Undaunted, the crowded field of Republican presidential candidates hustled back before voters Friday, hoping to build on momentum -- and clean up any debate-night messes left behind.
"It's not easy with 10 people debating," said Jeb Bush, referring to the candidates leading in the polls who were invited to the main debate, seven more participated in a pre-debate forum.
Bush, a former Florida governor who enjoys the support of the Republican establishment despite being outpolled by Trump, said, "I don't view debating as a question of winning and losing. It's the cumulative effect of shaping people's opinions of who you are that matters over the long haul."
With Trump showing no signs of letting up, and none of the other 16 Republicans in the race ready to concede anything after just one debate, the contest for the party nomination is an unsettled affair that's just getting started.
And the voters seem to be loving the show.
Thursday night's debate wasn't just the most-watched program in the history of Fox News Channel, it drew more than twice as many views as the previous record-setter -- the 2012 election night.
Undoubtedly, the reason for the record ratings was Trump.
He was back on TV Friday morning, telling the morning talk shows he couldn't recall insulting women in the past -- rejecting the premise of a debate question posed by Fox News' Megyn Kelly.
"You know, some of the statements she made about the women, I don't recognize those words whatsoever," Trump said on ABC's "Good Morning America." "We're going to take a very serious look at it."
He won't have to look far. Trump's Twitter feed is sprinkled with insults to women -- and some men -- that use words such as "dog," "ugly," "dumb," "stupid" and "disgusting." In the early hours of Friday morning, he also republished a tweet that referred to Kelly as a "bimbo."
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry were speaking Friday at the RedState Gathering of conservative activists in Atlanta.
Bush will be there Saturday -- along with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
Christie told the RedState crowd on Friday that his leadership of a Democratic-leaning state makes him "battle tested for Washington."
That message is the anchor of Christie's pitch as he tries to stand out in the crowded field.
But he ratcheted up his emphasis on his conservative views Friday when speaking to a crowd of Southern fiscal and social conservatives skeptical of nominating another governor from a Democratic state in the northeast, as the Republican's did with Mitt Romney in 2012.
