Top moments from the Des Moines GOP debate

The seventh Republican debate (and the last one before the Iowa caucuses) was missing Donald Trump but still included plenty of sharp exchanges among the rest of the GOP frontrunners. The most heated moments dealt with immigration, with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush attacking Sen. Marco Rubio, who returned the favor before turning his fire on his Senate colleague Ted Cruz over the same issue. Check out the other standout moments from Des Moines, Iowa.

Cruz takes a jab (or two) at Trump

Moderator Megyn Kelly asked Sen. Cruz to address “the elephant not in the room,” referring to his absent rival. “I’m a maniac, and everyone on this stage is stupid, fat and ugly,” replied Cruz, getting the “Trump portion out of the way.”

Cruz later criticized the moderators, suggesting that they were trying to incite his rivals to gang up on him. “If you ask one more mean question, I may have to leave the stage,” said the Texas senator, in another mocking reference to the absent GOP frontrunner.

Kasich sidesteps encryption question

Ohio Gov. John Kasich was asked about his previous statement that data encryption was a “big problem” that the FBI should be authorized to penetrate. “It’ll get solved,” he eventually replied, suggesting that it would be better for the issue to be discussed behind closed doors.

Gilmore-mentum

Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, who had been excluded from many of the prior debates due to his low poll numbers, made the most of his time in the undercard debate. He was a trending topic on Twitter and saw a surge in search-engine traffic compared to his rivals.

Huckabee shows his softer side

The former Arkansas governor and 2008 Iowa caucus winner criticized government programs that he said actually keep people in poverty, and he delivered an eloquent defense of those struggling to work their way out of it.