On Trump: 'Is He Fit to Be President or Isn't He?'

An hour into the Republican debate Thursday night, the topic turned to Donald Trump. Samples of what the candidates said:

• Ron DeSantis: "Father time is undefeated," he said when asked whether the 77-year-old Trump was fit enough for another term. "I think we need to have somebody younger." At another point, he said Trump "had failed to clean up the swamp." However, Chris Christie broke in to accuse DeSantis of dodging. "The question was very direct, is he fit to be president, or isn't he?" said Christie, per the Wall Street Journal. "The rest of the speech is interesting but completely unresponsive." DeSantis denied dodging the question but did not answer with a yes or nor about whether he thought Trump was fit enough to be president again. He repeated his line that "father time is undefeated," adding, "I do think that over a four-year period it is not a job for somebody that's pushing 80."
• Chris Christie: He delivered by far the most blistering critique of Trump in this portion of the debate. "This is an angry bitter man who now wants to be back as president because he wants to exact retribution on anyone who has disagreed with him," he said. "His conduct is unacceptable. He's unfit. Be careful of what you'll get if you ever get a second Donald Trump term." The comments drew boos from the crowd. Christie also said his rivals were afraid to criticize Trump. "Failing to speak out against him, making excuses for him, pretending he is a victim, empowers him," he said, suggesting that this was the reason Trump was so far ahead in the polls, per the New York Times.

• Nikki Haley: Asked about Trump's pledge to reinstate a ban on people from predominately Muslim nations, Haley said she would take a different tack. "I don't think that you can have a straight up Muslim ban as much as look at the countries that have terrorist activity that want to hurt Americans," she said, per CNN. "It's not about a religion."
• Vivek Ramaswamy: He did not get a Trump question but said all three of his rivals have been "licking Donald Trump's boots" for years.

(More Republican debate stories.)