Republicans took the stage in iowa to convince voters they are the right choice for president. Fox news anchor megyn kelly was one of the moderators of the event. She addressed trumps absence headon by asking the audience and viewers to address the elephant not in the room. Candidates also did not shy away from mentioning trumps absence. Cruz says. Let me say, im a maniac and everyone on this stage is stupid, fat, and ugly. And ben, now that weve gotten the donald trump portion out of the way. Laughter donald trump held his own event. Just about 5 miles down the road. Donald trump, r president ial hopeful i didnt want to be here, i have to be honest. I wanted to be about five minutes away, and ive enjoyed that. But you have to stick up for your rights. When youre treated badly, you have to stick up for your rights. Some of the candidates on the main stage looking past iowa and toward new hampshire, just eight days after these caucuses. Many of them hoping to secure a secondplace finish