Ron DeSantis’ performance in the GOP primary debate Wednesday in Miami left some Fox News hosts feeling underwhelmed, with Greg Gutfeld and Jesse Watters faulting the Florida governor for not being able to “shine” on stage and not having any “sizzle.”
On Thursday’s episode of The Five, Gutfeld said he came away feeling like the candidate who “won the night” was Vivek Ramaswamy, who had promised to “be unhinged” and ended up doing exactly that. The biotech entrepreneur, whom Fox programming has honed in on as a non-Trump alternative after seemingly shifting away from DeSantis, “was the most memorable and unapologetic,” Gutfeld said, “and his voice, by far, is the strongest.”
Some of Ramaswamy’s headline-grabbing moments came in just his first chance to speak, in which he asked why Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson and Elon Musk weren’t moderators and gave GOP Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel the opportunity to resign on live television.
Yet regarding DeSantis, Gutfeld wasn’t impressed. He “is a good leader, but he’s not good at this, and doesn’t shine,” the Fox host put it.
Jesse Watters agreed.
“I looked online after the debate trying to find moments—what happened with DeSantis? I couldn’t find anything,” he said. “And then I had to look, and I looked at what he said, and he sounds good, makes the right points, but there’s no—there’s no sizzle with DeSantis. And I just don’t think this race changes at all after that.”
Watters also had good things to say about Ramaswamy, who in his view “dominated.”
“He’s able to capitalize on the format because he’s incredibly charismatic, incredibly articulate, and he creates these breakthrough moments that everybody talks about,” Watters claimed.
At one point, Ramaswamy brought up the social media habits of Nikki Haley’s daughter, prompting a chorus of boos from the audience and the former U.N. ambassador to call him “scum.”
“Now, is he the most charming person on the stage? He probably lacks a little charm. And that is his deficiency,” Watters conceded. “But he’s got into this sweet spot of populism where you are thrashing around at the powers that be, you’re a little isolationist, and you don’t sound like a politician.”