WHAT THEY ARE SAYING: DeSantis Wins 4th Debate
“DeSantis killed it.” “Bringing the fire tonight.” “DeSantis’ best debate by far.” “DeSantis is taking over this debate.” “Clearly the best.”
Campaign Manager James Uthmeier: Ron DeSantis did exactly what he had to do tonight. He showed up. He's a fighter. We know that but he's a fighter and he wins. This is yet another debate victory for him. And for him, he wins not just because he's strong and principled, he doesn't waver and give different answers based on what state or audience he's visiting, what day of the week it is, he is principled. He sticks to his guns. And then he has the record of results.
Michael Brendan Dougherty: DeSantis’ best debate. Not sure the dynamics will change. Hard to know whether the live audience matters anymore in a time of viral clip sharing.
Matt Walsh: This was the best debate for Ron DeSantis.
Dan McLaughlin: DeSantis closes with his strongest suit: he’ll fight, he won’t back down from any battles, he’s the guy who will stand in and take it.
Alex Salvi: This is DeSantis’s best debate. This is Haley’s worst debate.
Erick Erickson: I think the debate was DeSantis’s strongest and Haley’s weakest. I think all the attacks on Haley show she has momentum, but under the weight of them she underperformed. Christie continues to give the clearest answers to the questions.
Scott Jennings: DeSantis scored points on transgender surgeries for minors ... controlled that conversation and dunked on Christie. #GOPDebate
Clay Travis: My biggest takeaways from tonight’s debate: 1. Vivek and Nikki really hate each other. 2. This was Nikki Haley’s worst debate so far. 3. Chris Christie looks like he’s going to endorse Nikki when he drops out. 4. This was Desantis’s best debate.
Miranda Devine: Winner: DeSantis. Above the fray, increasingly surefooted, most applauded;
Kim Reynolds: .@RonDeSantis proves again that he’s focused, knows how to fight for our values, and delivers on his promises. He’s the most effective leader I’ve seen, and he showed that tonight.
Megan Basham: DeSantis did the most good for his campaign tonight and NewsNation is unquestionably the big winner. By far the best debate because the moderators actually asked about issues that the Republican base care about. Big question, why didn't Fox do this when they had a chance?
Jenna Ellis: DEBATE RECAP: Ron DeSantis was the clear and runaway winner. The GOP could not ask for a better, more solid conservative candidate who UNDERSTANDS and IMPLEMENTS and racks up WINS. Vivek Ramaswamy spoke uncomfortable truth. Nikki Haley was absolutely CRUSHED and destroyed. Christie rightly called out Trump for running a campaign on retribution... but while running a campaign on retribution against Trump.
Curtis Houck: "I signed it, you didn't." Results. #GOPDebate
Kaitlan Collins: DeSantis “had a stronger debate than what we’ve seen him do in the last debates”
Abby Phillip: We do have to give DeSantis some credit; he had a very strong debate
Scott Jennings: DeSantis churns out solid Republican, conservative content on virtually every question
Matt Walsh: Nikki Haley repeats the Left’s framing of Florida’s parental rights legislation, calling it the “don’t say gay” bill
Dana Loesch: DeSantis has won two debates two weeks in a row now. His biggest asset is his record.
Will Cain: That was the strongest moment of any debate for DeSantis.
Rep. Skyler Wheeler: “I don’t think men should be going into little girl’s bathrooms.” @RonDeSantis Best debate for him by far. These are issues that he is dominant on.
Daniel Horowitz: Ron getting to the core that there is a subculture that undergirds the terrorism. Let's stop talking around it.
Bob Vander Plaats: Best line of the night so far is from @RonDeSantis, “Voters make the decisions, not polls.” #ChooseWell2024
Bill O’Reilly: .@RonDeSantis is winning the debate. My staff is checking the @NikkiHaley "wealth" situation and we'll have it tomorrow. #GOPDebate @NewsNation
Kellie Meyer: DEBATE 🧵 Loudest cheers inside the debate hall for DeSantis. Then Haley. Then Vivek. Then Christie. @NewsNation
Erick Erickson: DeSantis wins the debate with Calvin Coolidge, the best President.
Charlie Kirk: DeSantis is going full attack mode against Nikki Haley. He's calling her bought and paid for. He's saying she'll cave to her donors and go soft on China. He's not holding back. He is going right at the Koch-centric bought and paid for agenda. Wherever you are on DeSantis, this is good for the conservative movement.
Julia Johnson: HUGE applause for DeSantis pointing out "you don't have the right to abuse your kids" as Christie equates legislation on transgender surgeries on children with a slippery slope intervening on parental rights
Jordan Schachtel: Man, DeSantis is taking over this debate. Poised and targeted strikes. Has Nikki in a full meltdown.
