How to watch the CNBC Republican Presidential Debate online tonight

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush speaks during a Presidential candidate forum at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va, Oct, 23, 2015.

But despite many having a pessimistic view of Trump's potential as a president, Republicans continue to respond to him in the polls.

Ted Cruz, R-Texas, took the time allotted for his first question in the third GOP debate Wednesday to chastise the American media, calling it biased and saying that it favors Democrats over Republicans. He recently slashed his campaign budget, and earlier this week held a private meeting with donors to offer reassurances and lay out the new strategy - which appears to involve, in part, training attacks on fellow Floridian Marco Rubio, who is rising above Bush in the polls.

Pastor Mike Demastus of the Fort Des Moines Church of Christ said Trump criticising someone else's faith is "laughable".

Trump, who had been leading the field nationally and in key states since summer, on Tuesday acknowledged that Carson is gaining strength.

Dr Carson said on Sunday he would not be dragged into the "mud pit", and his campaign has remained above the fray, highlighting his serious, measured temperament.

At one point, one of the moderators of the CNBC debate, John Harwood, asked, "Is this a comic book version of a presidential campaign?" The soft-spoken Carson has refused to counterattack, but expect him to defend himself and explain his positions in the face of mounting pressure. "A lot of things will come out", he said.

But Christie otherwise struggled to get a word in edgewise during the first hour of the GOP debate, hosted by CNBC in Boulder, Colo.

"What the hell are you people doing to me?"

'[He] actually said that the reason why we signed an agreement with Ford to bring jobs back from Mexico was because he's been yelling for the previous year, ' Kasich said, again not using Trump's name.

About three months ago I predicted that Donald Trump would fade from the presidential race before long.

A CBS News report on october 28 indicates that tonight's main debate, the third so far, will feature a total of 10 candidates. Candidates with no record in Washington, including Trump and Ben Carson, are surging in the polls, leaving establishment candidates like Bush and Rubio trailing behind.

Trump's crowd was the largest in the city since 2012, when Democratic President Barack Obama was running for re-election. "I am a great Christian", Trump said. Boy, that's down the middle of the road, folks, in all fairness. He even went after Carson in a personal way, suggesting over the weekend that the retired neurosurgeon's religious affiliation - he's a Seventh-day Adventist - was extreme. "I just don't know about".

Trump on Carson: "Ben Carson is super low energy, right?" "I would certainly give an apology if I said something bad about it, but I didn't".