Donald Trump's absence led to a night of barbs between the remaining GOP presidential hopefuls. The first presidential debate of this cycle was dominated by attacks on Vivek Ramaswamy. Despite getting attacked on all sides by his fellow candidates, Ramaswamy largely held his own on stage Wednesday, drawing large rounds of applause from the crowd throughout the night. Former President Donald Trump said he felt no need to attend a debate while he holds a double-digit national lead. Namely, DeSantis refused to say if he'd support a federal 6-week abortion policy, simply saying ""I'm gonna stand on the side of life."

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Persons: Donald Trump's, Vivek Ramaswamy, Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump, DeSantis, Ramaswamy, Chris Christie, I've, Christie, Christie wasn't, Pence, Haley, Trump, he's, Mike Pence, Asa Hutchinson, Bret Baier, who's, Roe, Wade, enshrine Roe, Nikki —, Martha MacCallum, MacCallum, Baier Organizations: Florida Gov, Service, New Jersey Gov, Trump, Republican, Fox News, GOP, Republicans, Roe Republicans, UN Locations: Florida, Wall, Silicon, America, New Jersey, Arkansas, Hawaii, midterms, Ohio