Podcast host Megyn Kelly gutted Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) with an absolutely brutal opening question about how he’s spent a ton of money but is still getting clobbered by ex-President Donald Trump via Mediaite.
It has been noted that the four remaining candidates who aren’t named Donald Trump — Former Amb. Nikki Haley, Governors Chris Christie (R-NJ) and Ron DeSantis (R-FL), and Vivek Ramaswamy — gathered at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama for the fourth Republican presidential primary debate. Hosted by NewsNation and broadcast on NewsNation and The CW, the debate’s moderators were Elizabeth Vargas, Megyn Kelly, and Eliana Johnson.
After a preamble noting Trump’s gargantuan lead over the entire field, Kelly zeroed in on DeSantis with a lengthy question essentially asking if it was time to pack it in.
DeSantis earned applause from his supporters in the room with his response:
MEGYN KELLY: Governor DeSantis, your campaign and its superPAC have spent the most money, had the most high net worth donors, and had a wave of momentum coming into this race after your big reelection win in Florida.
You were seen by many as the candidate most likely to consolidate the non-Trump field.
But here we are a month out from the first real votes and you haven’t managed to do it. In fact, Nikki Haley is beating you in New Hampshire and South Carolina now, and closing in on you in Iowa.
Not to mention Trump, who is not only dominating in the early states, but is beating you in Florida by over 30 points.
Is it fair to say, as Senator Tim Scott did when he dropped out, that voters are telling you, not no, but not now?
GOV. RON DESANTIS: So we have a great idea in America that the voters actually make these decisions, not pundits or pollsters. I’m sick of hearing about these polls because I remember those polls in November of 2022. They said there’s going to be a big red wave. It was going to be monumental. And that crashed and burned.
The one place that didn’t crash and burn was in the state of Florida. They weren’t predicting that I would win the way I did. And I won the greatest Republican victory in the history of the state of Florida. I’m looking forward to to Iowa and New Hampshire.
The voters are going to be able to speak and we’re going to earn this nomination. And here’s what we need. I am sick of Republicans who are not willing to stand up and fight back against what the left is doing to this country.
