Trump declares Ramaswamy winner of fourth Republican debate: 'Because he thinks I'm great'

Former President Trump weighed in on the recent Republican primary debatetaking a shot at his 2024 rivals and declaring businessman Vivek Ramaswamy the winner.

“A lot of people ask me what I thought of the lowest-scoring 'presidential' debate in history and how I would rate the players. It's very easy to be critical, but who would be better than me in this matter,” he said published Saturday morning on Social Truth.

“To begin with, I thought Ron DeSanctimonious was terrible, with his bobble head facial expressions and egg walking, but sloppy Chris Christie was worse. He is in no condition, mentally or physically, to be president anymore , is suffering from TDS, or Trump Derangement Syndrome, at levels never seen before,” he wrote, calling the former New Jersey governor a “sick puppy” and criticizing his low poll numbers. .

He went on to say that the campaign of former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who failed to qualify for the debate earlier this week, is dead.

“But so is Ron, the weird moving head and the cool mouth, they make his high heels look good – he's walking on eggs! Birdbrain looked different and lost, but I give him second place,” he quipped, referencing to former UN ambassador Nikki Haley.

“Vivek WINS because he thinks I'm great,” added the former president.

The fourth debate in the GOP primaries, held Wednesday in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and presented by NewsNation, was the last to be sanctioned by the Republican National Committee (RNC) in the primary cycle. NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.

The committee announced Friday that they would do not sponsor debates in 2024, and freed up candidates to participate in other forums.

Trump in his late-night post also hit out at debate moderator Megyn Kelly, calling her “the biggest loser” at the event.

“The biggest loser was Megyn Kelly, what the hell happened to her?” Trump said in his message. “He's lost what he once had, which wasn't much. Some things never change!”

Despite the former president's praise, Ramaswamy has done just that faced with scrutiny about his performance in this week's debate, in which he he called Haley was a “fascist” and claimed that Christie's “version of foreign policy expertise was closing a bridge from New Jersey to New York.”

“Most people don't like below-the-belt punches,” said Republican strategist Scott Jennings. “You know, too cute and half rhetorical. You know, sneak attacks, whatever you want to call it. They just think it's off limits, especially coming from him.”

Jennings noted that while Ramaswamy may have tried to act Trump-style, it didn't work for him.

“Trump's brand and image was so strong up front, it gave him the latitude and the credibility to engage with his opponents in some of the ways that Vivek is, it's just that he doesn't bring it to the race,” said the strategist. , arguing that the millennial entrepreneur lacks the “warmth and personal humor” of the former president.

Ramaswamy's campaign has tried to push back on the criticism.

“I think if people actually saw Vivek on the campaign trail, which we released tons of footage of, it shows the warmth of Vivek,” Ramaswamy's senior campaign adviser Tricia McLaughlin said.

“Vivek will speak his convictions no matter what, and some people will like him, and some people will hate him,” he added later.