The Republican candidates for president traded sharp blows over foreign policy and the future of the Supreme Court in an often unruly and chaotic debate.
After Iowa and New Hampshire, the race has now moved to South Carolina before the February 20 primary.
Front-runner Donald Trump repeatedly tangled with Texas Senator Ted Cruz and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush in a series of tense exchanges.
The lively audience repeatedly jeered and booed the candidates.
As the candidates shouted down and interrupted each other, CBS moderator John Dickerson warned: “We’re in danger of driving this into the dirt.”
Debate highlights:
*The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, creating a vacancy on the court, shifted the discussion towards social issues like gay rights and abortion
*Trump pledged stop using vulgar terms on the campaign trail
*Florida Senator Marco Rubio bounced back after stumbling in a previous debate performance
*Rubio again clashed with Cruz on immigration reform. Rubio said Cruz’s shifting position on immigration was just another example of his dishonesty
*Ohio Governor John Kasich continued to push what he sees as a positive campaign message, decrying the sharp attacks of the night
Trump said he would work with Congress to penalise companies, which move factories and jobs to Mexico.
Trump and Bush clashed over the war in Iraq and President George Bush’s role during the September 11 attacks, reports the BBC.
Jeb Bush responded robustly to Trump’s attacks, a departure for the former governor who originally sought a “joyful” campaign.
“We should have never been in Iraq,” Trump said.
“They lied. They said there were weapons of mass destruction. There were none and they knew that there were none.”
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