SIMI VALLEY, Calif. - At Wednesday night's first Republican presidential debate for CNN, Governor Bobby Jindal connected the plight of a Muslim student in Texas who was arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school to the Kentucky county clerk who refused to give same-sex couples a marriage license.

Jindal was asked about Ahmed Mohamed, whom police arrested after his teachers claimed the clock appeared to be a bomb. CNN moderator Jake Tapper asked Jindal how as president he would balance discrimination, which people on social media claimed was at the root of Mohamed's arrest, with the need for vigilance and security.

"I don't think a 14-yr-old should ever get arrested for bringing a clock to school," Jindal said, before saying he didn't believe that Americans discriminated based on race. He called Christianity the biggest target for discrimination in the U. S. before going on to defend Davis' actions in Kentucky.

The debate was the first of two and featured candidates who polled below the cutoff for the larger primetime debate. Many of the early questions centered on Donald Trump, the frontrunner in the crowded GOP field.

Jindal went on the offensive against Trump in recent days, claiming Wednesday Trump would "implode" if he winds up being the party's nominee. Tapper asked Jindal to defend his attacks, which the moderator said violated Ronald Reagan's "Eleventh Commandment" about Republicans not speaking ill about one another.

"I'm in compliance with the 11th commandment, and I would tell my fellow Republicans let's stop treating Donald Trump like a Republican," Jindal responded.

Jindal shared the stage with Former New York Gov. George Pataki, former Sen. Rick Santorum and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham. The second debate includes the 11 other remaining candidates. At center, front-runner Donald Trump. On either side: retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. The others will be arrayed outward, with Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at the ends.