Rising GOP star Vivek Ramaswamy made his debut on the debate stage on Wednesday night by getting into a furious argument with former Vice President Mike Pence and calling Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis a “super PAC puppet.”
He irritated other members of the GOP primary field by defending former President Donald Trump and proudly announcing he would scrap the Ukraine war – prompting his rivals to declare him a “freshman”.
Ramaswamy, 38, emphasized his youth and his experience in founding “multimillion-dollar companies” while stressing that the experience of his government rivals only hindered them.
He was asked by Fox News’ Bret Baier why voters should vote for an “blank list” like him – someone who admitted to only having voted in two presidential elections.
“So first let me address a question on everyone’s mind at home tonight: who the hell is this scrawny guy with a weird last name and what the hell is he doing in the middle of this debate period?” said Ramaswamy. “I’m telling you, I’m not a politician. Right. You’re right. I am an entrepreneur.’
Rising GOP star Vivek Ramaswamy (right) made his debut on the debate stage on Wednesday night by getting into a heated argument with former Vice President Mike Pence (left) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (center) as ” Super PAC Puppet.
“Who the hell is this scrawny guy with the weird last name and what the hell is he doing in the middle of this debate period?” said Vivek Ramaswamy, introducing himself to the GOP voterbase on the Milwaukee debate stage
Pence responded by asking the crowd if they were looking for someone who needed “on the job training”.
Later in the debate, when asked if President Joe Biden was 80, old Pence repeated that 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,” said the former vice president. “We don’t have to sign a newcomer.”
Pence previously stressed that as a former vice president — as well as ex-governor and congressman — he was the most experienced GOP candidate on the scene.
“There are people on this stage who won’t even talk about issues like Social Security and Medicare.” I mean, Vivek, you said recently that a president can’t do everything. Well, I’ve got news for you, Vivek – I’ve been in a hallway, I’ve been in the west wing. “A president in the United States has to face every crisis that America faces,” Pence said.
Ramaswamy said previous governors did not try hard enough.
“It’s not that complicated, folks. Unleash American Energy. Drilling, fracking, burning coal, using nuclear power. Get people back to work and pay them more than they would if they stayed at home,” he said.
“So I’m not sure I fully understand my predecessor’s comment, I’ll let you all analyze that,” Ramaswamy said of Pence. “It’s pretty simple for me, it’s something a US President can do with focus and I’m going to do that.”
Pence interjected, “Let me explain… I’m going to take it slow this time.”
Their argument ended when it was DeSantis’ turn to answer a question.
The Florida governor flaunted his COVID record while using language he often uses on the campaign trail.
“You don’t take someone like Fauci and coddle him.” “They bring Fauci in, they sit her down and they say, ‘Hey, Anthony, you’re fired,'” DeSantis said.
That gave Ramaswamy the opportunity to smack DeSantis as well.
“Now that everyone has their ready-made slogans memorized, we can actually have a real discussion now,” he said.
“Is that one of you?” Pence asked.
“Not really Mike actually, we’re having some fun tonight,” Ramaswamy shot back.
“And the reality is there are a lot of career politicians, Super PAC puppets, following the slogans handed to them by their 400-page Super PACs last week,” continued Ramaswamy.
He was referring to DeSantis’ super PAC, which left a series of debate tips on the top adviser’s website.
“The real choice we face in this primary is this: Do you want a super PAC puppet or do you want a truth-telling patriot?” he asked. “Do you want incremental reforms you hear about, or do you want a revolution?”
Christie wanted none of this.
“I’m sick of a guy who sounds like ChatGPT standing up here tonight,” the former New Jersey governor told the crowd. “The last person in one of those debates to stand center stage and say, ‘What’s a skinny guy with a weird last name doing up here?’ was Barack Obama.’
“And I’m afraid we’re dealing with the same type of amateurs that are on stage tonight,” Christie said.
Ramaswamy slammed Christie when the ex-governor condemned Trump’s behavior as “under the office of President of the United States.”
“Let’s just tell the truth.” Trump was the best president of the 21st century. “Chris Christie, your claim that Donald Trump is motivated by revenge and resentment would have more credibility if your campaign were not based on revenge and resentment against a single man,” Ramaswamy said.
Christie once again beat the 38-year-old for lack of experience.
“You never did, just as you never did anything to further the interests of this administration except run yourself as a candidate.” I’ve served as a US Attorney and Governor. “I’m not bowing to anyone,” Chrisie said.
Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley sang a similar song about Ramaswamy’s greenness as they engaged in a lively back-and-forth over the war against Ukraine.
“They have no foreign policy and it shows!” she yelled at Ramaswamy as he hinted that he would cut funding for Ukraine’s war effort.
“You don’t do that to friends,” she said. “You prefer a murderer to a pro-American country,” he said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Haley was referring to the news of the day that the leader of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had been killed.
“I wish you the best of luck in your future careers on the boards of Lockheed and Raytheon,” said Ramaswamy.