Scott was asked if he's bought and paid for after Ramaswamy said he's the only candidate on stage who isn't bought and paid for. Possibly mishearing the question, he responded, "Absolutely." The moderators repeated it and he responded, "Absolutely not."

Then Scott proceeded to chide the rest of the stage for attacking one another.

"Here is what the American people deserve. It's a debate about the issues that affect their lives. Going back and forth and being childish is not helpful to the American people to decide on the next leader of our country,” Scott said.

-ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim

Scott and Pence have both mentioned a federal 15-week abortion ban. A majority of Republican primary voters say they support a such a ban, according to a July survey from The New York Times/Siena College. Fifty-eight percent of Republicans said they support a 15-week ban, including 41 percent who say they strongly support such a ban. Thirty-six percent oppose it and 6 percent are unsure.
-Analysis by FiveThirtyEight

Haley's first big moment of the debate comes as she spars with Pence on abortion, but the moderators cut off their conversation before it really developed. Somewhat unexpectedly, Burgum stands out on abortion too, unequivocally coming out against a national abortion ban on constitutional grounds.
-Analysis by Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections

Members of DeSantis’s campaign are still upset about a debate memo that was prepared and published last week by a super PAC supporting the governor, a source close to the campaign told ABC News on Wednesday, describing those members of his team as “wildly irritated.”

Chief among the complaints is that the memo, which detailed suggested approaches and lines of attack, effectively handcuffs DeSantis by preventing the governor from using any of the advice on stage lest he invite attacks from opponents for using lines manufactured for him by other people.

The memo included research documents that show that Axiom Strategies, a consulting firm tied to the super political action committee, anticipated that the biggest hits to DeSantis would include his battle with Disney -- ABC News' parent company -- past comments on Ukraine, Florida's Black history standard, the culture wars and abortion.

The packet also included past comments made by presidential hopefuls attacking DeSantis on those specific subjects.

DeSantis himself has downplayed the memo, telling Fox News recently, “It’s not mine. I haven’t read it. It’s just -- I think it’s something that we have put off to the side.”

-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie, Will McDuffie and Olivia Osteen

One challenger to Trump has surged ahead — in ad buys, at least. Scott announced an $8 million ad buy this month. The bulk of that, $6.6 million, will go toward TV advertisements in early primary states Iowa and New Hampshire, according to the Washington Post. That’s on top of the $40 million ad buy planned by a super PAC supporting Scott that was announced last month.

Trump and DeSantis, the two front-runners, had dominated in early ad spending. But challengers like Scott have stepped up as they’ve tried to qualify for debates and raise name recognition in early voting states. Super PACs supporting Haley and Burgum have also increased spending recently. Stand for America Fund, Inc., which is aligned with Haley, spent $2.3 million on ads so far in August, while Best of America, which backs Burgum, has spent $2.1 million, according to reporting from NBC News.

Meanwhile, Trump-supporting PACs have spent millions on the former president’s legal fees as the number of indictments filed against him has risen to four. That will leave less money for spending on ads going forward, but Trump remains the top campaign fundraiser.

-Analysis by Monica Potts of FiveThirtyEight