Top moments from the Republican debate in Iowa

Even without the bombastic Donald Trump to needle his opponents at Thursday's GOP debate in Iowa, the Republican candidates that did gather together found ways to shine.

Notably, some of the best quotes on the debate stage were zingers directed at the absent GOP front-runner, like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's ridiculing impersonation of Trump.

"Let me say, I'm a maniac, and everyone on this stage is stupid, fat, and ugly, and Ben, you're a terrible surgeon," Cruz mocked at the beginning of the event. "Now that we've gotten the Donald Trump portion out of the way, I want to thank everyone here for showing the men and women of Iowa the respect to show up and make the case to the people of this state."

Wild applause greeted the Texas senator's attack.

Later, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush joined in with a sarcastic bash of his own.

"I kind of miss Donald Trump. He was a little teddy bear to me," Bush said, earning a few chuckles from the audience. Bush has been a frequent target of Trump's campaign.

"We always had such a loving relationship during the debates, and in between in the tweets," he added. "I kind of miss him. I wish he was here."

There were, however, some notable moments that didn't include the GOP front-runner:

1. Cruz threatens to leave the debate

Cruz got into his own tiff with debate moderators Thursday, even threatening to walk off the debate stage.

"Chris, I would note that the last four questions have been Rand, please attack Ted, Marco, please attack Ted, Chris, please attack Ted, Jeb, please attack Ted," Cruz told Fox news' Chris Wallace. "Let me just say this--"

Wallace interjected: "It is a debate, sir."

"No, a debate actually is a policy issue," Cruz shot back. "But I will say this -- gosh, if you guys ask one more mean question, I may have to leave the stage."

This was also the top social moment of the debate on Facebook, prompting 41 percent of the discussion on the site.

2. Christie bashes senators

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie leveled at attack at some of his Washington, D.C.-based opponents, after Fox News aired clips of Cruz and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio flip-flopping on their stance on immigration while serving in the Senate.

"I want to ask the people in the audience. I'm standing here. I watched the video of Senator Cruz. I watched the video of Senator Rubio. I heard what they said. And this is why you need to send someone from outside of Washington to Washington," Christie said. "I feel like I need a Washington to English dictionary converter, right?"

"It's perfectly legal in this country to change your mind," he added. "But when you're a governor, you have to admit it. You can't hide behind parliamentary tricks...Stop the Washington bull and let's get things done."

3. Ben Carson: "Putin is a one-horse country"

Former neurosurgeon Ben Carson has been disparaged before for his inexperience in foreign policy. On Thursday, Carson only seemed to give further fodder to his critics, after he gave a baffling answering to a question about Russian aggression abroad.

"I think we ought to give Ukraine offensive weapons," Carson said Thursday. "And I think we ought to fight them on the economic basis because Putin is a one-horse country: oil and energy."

The statement sent the Twitterverse into a tizzy, with some commentators speculating that perhaps Carson meant to say that Putin was a "one-trick pony".

Others let Putin speak for himself:

4. Jeb Bush is not a best-selling novelist

The Florida governor earned a few laughs during the Iowa debate Thursday by acknowledging that his book "Immigration Wars" didn't exactly fly off the shelves when it was published.

Promoting his immigration plan, Bush told debate viewers that they could read all about it if they bought his book, which sold for cheap because of its lack of popularity.

"You can get it at $2.99 on Amazon," he said. "It's affordable for everybody."

5. Rand Paul on Bill Clinton's sexual past

With Bill Clinton stumping for his wife, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail, some Republicans have attacked the former president for his sexual history.

While Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said he didn't "blame Hillary Clinton at all" for her husband's past transgressions, he did seek to paint her as a hypocrite.

"I don't think she's responsible for his behavior," Paul said. "But I do think that her position as promoting women's rights and fairness to women in the workplace -- that if what Bill Clinton did any CEO in our country did with an intern, with a 22-year-old, 21-year-old intern in their office they would be fired."

To loud applause, Paul added: "They would never be hired again."

In:
• Ted Cruz
• Chris Christie