07 February 2016•Update: 12 February 2016
WASHINGTON
Republican presidential candidates gathered Saturday in the last debate before the New Hampshire primary Tuesday.
The debate at St. Anselm's College, New Hampshire, hosted by ABC News, was marked by Donald Trump’s return after he skipped last week's debate because he "just didn’t think this was a fair process".
But the star of Saturday night's debate was not Trump.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was widely considered as one of the winners of the Iowa caucuses, in which he came third, just behind Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
The focus of each candidate’s attacks on stage, Rubio appeared to struggle when New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he was too inexperienced and unaccomplished to be president.
Christie blasted Rubio as someone who delivers speeches but has never made a consequential decision in his political life.
"When you're president of the United States, when you're a governor of a state, the memorized 30-second speech where you talk about how great America is at the end of it doesn't solve one problem for one person," Christie said.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush agreed with Christie's criticism of Rubio and said that Americans should not gamble on a candidate who does not have executive experience.
Meanwhile, Trump and Bush clashed over the concept of "eminent domain" - the government practice to seize property for public use - that Trump has supported.
“It’s a necessity for our country,” Trump said.
Bush accused Trump of using eminent domain to take property from an elderly woman for a project in Atlantic City.
Bush was referring to a case, in which a widow in her sixties refused to sell her property to Trump who wanted to build a limousine garage for one of his casinos in Atlantic City. She was threatened with an eminent domain seizure but, eventually, a New Jersey court ruled against Trump in 1998.
Trump accused Bush of trying to be a "tough guy".
Bush asked Trump, "How tough is it to take property from an elderly woman?" The audience started to boo Trump.
Creating “a parking lot for his casinos is not public use”, Bush added.
The real estate mogul claimed that the audience consisted of party figures and big donors and, for that reason, did not like him.
Trump said he had "the best temperament" to become a president, attempting to disprove criticism from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz this week about Trump's readiness to be commander-in-chief.
Having criticized the Obama administration for being weak on foreign policy, the candidates were also asked about a recent long-range missile test conducted by North Korea
Cruz criticized the Iran nuclear deal as he said it would lead to Tehran obtaining the same kind of nuclear arsenal that Pyongyang currently has.
Christie slammed Obama as "so weak" in foreign policy. He added that former Secretary of State and democratic front-runner in the polls for the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton, "would be even weaker" if she was elected.
Lastly, former neurosurgeon Ben Carson criticized the Cruz campaign for suggesting to voters on the night of the Iowa caucuses that Carson would stop campaigning after the Monday.
"It gives us a very good example of certain types of Washington ethics," Carson said.
Cruz apologized onstage.
During the Iowa caucuses Monday, the Cruz campaign spread misleading information implying Carson was to leave the race, and thus suggesting that people caucus for Cruz instead of the former neurosurgeon.
