Highlights from the GOP's first big presidential debate

GOP presidential hopefuls on the debate stage.
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The 10 leading Republican presidential candidates met in Cleveland Thursday night for the Fox News GOP debate, moderated by network personalities Megyn Kelly, Chris Wallace, and Brett Baier.

The debate was attended by Donald Trump, former Gov. Jeb Bush (Fla.), Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), Gov. Chris Christie (N.J.), Dr. Ben Carson, Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), Gov. John Kasich (Ohio), Gov. Scott Walker (Wis.), and former Gov. Mike Huckabee (Ark.). For two hours, the candidates were asked questions about specific issues, including how they would stop ISIS, how they would handle going up against Hillary Clinton if she becomes the nominee for the Democrats, and what they would do on day one of their presidency regarding the Iran nuclear deal. Here are some highlights:

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.