The US "Newsweek" reported on December 6 that in the fourth debate of the 2024 Republican presidential nomination held on Wednesday, the candidates repeatedly mentioned former President Donald Trump.

Although Trump declined to participate in this debate, as he did in the previous three debates, he still figured prominently in the proceedings. The moderators mentioned Trump early in the debate, noting that he had a big lead in national polls over the four candidates on stage - Florida Gov. RON desantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

The Republican campaign debate is fierce, US media: These four moments will anger Trump

Moment One: Haley draws a distinction between herself and Trump

Haley painted Trump as a candidate who would create chaos in the Republican Party and said she would be a president with less drama.

"My approach is different from Trump's: no drama, no vendettas, no complaints," she said.

Moment Two: Christie questions Trump's trade record

As he has throughout his campaign, Christie spent much of his time on stage attacking Trump. Referring to Haley's praise of Trump's trade record, Christie took issue with her position.

"She said Trump has been good on trade," Christie said. But that's not the case, and the evidence of his poor record on trade with China is that all he's done is impose tariffs, which raise prices for every American."

Moment three: desantis suggests Trump is too old

Mr Desantis also drew the ire of Mr Christie when the Florida governor, asked if he thought Mr Trump was fit to be president if elected, replied: "Father Time is undefeated."

"Why didn't he just answer the question?" Christie interjected, "Is he fit to be president or not?"

Elsewhere in the debate, Christie called Trump "an angry, bitter man who now wants to be president again because he wants revenge on anyone who disagrees with him."

Moment Four: Christie predicts Trump will go to jail

The former New Jersey governor's most scathing remarks came in anticipation of Trump's current legal problems.

Christie said, "Imagine in your mind that on Election Day, you're all going to go to the polls and vote. And that's something Trump can't do, because before that, he'll be convicted of a felony and his right to vote will be taken away."

When he said this, the audience booed.

"You can boo all you want and continue to deny reality. But if we deny reality as a party, we're going to have four more years of Biden." Christie said.

Unlike the other three candidates, however, Ramaswamy avoided disparaging the former president. He once praised Trump and then claimed, without evidence, that the January 6, 2021 siege of the U.S. Capitol now appeared to be an "inside job."