP candidates.

Here are some key things to know about the candidate:

Ramaswamy is a biotech and health care entrepreneur who has written two books, “Nation of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit, and the Path Back to Excellence” and “Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam.”

“To put America first, we need to rediscover what America is. That’s why I am running for president,” Ramaswamy wrote in a Wall Street Journal editorial earlier this year. “I am launching not only a political campaign but a cultural movement to create a new American Dream—one that is not only about money but about the unapologetic pursuit of excellence.”

“We embrace secular religions like climatism, Covidism and gender ideology to satisfy our need for meaning, yet we can’t answer what it means to be an American,” Ramaswamy wrote in the Journal.

The editorial also called for securing the border, eliminating affirmative action and repealing civil service protection for federal employees.

In Republican primary polls, Ramaswamy is competitive with seasoned politicians, though still in single figures and far behind Trump.

The tech entrepreneur posted a video of himself shirtless, practicing tennis, on Monday in a tweet he described as his debate prep.

He has also made appearances on the sorts of liberal media programs that many Republican contenders skip, such as a podcast with HBO host Bill Maher. A memo by a pro-DeSantis super PAC made public last week advised the Florida governor to attack Ramaswamy, an indication of the 38-year-old’s rise in the race.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized the federal government for its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, claiming it had locked down the economy, and then said: “In Florida, we led the country out of lockdown, and we kept our state free and open.”   

Facts First: DeSantis’ claim is misleading at best. Before he became a vocal opponent of pandemic restrictions, DeSantis imposed significant restrictions on individuals, businesses and other entities in Florida in March 2020 and April 2020; some of them extended months later into 2020. He did then open up the state, with a gradual phased approach, but he did not keep it open from the start. 

DeSantis received criticism in March 2020 for what some critics perceived as a lax approach to the pandemic, which intensified as Florida beaches were packed during Spring Break. But that month and the month following, DeSantis issued a series of major restrictions. For example, DeSantis:  

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley tried to find common ground on the topic of abortion, calling for a "respectful" approach.

"We need to stop demonizing this issue," she told Fox News moderator Martha MacCallum.

Haley, who also served as the US ambassador to the United Nations, said the topic is personal to her, noting that her husband was adopted and that she had trouble having her own children.

She said a consensus on the topic will need to be reached should a federal abortion ban be introduced.

Former Vice President Mike Pence challenged Haley, saying that "it will take unapologetic leadership that stands on principle and expresses compassion." He called for a 15-week abortion ban in every state and said he would enact such a ban if elected president.

Haley told Pence to "be honest with the American people."

Some more context: In interviews with dozens of Republicans, the vast majority – even among the staunchest opponents of abortion – rejected the idea of Congress pursuing a national ban and said leadership has no plans on the horizon for it to be a centerpiece of their agenda, despite passing federal restrictions on the procedure in previous years when they were in power. Republicans say there’s a practical reason for their change in stance: After Roe v. Wade was overturned last summer, they argue that the question of whether to ban abortion is now best left to the states.

Democrats see opportunity in almost any Republican conversation about abortion, citing how the issue has consistently helped galvanize voters in elections – from ballot initiatives to last year’s midterms – since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that erased Roe v. Wade last year and returned the question of abortion rights to the states.

Watch more here:

CNN’s John King contributed reporting to this post. 

In the wake of a record-breaking heatwave and a string of climate disasters, Fox moderators attempted to force candidates to answer if they believed climate change is caused by humans by a show of hands. 

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson raised his hand, but before the others could weigh in, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shut them down.

The interjection derailed the attempt to put the eight candidates on the record, which was prompted by a question from a young person who wanted to hear Republicans “calm (young people’s) fears that the Republican Party doesn't care about climate change?” 

The hosts never were able to get all eight to weigh in. Vivek Ramaswamy, though, left no doubt where he stood on the issue. He called climate change a “hoax" and set off the rest of the field by suggesting they were all "bought and paid for."

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy swiped at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, referring to a memo released by a firm connected to Never Back Down, a super PAC backing DeSantis’ presidential bid. 

Ramaswamy responded to DeSantis touting his record on Covid policy by hitting him for using “pre-prepared slogans” and calling him a “super PAC puppet.”

“The reality is you have a bunch of people, professional politicians, super PAC puppets following slogans handed over to them by their 400-page super PACS last week,” Ramaswamy said.

The Ohio-based entrepreneur is referring to a debate and strategy memo released by a research firm associated with the super PAC backing DeSantis that suggested, among other things, to “hammer” Ramaswamy during tonight’s debate. DeSantis has since distanced himself from the super PAC memo.

Ramaswamy used the memo to distinguish himself as more authentic than DeSantis and other candidates on the stage.

“The real choices we face in this primary is this: Do you want a super PAC puppet or do you want a patriot who speaks the truth?" Ramaswamy said.

Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and US ambassador to the United Nations, said: “Donald Trump added $8 trillion to our debt, and our kids are never going to forgive us for this.”

Facts First: This is accurate. The total public debt stood at about $19.9 trillion on the day Trump took office in 2017 and then increased by about $7.8 trillion over Trump’s four years, to about $27.8 trillion on the day he left office in 2021.  

It’s worth noting, however, that the increase in the debt during any president’s tenure is not the fault of that president alone. A significant amount of spending under any president is the result of decisions made by their predecessors – such as the creation of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid decades ago – and by circumstances out of a president’s control, notably including the global Covid-19 pandemic under Trump; the debt spiked in 2020 after Trump approved trillions in emergency pandemic relief spending that Congress had passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.  

Still, Trump did choose to approve that spending. And his 2017 tax cuts, unanimously opposed by congressional Democrats, were another major contributor to the debt spike.