--- title: What the Candidates Said About Trump at the First GOP Debate description: Halfway through the debate, moderator Bret Baier asked if the candidates would support Trump as the nominee if he’s convicted. Most said yes. canonical: https://time.com/6307890/republican-debate-trump-conviction-candidates-support/ author: Nik Popli article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-08-24T04:00:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:06:03.470Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here's What the Candidates Said About Trump at the Debate og:description: Moderator Bret Baier asked the candidates if they would support Trump as the nominee if he’s convicted. Most said they would. og:url: https://time.com/6307890/republican-debate-trump-conviction-candidates-support/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94ee66e97cb904b2/698a3fc2096a944bb46ae100/republican-presidential-debate-gop-2023-11.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: Presidential Hopefuls Square Off In First GOP Debate og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's What the Candidates Said About Trump at the Debate twitter:description: Moderator Bret Baier asked the candidates if they would support Trump as the nominee if he’s convicted. Most said they would. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94ee66e97cb904b2/698a3fc2096a944bb46ae100/republican-presidential-debate-gop-2023-11.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The GOP Debate Devoted One Segment to Trump. Here's What Happened. > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: 2024 Presidential Candidates Campaign at the Iowa State Fair [Watch (HLS stream): 2024 Presidential Candidates Campaign at the Iowa State Fair](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7DH5kdUH.m3u8) (3:16)  _Published 2023-08-14. A host of 2024 presidential candidates visited the Iowa State Fair to mingle with voters ahead of the state's first-in-the-nation nominating caucuses._  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Aug 24, 2023 4:00 AM UTC  MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - AUGUST 23: With the exception of Asa Hutchinson and Chris Christie, Republican presidential candidates Mike Pence, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott and Doug Burgum raise their hands to say they would support Donald Trump as the party's presidential nominee. MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - AUGUST 23: With the exception of Asa Hutchinson and Chris Christie, Republican presidential candidates Mike Pence, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott and Doug Burgum raise their hands to say they would support Donald Trump as the party's presidential nominee. Getty Images—2023 Getty Images  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Aug 24, 2023 4:00 AM UTC For nearly an hour, Republican presidential candidates at the first debate on Wednesday night largely managed to avoid talking about former President Donald Trump. But halfway through the debate, moderator Bret Baier said they had to address the “elephant not in the room” head-on. He asked the eight candidates on stage to raise their hands if they would support Trump as the nominee even if he’s convicted of charges in any of his four criminal cases. Only Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson, the former governors of New Jersey and Arkansas, did not raise their hands, even though all candidates had to sign [a loyalty pledge](https://time.com/6303628/donald-trump-republican-debate-pledge-signed/) agreeing to support the party’s eventual nominee, whoever it might be, in order to participate in the debate. The discussion of Trump’s legal troubles and his influence within the Republican party marked one of the more dramatic moments of the night, eliciting audible reactions from the crowd and a fodder of intense on-stage exchanges. Trump, who skipped the debate, faces a [cascade of legal troubles](https://time.com/6301112/trump-criminal-cases-status/) after becoming the first U.S. President to be indicted in the nation’s 234-year history. He has now been charged in four separate criminal cases related to his business and political activities, bringing his total criminal charges to date to 91. “Someone has got to stop normalizing this conduct,” Christie said of Trump. “The conduct is beneath the office of president of the United States.” His response sparked an argument with Biotech entrepreneur [Vivek Ramaswamy](https://time.com/6305440/vivek-ramaswamy-interview-republican-primary/), who defended Trump and called him "the best president of the 21st century.” ### More From TIME Christie replied: “I’m not going to bow to anyone when we have a president of the United States who disrespects the Constitution. I will always stand up for the Constitution regardless of the political pressure.” Some in the crowd booed. Ramaswamy jumped in again: “Honest to God, your claim that Donald Trump is motivated by vengeance and grievance would be a lot more credible if your entire campaign wasn’t motivated by vengeance and grievance against one man.” The heated exchange between the two candidates underscores how the criminal cases against Trump are expected to be at the forefront of the 2024 campaign. A recent [New York _Times_/Siena College poll](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/31/us/politics/2024-poll-nyt-siena-trump-republicans.html) found that 71% of GOP primary voters think Republicans should stand behind Trump amid the investigations and indictments he’s facing. The cases are expected to play out [over the coming months](https://time.com/6301429/donald-trump-cases-election-timeline/), setting up a long string of legal battles that will overlap with next year’s presidential primaries. In New York, Trump [faces 34 felony counts](https://time.com/6268675/donald-trump-indictment-historic-significance/) over allegations that he falsified business records to conceal hush-money payments to a porn star. He’s also facing [40 felony counts in Florida](https://time.com/6286271/trump-indictment-details-unsealed-classified-documents/) for allegedly hoarding classified documents and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them, and [four counts in Washington](https://time.com/6298840/donald-trump-indictment-jan-6-jack-smith/) related to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Most recently, the district attorney in Fulton County, Ga. charged Trump with [13 felony counts](https://time.com/6304750/donald-trump-indicted-georgia-election-interference/) in connection to his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election result in that state. Trump has cast the four separate indictments against him as a [partisan witch-hunt](https://time.com/6306991/donald-trump-georgia-indictment-bond/) to stop him from reclaiming the White House. In both the federal and Georgia cases that allege he knowingly spread lies of election fraud to stay in power, Trump’s attorneys have argued that he was acting within his First Amendment rights to challenge the election outcome. They also insist that Trump believed his own claims and was therefore not operating with criminal intent. Trump’s rivals have so far been wary of directly attacking the former President, who remains the undisputed frontrunner in the crowded field. The latest [FiveThirtyEight average of national polls](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-primary-r/2024/national/) shows Trump enjoys the support of just over half of Republican voters, followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in second at around 15%. But on the debate stage Wednesday night, some candidates decided to use the moment to blitz the absent frontrunner. “We have to face the fact that Trump is the most disliked politician in America,” said Nikki Haley, a former U.N. ambassador in the Trump administration. “We can’t win a general election that way.” The candidates were also asked whether former Vice President Mike Pence did the right thing on Jan. 6, 2021 by refusing Trump’s request to unilaterally reject the results of the 2020 presidential election—conduct at issue in Trump’s latest indictment. Pence has always maintained that he had no legal power as Vice President to reject the Electoral College votes in Congress. All of the candidates on the debate stage with him agreed. “Absolutely,” said South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who was the first candidate to answer the question. DeSantis initially sidestepped the question, saying “It’s not about Jan. 6, 2021, it’s about Jan. 20, 2025.” He later clarified and said “Mike did his duty. I got no beef with him.” “I’m relieved,” Pence quipped. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6307890/republican-debate-trump-conviction-candidates-support/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6307890/republican-debate-trump-conviction-candidates-support/"},"headline":"The GOP Debate Devoted One Segment to Trump. Here's What Happened.","datePublished":"2023-08-24T04:00:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:06:03.470Z","description":"Moderator Bret Baier asked the candidates if they would support Trump as the nominee if he’s convicted. 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