The raucous two-hour debate offered a view of the deep challenges the contenders face in seeking to dislodge Trump from his perch at the top of the field.
The debate took place a day before Trump planned to surrender in Atlanta to face charges he sought to overturn his election loss in the state.
That led to a sharp back-and-forth between Christie, Trump's biggest critic among Republican candidates, and Ramaswamy, Trump's most ardent defender.
In the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll released this month, Trump held 47% of the Republican vote nationally, with DeSantis dropping six percentage points from July to 13%.
Moderators Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier, both Fox News hosts, started the debate by asking about the U.S. economy.
Persons:
Asa Hutchinson, Chris Christie, Mike Pence, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, Doug Burgum, Donald Trump, Trump, neophyte, Ramaswamy, DeSantis, Tucker Carlson, Carlson, Joe Biden, Haley, Pence, Christie, Trump's, Biden, Martha MacCallum, Bret Baier, Nathan Layne, Jasper Ward, Costas Pitas, Andy Sullivan, Gram Slattery, Alexandra Ulmer, Rami Ayyub, Kanishka Singh, Susan Heavey, Andrea Shalal, Joseph Ax, Ross Colvin, Howard Goller
Organizations:
Former Arkansas, New, U.S, South Carolina, North Dakota, Republican, Florida, Trump, Fox News, United Nations, Twitter, North, Reuters, Republicans, Supreme, Democratic, Thomson
Locations:
New Jersey, Florida, U.S, MILWAUKEE, Iowa, Ukraine, Russia, United States, Atlanta, North Dakota, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Texas, Milwaukee