Republican presidential candidates (R-L) Ben Carson, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) pose at the Fox Debate. (AFP)
White House hopeful Ted Cruz launched a humorous broadside against missing Republican frontrunner Donald Trump at the start of Thursday's high-stakes debate in Iowa, using crass and coarse Trump-like language to knock himself and his rivals.
"I'm a maniac and everyone on this stage is stupid, fat and ugly. And Ben, you're a terrible surgeon," Cruz said, looking mischievously at retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson.
"We've gotten the Donald Trump portion out of the way," he said, to laughter from many in the Des Moines hall where seven of the top Republicans gathered for their final debate just four days before the first vote in the presidential nomination contest.
Trump has raised hackles for his personal attacks on rivals, including Cruz, Carson, and especially former Florida governor Jeb Bush.
But the billionaire real-estate mogul boycotted the debate, refusing to attend because of a toxic feud with the event's host Fox News. He was hosting a competing event at the same time, a fundraiser for US military veterans that he boasted would overshadow the debate.
Fox News debate moderator Megyn Kelly, who touched off the feud last August at the first Republican debate when she asked tough questions of Trump, immediately brought up the issue of Trump's absence, calling it "the elephant not in the room tonight."
Bush, long a target of vicious Trump attacks, chimed in: "I kind of miss DT."
"He was a little teddy bear to me," he said, tongue presumably firmly in cheek.
"We always had such a loving relationship in these debates and in between, and the tweets."