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

Three Republican presidential hopefuls crossed paths again in Iowa on Saturday, just days after a contentious debate that devolved at times into personal insults.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy all attended the 'Faith And Family' forum in Sioux City, where they made their case to voters in the key primary state.

Ramaswamy's flair for stunts was on full display, as he challenged a college student to match him in doing 30 pushups outside the forum, which was held at Dordt University. 

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

The candidates all brought family members, with DeSantis appearing alongside wife Casey, Haley attending with daughter Rena, and Ramaswamy toting young son Karthik.

Also attending the event was Texas Pastor Ryan Binkley, a longshot candidate for the Republican nomination.

Iowa holds its first-in-the-nation caucuses on January 15, making it a key state for candidates seeking to challenge Donald Trump, who holds a commanding lead in the polls.

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

At Saturday's event, the candidates were able to make their cases to voters uninterrupted, unlike at Wednesday's debate, which devolved into bitter acrimony.

According to the Des Moines Register, DeSantis spoke about the role faith communities can play in public policies. 

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

'And guess what, once that happens, they don't go back for government assistance,' he said. 'They're on a pathway to prosperity.'

Ramaswamy took the stage to discuss his Hindu faith, and predicted a wave of nontraditional caucus-goers would support him.

He described how the core values of Hinduism overlap with those of Christianity.

'My parents instilled in me my faith from a young age, and though I left it probably for much of my 20s and late teen years, I definitely came back to it with conviction,' he said, according to the Register.

'My faith teaches me there's one true God, that he put each of us here for a purpose, that we have a duty to realize that purpose, that God works through us. … That's the core of my Hindu faith.' 

After speaking, the businessman spoke with a group of male college students outside the forum, where he did his 30 pushups after issuing his challenge.

Ramaswamy, 38, completed the challenge, although by the final pushups he appeared to be flagging noticeably, video from the event shows. 

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

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

Haley said that a few days for before the shooting, she had called for a state day of prayer, which she credited with preparing the state for the racist shooting. 

Following the shooting, Haley order the Confederate flag that flew outside the South Carolina statehouse be removed.

'It was a tough process, but at the end of it, we didn't have violence, we had vigils,' she recalled. 

'We didn't have protests, we had hugs. And we showed the entire world what strength and grace look like,' crediting prayer.