When the topic of Donald Trump emerged in the second hour of the first GOP debate, the Fox News moderators asked the eight candidates on stage to raise their hands if they would support Trump as the nominee even if he is convicted of a crime. Only Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson opted not to do so, reports Politico. (Christie did actually seem to raise his hand, but he explained he was wagging his fist.) That prompted some fireworks between Christie and Vivek Ramaswamy:
- Ramaswamy: "Let's just speak the truth. President Trump, I believe, was the best president of the 21st century. It's a fact." He said the campaign of Christie is based solely on "vengeance and grievance" against the former president.
- Christie: He said Trump's "conduct is beneath the office of the president of the United States." When he was met by loud boos (including when he said Ramaswamy made him laugh), he told the crowd: "This is the great thing about this country; booing is allowed, but it doesn't change the truth." He also said of Trump: "Someone's got to stop normalizing this conduct," per CNN.
- Hutchinson: Though he said he couldn't pledge to support Trump, Hutchinson cited a somewhat technical reason: that Republican National Committee rules would prohibit backing Trump should he be convicted, per the New York Times. He also noted that some conservative scholars have suggested that Trump already is disqualified from running again. The crowd booed his answer.
- Pardon? Ramaswamy challenged Mike Pence to pledge to pardon Trump on day one of his presidency, as he would. Pence said only that as president, he would give fair consideration to any pardon requests, per the Washington Post.
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