Vivek Ramaswamy does 30 pushups with college student at Iowa ‘Faith and Family’ forum with Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis as GOP hopefuls cross paths days after THAT heated debate

The three GOP presidential candidates met again in Iowa on Saturday, just days after a contentious debate that at times descended into personal insults.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy attended the Faith and Family Forum in Sioux City, where they made their case to voters in the key primary state.

Ramaswamy’s talent for stunts was on full display when he challenged a college student who could match him to perform 30 push-ups outside a forum held at the University of Dort.

Rep. Randy Feenstra and his wife Lynette held an event focusing on the candidates’ religious faith and family life at a small Christian college in northwest Iowa, a more rural and conservative corner of the state.

All candidates brought family members with them: DeSantis appeared with his wife Casey, Haley attended with daughter Rena, and Ramaswamy brought his infant son Karthik with him.

On Saturday at the Faith and Family Forum, Vivek Ramaswamy challenged a college student to match him in doing 30 push-ups.

Republican presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks with his wife Casey DeSantis during the Faith and Family with Finstras event.

Also in attendance was Texas pastor Ryan Binkley, a promising candidate for the Republican nomination.

Iowa will hold its first-in-the-nation caucuses on Jan. 15, making it a key state for candidates seeking to challenge Donald Trump, who is leading in the polls.

DeSantis, Haley and Ramaswamy last appeared together in Iowa before Thanksgiving, at the Family Leader roundtable, which was an unusually friendly gathering.

Saturday’s event allowed candidates to make an uninterrupted case for voters, unlike Wednesday’s debate, which devolved into a violent frenzy.

DeSantis spoke about the role of faith communities in public policy, according to the Des Moines Register.

He said he created a program in Florida that relies on churches to help those in need.

“And guess what, once that happens, they won’t come back for government assistance,” he said. “They are on the path to prosperity.”

Ramaswamy took the stage to discuss his Hindu faith and predicted a wave of nontraditional caucusgoers would support him.

He described how the core values ​​of Hinduism intersect with the values ​​of Christianity.

Republican presidential candidate businessman Vivek Ramaswamy takes the stage with his son Karthik during U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra’s “Faith and Family with Feenstra” event.

Republican presidential candidate and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley (left) speaks as her daughter Rena (right) watches the forum

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy holds a sign that reads “Nikki = Corrupt,” referring to former South Carolina Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley at the last debate.

“My parents instilled faith in me from a young age, and although I left it probably for most of my 20s and teens, I definitely came back to it with conviction,” he said, according to the Register.

“My faith teaches me that there is one true God, that he put each of us here for a purpose, that we have a responsibility to realize that purpose, that God works through us. … This is the essence of my Hindu faith.”

After the speech, the businessman spoke to a group of male students outside the forum, where he did 30 push-ups after issuing a challenge.

Ramaswamy, 38, completed the challenge, although he was noticeably weaker by the final push-ups, as seen in video from the event.

Haley, who was raised Sikh but now identifies as Christian, said if elected she would put Christian values ​​at the center of her administration.

The former South Carolina governor recalled the 2015 shooting at Mother Emmanuel Church in Charleston, in which a white supremacist killed nine black churchgoers.

Haley said that in the days before the shooting, she called for a state day of prayer, which she believed prepared the state for a racist shooting.

After the shooting, Haley ordered the removal of a Confederate flag that was flying outside the South Carolina statehouse.

“It was a difficult process, but in the end we didn’t have violence, we had pickets,” she recalls.

“We didn’t have protests, we had hugs. And we showed the whole world what power and grace look like,” the prayer testified.