CBS Republican Presidential Debate 2016 Live Updates: Best Twitter Reactions, Memes And Analysis Of GOP Candidates In South Carolina

UPDATE: 10:55 p.m. EST -- The Republican debate wound down Saturday with the candidates giving their last arguments for the votes of South Carolinians.

John Kasich presented his level-headed and optimistic message. Ben Carson referenced Josef Stalin and said that the U.S. is in decline. Jeb Bush seemed to reference his brother’s handling of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and told South Carolinians -- who largely support former President George W. Bush -- that he’s prepared to handle crisis.

Marco Rubio said that the U.S. culture is in trouble and that the American reputation is in decline and said 2016 could be a turning point. Ted Cruz hoped to present himself as a true conservative and reminded voters that the Supreme Court will likely undergo big changes under the next president. Donald Trump told voters that he is not a politician, and said that while politicians are “all talk” he is a man of action.

UPDATE: 10:40 p.m. EST -- Donald Trump defended his use of profanity during the Republican debate Saturday night and accused the media of bleeping a video of him where he didn’t actually curse.

“If I say something that is a little bit off color, I take a hit,” Trump said.

UPDATE: 10:30 p.m. EST -- While discussing the issue of flexibility as president and the virtues of eminent domain (or not), Donald Trump attacked Ted Cruz and said that he is a liar.

“You are the single biggest liar!” Trump exclaimed, interrupting Cruz. “Worse than Jeb Bush.”

UPDATE: 10:05 p.m. EST -- Midway through the GOP debate in South Carolina, John Kasich is seeing a national spike in Google searches for his name. That uptick comes alongside a decline for both Ted Cruz and Donald Trump and a slight rise for Marco Rubio.

UPDATE: 9:46 p.m. EST -- After a brief break, Donald Trump said that he is the only candidate on the stage who would save Social Security. “You have tremendous waste, fraud and abuse,” Trump said when asked how he would pay for it. “That we are taking care of.”

“We’re not going to hurt the people who have been paying into Social Security their whole life and now all of a sudden they’re going to get less.”

UPDATE: 9:37 p.m. EST -- Donald Trump brought back an attack he’s made previously on Jeb Bush and his supporters, calling the audience “lobbyists” when they began to boo him during an exchange on foreign policy. Trump frequently critiques Bush for his super PAC, which has raised over $100 million to support the former governor.

Trump later noted that the World Trade Center went down during Bush’s brother’s presidency.

UPDATE: 9:27 p.m. EST -- The presidential candidates on stage all either asked that President Barack Obama refrain from nominating a replacement for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who died Saturday, or said that the Senate should delay any nominee presented by Obama before beginning to discuss how they would fight the Islamic State group as president. Ted Cruz got the crowd to boo at the debate moderators, too.

UPDATE: 8:55 p.m. EST -- U.S. President Barack Obama commented from California on Saturday evening on the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, just minutes before the Republican debate was scheduled to begin. His statement put to rest speculation about whether or not he plans on picking a replacement for Scalia, which Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio had urged him not to do.

“I plan to fulfill my constitutional responsibilities to nominate a successor in due time,” Obama said. “They’re bigger than any one party. They’re about our democracy.”

Original story:

Six Republican presidential candidates were scheduled to take to the debate stage Saturday evening in Greenville, South Carolina, with the hopes of proving to the state's voters that they are the candidate best prepared to become their party’s nominee and take on the Democrats in November. The candidates are in a contentious race that saw two different winners in the first two states to vote, Iowa and New Hampshire.

The debate starts at 9 p.m. EST and will be hosted by CBS News, with “Face the Nation” anchor John Dickerson as lead moderator. He will be accompanied by Major Garrett, the chief White House correspondent for CBS, and Kimberley Strassel of the Wall Street Journal. The South Carolina Republican primary will be held Feb. 20. You can check back here for live updates for the event.

The debate will likely touch on a variety of subjects, including terrorism and foreign policy, abortion rights and immigration. The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Saturday will likely also play an important role in the debate and shape the conversation on the stage.

While businessman Donald Trump won the New Hampshire primary handily, his national appeal seems to be wavering somewhat while Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has been rising fast in averages of polling in the country. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who pulled off a surprising victory over Trump in the Iowa caucus earlier this month is currently in second place in national polls, just a hair ahead of the ascendant Rubio.

Those three candidates are joined by Ohio Gov. John Kasich, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. Kasich is hoping to capitalize on momentum gained from taking second place in New Hampshire. Bush is hoping to finally make headway in a race that has slipped from his fingers over the past year. Carson, who once spiked in polls, is likely hoping to just get an adequate amount of time to speak. It has been an issue that he has frequently mentioned in the previous GOP debates.