Republicans feud over Trump, abortion and climate in first 2024 primary debate

Eight candidates gather in Milwaukee in hopes of catching up to former president in polls

Republican presidential candidates clashed over Donald Trump's legal woes during the first primary debate of the 2024 campaign season, underscoring the former president's absence from the event and casting a spotlight on his potential vulnerabilities in a general election rematch against Joe Biden.

Nearly an hour into the debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Fox News hosts Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier asked the eight candidates on the stage whether they would still support Trump as the Republican presidential nominee if he were convicted of the charges he faces. Six candidates - North Carolina's Governor Doug Burgum, Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis, the former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, the former vice-president Mike Pence, the entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina's Senator Tim Scott - indicated they would still support Trump. Only two candidates - the former New Jersey governor Chris Christie and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson - said they would not.