Republican presidential candidates expressed dismay at the party’s heavy election defeat this week as Democrats scored key victories across the country, including on the hot-button issue of abortion.
“I’m disturbed by what happened last night. At the end of the day, we’ve become the losing side,” former biotech CEO Vivek Ramaswamy said at the third Republican presidential debate in Miami.
Ramaswamy blamed Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, suggesting she resign, and then launched an attack on debate host NBC News, saying the network should be moderated by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, a podcaster Conservatives such as Joe Rogan and Tesla CEO replaced Elon Musk.
“Our ratings will be ten times higher,” Ramaswamy said.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, meanwhile, has taken aim at Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, who has chosen not to participate in a primary debate.
“Trump said Republicans are going to be tired of winning. Well, we saw last night, I’m tired of Republicans losing,” DeSantis said.
Trump endorsed Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, but Cameron failed to oust the state’s Democratic governor. Andy Beshear’s speech on Tuesday disappointed many in the Republican Party. The former president blamed Cameron’s relationship with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
“Daniel Cameron lost because he couldn’t lighten the stink of Mitch McConnell,” Trump said in a Truth Society post on Wednesday. “I told him early on that this was a huge burden to overcome.”
However, three days ago, Trump touted He backed Cameron by claiming “he’s not really a ‘McConnell man.'”