A panel on “Outnumbered” expressed shock on Thursday that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida was plummeting in the polls while conservative businessman Vivek Ramaswamy surged.
DeSantis trails former President Donald Trump by 39.9%, according to the RealClearPolitics average, which includes polls from July 31 to Aug. 16. The panelists discussed the results of a Fox News poll, which showed Ramaswamy with 11% support, just five points shy of DeSantis’s showing. (RELATED: ‘Our Government Repeatedly Lies To Us’: Ramaswamy Pushes Back At Pence Over 9/11 Jab)
“I was surprised at Ron DeSantis, how he’s not doing as well as I thought he would have done,” Fox News Contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier said. “He has name recognition, he has proven that he can take on kind of the establishment and he is a good leader, but it’s going to take more than that, and I think people want to get away from your standard politician.”
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“It’s really quite something, as I noted, DeSantis has fallen, Vivek Ramaswamy has increased, and it’s worth mentioning he had no name ID. Name ID is huge in politics,” former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said. “He has risen because of the strength of his message and the media flood the zone strategy going on any interview he’s asked to do, going to hostile territory.”
DeSantis announced his candidacy on May 24 in a glitch-filled Twitter Spaces event, which saw over 700,000 people initially try to listen to the announcement and follow-up questions. DeSantis won the 2022 gubernatorial election in a landslide, defeating former Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist, who served as governor from 2007-2011 as a Republican, by over 19% while Republicans underperformed expectations of a red wave nationally.
“When President Trump started talking about building the wall, that’s what connected with voters and Vivek is doing some of the same thing,” Fox Business Host Dagen McDowell said. “His ideas are big and bold and kind of out there, but he has people listening and he loves listening to other people, as well, when he’s on the trail.”
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