Ramaswamy repeated that he would support Trump if he is the nominee regardless of whether he's convicted of a crime.

"President Trump, I believe, was the best president of the 21st century," Ramswamy said before knocking Christie for his attacks on the former president:

"Your claim that Donald Trump is motivated by vengeance and grievance would be a lot more credible. If your entire campaign were not based on vengeance and grievance" against Trump.

-ABC News' Tal Axelrod

A majority (56 percent) of Republicans in a recent TIPP Insights/Issues & Insights poll feel that the charges against former President Donald Trump in both the classified documents case and the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol are political harassment by the Biden administration. And in an August poll from Morning Consult, 69 percent of Republicans felt the 2020 election indictment was primarily motivated by a desire to damage Trump’s political career, rather than by evidence that he committed a crime.
-Analysis by FiveThirtyEight

Six Republican candidates raised their hands when asked if they'd support Trump as the party's nominee if he were convicted and still went on to win. Two, Christie and Hutchinson, did not. Christie wagged his finger and criticized Trump, saying it was "unbecoming" to behave as Trump had. The crowd booed Christie extensively, to the point that Baier has to shush the crowd like a schoolteacher, telling them they need to "get through" this part. -Analysis by Geoffrey Skelley of FiveThirtyEight

Trump has largely been absent from this debate so far. In the first half, he was only mentioned five times by name, although Hutchinson did take a swipe at “a former president who is under indictment.” But now the moderators are asking about his legal troubles directly.
-Analysis by Nathaniel Rakich of FiveThirtyEight

Trump maintains a lead of 28 percentage points over his nearest competitor in South Carolina, according to the latest polls.

Haley and Scott, the two candidates from South Carolina, are both polling higher in South Carolina than they are nationally, according to our polling average. Trump is polling about 7 points lower in South Carolina than in national polls.

Only one pollster, the Manhattan Institute has tested the favorability of Republican candidates in South Carolina since July 1. That survey found Scott and DeSantis had the highest net favorability in the state (+56 and +55 percentage points, respectively), and Trump and Haley close behind (+39 and +33 points, respectively). Pence had a net favorability of +1 point, and Christie was underwater by -36 points.

Economic issues are most important to Republican primary voters in South Carolina, according to a July survey from Fox Business/Beacon Research/Shaw & Co. Research. Fifty-one percent of Republican voters said economic issues would be most important for deciding their vote. Twelve percent each said immigration issues, social issues and foreign policy were most important.

In an August survey by National Public Affairs, 40 percent of South Carolina Republican voters said that Trump wouldn’t lose their support even if he did not show up to the debate. Twelve percent said that they support Trump, but if he didn’t debate they would be open to or definitely supporting someone else, 32 percent said they wouldn’t vote for Trump regardless, 9 percent said they probably wouldn’t watch the debate anyway and 6 percent were unsure.

-Analysis by FiveThirtyEight