What They Are Saying: “He is planting punches against the left.” “A clear winner.” “He hit for the cycle.” “Tremendously effective.”
Last night, Ron DeSantis was the clear winner and proved that he is ready to beat Joe Biden and serve as America’s 47th president. Even the Washington Post’s Snap Poll of the debate found that Ron DeSantis won the debate. Here is some more of what they are saying.
Kayleigh McEnany: A lot of people said Governor DeSantis won the debate and that was a takeaway. One that stood out to me 22-year-old boater who said to quote her home after the debate, the work was done for Ron DeSantis before he walked into the debate, making a comment on his conservative record and steadiness to deliver his points. Right out of the gate in 15 seconds he landed Joe Biden and punch after punch against Joe Biden. So while this is going on he is planting punches against the left. He will get a phrase if number 2 more personal touch.
Joe Concha: I see Washington Post, FiveThirtyEight has a new poll out, ‘Who won the debate?’ Ron DeSantis was the winner according to the poll.
Emily Compagno : I thought DeSantis’ sort-of-measured approach to that to take a step back really did bode well. I will say he is the only candidate with mentioning the voters by name. And in that montage, he personally is not only himself but the issues. It was tremendously effective in the conversation about abortion, not to mention the most wonderful thing he ever heard was his oldest daughter’s heartbeat. To draw on the voters’ experiences personally, which means every one of those 50 million can gnomic Americans watching felt a special connection and if they were to say something to him that they would remember him. The impact on the statistics. I thought he was tremendously effective that way.
Jason Chaffetz: I like steady. I like principle. And that is why I really liked what Governor Ron DeSantis had to say and how he said it. Not only was he personal, but he also talked about – I love the fact he is the only person on that stage that is military experience. When he talked about foreign policy in China and the border, he is doing so with personal experience having served in the United States military.
Jeanine Piro: One thing that I heard that I thought was interesting was DeSantis saying he would send in special forces into Mexico. Look, we have an idea where the drugs are coming from, obviously and where how they're getting into the United States. We've I mean, we're smart enough to deal with that we deal with it in other countries, you certainly should be able to deal with it on our own border. And I think that DeSantis unlike most of the people on the stage, has actually dealt with not the border per se, but the consequences where he ends up sending the immigrants of their state.”
Congressman Mike Gallagher: Governor DeSantis in particular was great on the southern border issue. He was aggressive, he put forward a vision.
Larry Kudlow: I like DeSantis, DeSantis said he fired some local attorneys, some local prosecutors, I thought that was good.
Kayleigh McEnany : As a voter, it was refreshing to be able to watch a debate about the issues. That’s what we got last night. Who was most behooved by the debate? I think Ron DeSantis. Just reaching out to some conservatives I know across the nation, many of whom are Trump supporters and remain Trump supporters, but who do you like? Ron DeSantis was the take away. They loved the fact, as one 22-year-old in that focus group said, the work was done for Ron DeSantis before he walked in to the room. He has perhaps the best conservative record of any governor in the nation. Although I’d say Glenn Youngkin is also in that category. He showed that. He didn’t get involved in the frays. The frays helped him because it might have knocked some people off of the edges of the stage... but he wasn’t in the frays. He was able to level punches against not Trump, but the ultimate opponent, which is Joe Biden. He also showed a more personal touch, which is a critique of Ron DeSantis, which I think will help him.
Fox News Voter Panel Part 1:
KEVIN: Something about DeSantis that he’s very much touting his background and what he’s accomplished in Florida. Yesterday I saw a lot of people talking about what they will do once they get into office, DeSantis said I've done it in Florida and I’ll do it on a national level. To me someone that has the accomplishments, there it really resonates with me.
DENISE: I went in leaning DeSantis. And I still am for DeSantis. And one of the issues that he brought up doesn't seem like a big issue. But he talked about bringing civics back into education. If we're going to get our country back, people have to understand what the Bill of Rights provides us, what the Constitution provides us.
CHRIS: I came in very open to Governor DeSantis. I left feeling stronger about that opinion. And I agree with Denise, you know, he was talking about things and like I said yesterday, we need to present a candidate that is talking about the future is talking about the issues that people want to know their policy position, not only what they would, what their public policy position is, but how they're going to do it and what they're going to get done. I think Governor DeSantis did that really, really well.
