Former President Donald Trump didn’t participate in Wednesday night’s GOP debate, but that didn’t stop him from being a figure in the conversation.Nearly an hour into the GOP debate, Fox News Channel showed a live image of Atlanta’s Fulton County jail, where the former president is set to surrender on charges on Thursday, drawing boos from the audience. “We are going to take a brief moment to talk about the elephant, not in the room,” co-moderator Bret Baier said, acknowledging that Trump — who holds a commanding lead — was not present at the debate and indicating that the discussion would touch on matters related to Trump.Trump skipped the event for an interview with Tucker Carlson instead. He told Carlson: “Do I sit there for an hour or two hours, whatever it’s going to be and get harassed by people that shouldn’t even be running for president? Should I be doing that at a network that isn’t particularly friendly to me?”A seemingly unavoidable topic, the candidates were asked if they would support Trump as the Republican nominee if he is convicted in a court of law. Currently, there are four criminal indictments that charge Trump with hoarding classified documents, conspiring to overturn the 2020 election, and making hush money payments to an adult film star and other women.The candidates were asked by the moderators to raise their hands if they would support Trump as the GOP nominee if he is convicted on criminal charges. The candidates on stage were required to sign a pledge vowing to support the eventual nominee before joining Wednesday's debate.Six of the eight candidates — Florida Gov. Rob DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum — all appeared to raise their hands.Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie seemed to half-raise his hand and seemed to indicate that he wasn't necessarily raising his hand."Here’s the bottom line. Someone’s got to stop normalizing this conduct," Christie said of Trump and his current legal situation. "Whether or not you believe the criminal charges are right or wrong, the conduct is beneath the office of the president of the United States.”Christie’s remarks were met with boos from the crowd, as well as some cheers and whistling.“Booing is allowed but it doesn’t change the truth,” Christie said, which was met with more boos.Ramaswamy and Christie then had a back and forth, with Ramaswamy defending the former president and saying Christie is running an “entire campaign” based “on vengeance and grievance against one man (Trump).”“We cannot set a precedent where the party in power uses police force to indict its political opponents. It is wrong. We have got to end the weaponization of justice in this country,” Ramaswamy said. Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson confirmed that he did not raise his hand. “I did not raise my hand because there’s an important issue we, as a party, have to face,” Hutchinson said. “Over a year ago, I said that Donald Trump was morally disqualified from being president again as a result of what happened on Jan. 6. More people are understanding the importance of that, including conservative legal scholars.” The Republican presidential candidates at Wednesday’s debate largely said they agreed with former Vice President Pence’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021.Pence eschewed then-President Donald Trump's demands to stop the certification of Joe Biden's election, a decision that led some in a mob of Trump supporters to chant for his hanging that day.On Thursday, Trump is set to travel to Georgia to be booked again on criminal charges. Yet Trump's standing in the primary has only increased as the charges have mounted, leaving the GOP on track — barring a stunning realignment — to nominate a candidate who would enter the race against Biden, a Democrat, in a potentially weak positionPolling this month from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found 64% of Americans are unlikely to support Trump if he is the GOP nominee, including 53% who say they would definitely not support him and 11% who say they would probably not support him in November 2024.The Associated Press contributed to this report.