On COVID-19, Republicans are not happy with the Biden administration’s response. According to a Ipsos/Reuters survey from August, only 27 percent of Republicans think the administration has done the right amount to promote public health and fight COVID-19, compared to 66 percent of Democrats and 55 percent of independents. Thirty-three percent of Republicans said the administration has done too much, and 30 percent said it has done too little.
-Analysis by FiveThirtyEight

Haley has been struggling to distinguish herself among the presidential field, so it's notable that she came out swinging against not just the men on the stage with her but Republicans in Washington, DC as well, for passing those substantial spending bills during the Covid-19 pandemic.
–Analysis from Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections

Ramaswamy introduced himself to a national audience from center stage, arguing that an outsider is needed to move America forward.

"First, let me just address a question that is on everybody's mind at home tonight: Who the heck is this skinny guy with a funny last name and what the heck is he doing in the middle of this debate stage? I'll tell you, I'm not a politician. Bret, you're right about that. I'm an entrepreneur," Ramaswamy told co-moderator Bret Baier.

"Now is our moment to start running to something to our vision of what it means to be an American today. If you have a broken car, you don't turn over the keys to the people who broke it again. You hand it over to a new generation to actually fix the problem. That's why I'm in this race, and we're just getting warmed up."

In his response on how to steady the economy, Christie pointed to his record taking on debt in New Jersey and argued he could do the same in to "fight waste" in Washington -- invoking a cut-the-spending mentality that has long been popular among conservatives but became less prominent with Trump's rise, as he focused on other initiatives.

"We cannot sit by any longer and allow the kind of spending that is going on in Washington," Christie said. "Every dollar they spend is a dollar that these people are not allowed to spend on their children and grandchildren. It is robbing our country and it is wrong."

Scott also jumped on government spending as a major problem, touting his votes against legislation by Democrats.

"Over the last several years, I've had an opportunity to vote against spending package after spending package after spending package," Scott said. "And we also need to understand is that Joe Biden's Bidenomics has led to the loss of $10,000 of spending power for the average family."