“You are really in game shape now,” a beaming Brian Kilmeade told Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Fox & Friends the morning after the first 2024 GOP presidential primary debate. “Is that part of the athletic training of yours?”
Unfortunately for DeSantis, his post-debate welcome was not so warm elsewhere in right-wing media, with an array of other conservative voices noting that “the big loser last night was Ron DeSantis,” calling him “a non-entity” whose “fake populism” is going nowhere.
On Newsmax -- which has been effusively pro-Trump during the primary -- the criticism of DeSantis began before the debate even ended. Discussing what was perceived to be one of DeSantis’ high points among a Republican audience — criticizing former President Donald Trump’s handling of the early COVID-19 pandemic — American Conservative Union Chair Matt Schlapp said that DeSantis’ record wasn’t all he claimed it to be.
“He did shut down Florida,” Schlapp asserted. “Ron DeSantis and these governors who are now talking big that they never would have done what Donald Trump did, they all complied with shutting down their whole states. They didn’t have to do it, and they did it,” referring to efforts by government officials to prevent overwhelming mass death.
“The other thing I would say on his performance so far tonight, he’s so amped up,” Schlapp complained. “It’s almost like he’s been programmed to be hyper.”
Appearing on Newsmax’s Wake Up America Thursday morning, Trump campaign pollster John McLaughlin was quite direct: “I don’t think there’s any question, the big loser last night was Ron DeSantis.”
Speaking directly to the show’s co-hosts, McLaughlin added that “you just did a segment talking about the debate, and he was barely talked about,” underlining a common take on his performance.
“Ron DeSantis is faltering. He’s falling. He was a non-entity on the stage last night,” said The Washington Times’ Kelly Sadler, instead praising his fellow GOP primary contender Vivek Ramaswamy.