Fox News Voter Panel Part 2:
ELIZABETH: I think the strongest performer in terms of who will do well in the general election, who will do well with the most Republicans is actually Ron DeSantis. I think he has the experience. I think the work was done for him before he walked into the debate. He had an answer for the natural disasters that are happening, the tough on crime policies that he has to enact, that he's already enacted, that he can prove to all the viewers and all the Republicans who were maybe undecided, I think that was perhaps solidified last night.
ED: He came across as charismatic. He came across a strong character, projected strength and confidence. And to me, that was a big takeaway.
KEVIN: Yeah, I think Ron DeSantis still. He's leading in the polls. And I just think he's the only one with the experience and the recent exposure that he's gotten over COVID and the last couple years, so I think he's really the only one. He's just got the experience.
CHRIS: I think he had to present himself as a viable alternative to Trump, and I think he was able to do that. I think he showed what he’s done in Florida, he can replicate for the country. I think he showed that he’s electable and again I think he showed that has to be the most important thing as a Republican voter that we’re concerned about, that we nominate a candidate that can beat the Democrats.
DENISE: DeSantis. Again, I'm all about action plans, that's what I said yesterday, and he presented action plans and how he would solve some issues. And he has already done some.
DANA: Can Ron DeSantis win in Wisconsin in 2024?
DENISE: Yes.
CHRIS: I believe he can.
Fox Business Voter Panel:
HOST: Based on what you saw last night, who's your favorite candidate right now and why Marie, start with you?
MARIE: I would say Ron DeSantis. He has shown that he has done the job through COVID, keeping the schools open and working with the border. So he has a proven track record.
Phil Cox: I think he was a clear winner. He spoke directly to the American people, he prosecuted the case against Joe Biden, he talked about the need to reverse this American decline. And he focused on his record in Florida. So you know, he's making great progress, where it matters in the early primary states. He's back in Iowa. He's already hit 38 of the 99 counties. He's got 11,000 folks that are committed to caucus for him. And I think there's great momentum on the ground.
Governor DeSantis’ Baseball Coach John Stuper: To put it in baseball terms: his team won 10 to nothing. He hit for the cycle. He made a great catch in the outfield, and he threw a guy out at home. I don't think anybody was close to him, to be honest with you... I mean, he has it he has a record to run on. People forget that Florida is the 15th largest economy in the world, not just the United States. It's the 15th largest economy in the world, and he's done an amazing job down here. People loved him down here... But I just thought he, I thought he killed it last night absolutely killed it.
Hal Lambert: I think one of the key takeaways is he was the winner of the debate. And he was able to get his message out and talk about things to millions of people that have never heard him speak. I think, you know, talking about the fact that he's the only veteran on the stage and understands what it's like to serve overseas. He volunteered and went into the Navy. And his message on the economy in the border.
National Spokeswoman Carly Atchison There was one candidate on that stage who sounded presidential that was Ron DeSantis. He kept pointing back to his record, which nobody can argue with. That's probably why nobody wanted to try and take a shot at him is because there's nothing to take a shot at. He pointed to a 50-year, low crime rate in the state of Florida, he had to correct Bret bear on that. He pointed to the action he would take on day one at the border. He pointed to the fact that he is the only one who has taken action to remove two politically motivated prosecutors as governor. And so look, at the end of the day, there was one candidate who was focused, who presented not just a talking point or a vision, he has an actual plan. And he has a record that he's telling the American people don't just believe what I say believe what I've done in Florida. I think the American people will respond to that very well.
Phil Cox: I think he was a clear winner. He had a great night. It was an incredibly powerful moment that you just played. Look, you have the ability to speak directly to the American people talk about how we're going to reverse this American decline introduce himself as the only veteran in the race and a champion of freedom. As you said, somebody who stood up to Dr. Fauci stood up to the Soros back prosecutors kept the state free open. It's now the number one economy of any state in the country. So it's great night and he's on the ground in Iowa. The momentum continues.