Susan Crabtree: DeSantis is bringing the fire tonight.
Bobby Burack: Ron DeSantis has impressed the past two GOP debates and debate with Newsom. Of the four on stage-- and I find two of them nauseating--he is clearly the best.
Joel Pollak: .@DeSantis calls what the DOJ did to Trump with the "Russia collusion" investigation "one of the biggest abuses of power in the history of our country." Absolutely
Dr. Cody Hoefert: Everything Haley says about @RonDeSantis on every issue he just stands there and says yep and I signed that bill. It’s the difference between talking and action…..the difference between leadership and speeches. #GOPDebate
Bob Vander Plaats: I’m biased because I’ve endorsed @RonDeSantis That said, this is a really tough night for @NikkiHaley I’m sure there will be a lot of fact checking but the soundbites coming out of this debate are brutal.
Dana Loesch: "Aa a parent, you do not have the right to abuse your kids" -- DeSantis on medical mutilation of minors. Haley says that she didn't say this
Marc Caputo: ...DeSantis’s best debate. To the degree he needed to have a moment and stop Haley from standing out, tonight did it
Michael Duncan: DeSantis killed it on the student loan answer. Great stuff. #GOPDebate
David Drucker: TUSCALOOSA, AL — @RonDeSantis owned the second segment of the @NewsNation debate w/ solid answers on the border security & the economy. His team has to be pleased.
Megan Basham: DeSantis to Haley--"I signed a bathroom bill keeping boys out of girls bathrooms. You did not. I protected girls. You did not." 🔥🔥🔥
Scott Morefield: Ron DeSantis gives Nikki Haley the Gavin Newsom treatment on China, then brilliantly defends her attempt to hit back. A total slam dunk. My goodness.
Steve Deace: Ron clearly won that exchange on China with Haley, who also directly went after Trump in a debate for the first time in a debate I can remember.
Curtis Houck: .@RonDeSantis wasn't rattled and clearly won this exchange. To argue he's not tough on China when he's been saying for years the Chinese Communist Party is America's biggest threat is ludicrous. Also, anytime you brag about having Wall Street donors is MAJOR cringe #GOPDebate
Matt Whitlock: When people found out what this bill actually did (and that “don’t say gay” was an outrageous lie) they overwhelmingly supported it - across the political spectrum.
Steve Deace: Great answer on the border by DeSantis. Loved the analogy of filtering through Iraqis in “man dresses” as similar to filtering through the crowd at the border.
Scott Jennings: I thought DeSantis handled the opening broadside from Megyn Kelly pretty well. She hammered him for like 5 minutes. #GOPDebate
Marc Caputo: DeSantis on using deadly force to stop border crossers: “I am not going to sit there and allow mothers to lose more kids because of fentanyl overdoses. I am not going to sit there and let set trafficking go unabated or human trafficking go unabated.”
Jenna Ellis: Nikki Haley outright lied about DeSantis, who did not support or push the legislation that would have punished bloggers who critiqued Florida’s government. That was crafted by A LEGISLATOR, not DeSantis.
Joel Pollak: .@RonDeSantis argues that the U.S. should stop trying to patrol the Israeli response to Hamas and simply support its war effort, plus pressure Iran economically
Steve Deace: Great point by DeSantis on the Founding Fathers needing anonymity.
Dana Loesch: Good answer from DeSantis. What people have to understand is that it’s all about the delegate race right now in these early states.
Julia Manchester: DeSantis noting his past military service in the Middle East when addressing the Israel-Hamas War: "I understand that part of the world."
Curtis Houck: Great answer from @RonDeSantis about Orwellian requirements to participate in the public square. #GOPDebate
Mary Margaret Olohan: DeSantis slams Haley for her remark: “I think the law should stay out of it and parents should handle it" in reference to kids and trans procedures.
DeSantis: "You can't stand against child abuse, how are you going to be able to stand up for anything?"
Bobby Burack: Ron DeSantis has impressed the past two GOP debates and debate with Newsom. Of the four on stage-- and I find two of them nauseating--he is clearly the best.
Jordan Schachtel: DeSantis has taken over. I am a biased observer but IMO he’s sweeping the floor with these opponents.
Scott Jennings: DeSantis is delivering some solid content. He's not the center of attention, but he's been solid on each policy topic and the student loan turn was sharp. #GOPDebate
Dr. Abby Johnson: One thing is clear: Every single time DeSantis steps up to the debate stage, he proves that he is perfectly fit and prepared for this moment. He would, without question, be a fantastic President.
