Rising GOP star Vivek Ramaswamy made his debate debut Wednesday night by angrily going back and forth with former Vice President Mike Pence and calling Florida Governor Ron DeSantis a “super PAC dummy.”
He angered other members of the Republican party’s primary field by defending former President Donald Trump and proudly announcing that he would debunk the war in Ukraine — prompting his rivals to declare him a “newbie.”
Ramaswamy, 38, played off his youth and experience in establishing “multi-million dollar companies,” while insisting that the experience of his rivals in government only hindered them.
Fox News’ Bret Baier asked him why voters should vote for a “clean slate” like him—someone who admitted to voting in only two presidential elections.
“So first let me answer a question on everyone’s mind tonight: Who the hell is this skinny kid with a funny last name and what the hell is he doing in the middle of this debate phase?” Ramaswamy said. “I’ll tell you I’m not a politician. Right. You’re quite right. I’m an entrepreneur.’
Rising GOP star Vivek Ramaswamy (right) made his debate debut Wednesday night by angrily going back and forth with former Vice President Mike Pence (left) and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (center) calling a “super PAC doll.” to call
“Who the hell is this skinny kid with a funny last name and what the hell is he doing in the middle of this debate stage?” Vivek Ramaswamy said, introducing himself to the Republican voter base on the debate stage in Milwaukee
Pence countered this by asking the crowd if they wanted someone who needed “on-the-job training.”
Later in the debate, when asked if President Joe Biden was 80 years old, the old Pence repeated this point, saying, “We don’t need a president who’s too old, we don’t need a president who’s too young.”
“Joe Biden has weakened this country at home and abroad,” the former vice president said. “We don’t need to bring in a rookie.”
Pence had previously emphasized the fact that as a former vice president — as well as an ex-governor and congressman — he was the most veteran Republican nominee on stage.
“You have people on this stage who don’t even want to talk about things like Social Security and Medicare. I mean Vivek, you said the other day that a president can’t do everything. Well, I have news for you, Vivek. I’ve been in a hallway, I’ve been in the West Wing. A president in the United States must face every crisis America faces,” Pence said.
Ramaswamy suggested that those who were previously governors had not tried hard enough.
“This isn’t that complicated, guys. Unlock US energy. Drilling, fracking, burning coal, embracing nuclear power. Put people back to work and pay them more than if they stayed home,” he said.
“So I’m not sure I understand my predecessor’s comment exactly, I’ll let you all analyze that,” Ramaswamy said of Pence. “For me it’s pretty simple, that’s something a focused American president can do and I’ll deliver on that.”
Pence interjected, “Let me explain… This time I’ll take it slow.”
Their tussle ended when it was DeSantis’ turn to answer a question.
The Florida governor played up his COVID record when he used phrases he often uses during campaigns.
“You don’t take someone like Fauci and coddle him. You bring in Fauci, put them down and say, “Hey, Anthony, you’re fired,” DeSantis said.
That gave Ramaswamy the chance to spank DeSantis as well.
“Now that everyone has memorized their pre-defined slogans, we can actually have a real discussion,” he said.
“Is that one of yours?” Pence asked.
“Not really Mike, we’re going to have some fun tonight,” Ramaswamy retorted.
“And the reality is you have some people, professional politicians, super-PAC puppets, following slogans handed to them by their 400-page super-PACs last week,” Ramaswamy continued.
He referenced DeSantis’ super PAC and left some debating tips on the top consultant’s website.
“The real choice we face in this primaries is this: do you want a super PAC doll or do you want a patriot who speaks the truth?” he asked. “Do you want gradual reforms, which you are hearing about now, or do you want a revolution?”
Christie didn’t want any of this.
“I’ve had enough of a guy who sounds like ChatGPT standing here tonight,” the ex-Governor of New Jersey told the crowd. “The last person in one of these debates to stand in the middle of the stage and say, ‘What’s a skinny guy with a strange last name doing here?’ was Barack Obama.”
“And I’m afraid we’re dealing with the same type of amateur tonight,” Christie said.
Ramaswamy lashed out at Christie when the ex-governor denounced Trump’s conduct as “below the office of President of the United States.”
‘Let’s just speak the truth. Trump was the best president of the 21st century. Chris Christie, your claim that Donald Trump is motivated by revenge and displeasure would be more credible if your campaign were not based on revenge and displeasure against one man,” Ramaswamy said.
Christie slapped the 38-year-old again for his lack of experience.
“You never did it, just as you never did anything to further the interests of this government except run for office yourself. I did that as US Attorney and Governor. I’m not going to bow to anyone,’ Chrisie said.
Former UN ambassador. Nikki Haley sang a similar tune about Ramaswamy’s greenness as they got into an animated back-and-forth conversation about the war on Ukraine.
“You have no foreign policy and it shows!” she yelled at Ramaswamy when he signaled that he would debunk the war effort in Ukraine.
“Don’t do that to your friends,” she said. “You choose a murderer over a pro-American country,” pointing to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Haley was referring to the news of the day that the leader of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was killed.
“I wish you the best of luck in your future career on the boards of Lockheed and Raytheon,” said Ramaswamy.