Rachel Maddow Credits Ramaswamy for Rattling GOP Debate Opponents: ‘Deep, Palpable, Withering Disgust’

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow gave Vivek Ramaswamy props by acknowledging he successfully struck a nerve among his rivals at the latest GOP primary debate.

Maddow led MSNBC’s post-debate coverage held in Miami and televised by NBC on Wednesday night. And of course, she focused on the debate’s most explosive moment in which Ramaswamy attacked Nikki Haley by going after her daughter’s past use of TikTok. Previous debates have shown that Ramaswamy has a knack for getting under the skin of his rivals, so Maddow recognized “the deep, palpable, withering disgust that Vivek Ramaswamy seems to inspire from his fellow candidates.”

“He makes them say things that you can’t imagine they’ve ever said before in their lives,” she said. “He makes them make facial expressions on the stage that you’re quite sure that they don’t know that they’re making in public. He really brings out a side of them that makes news, frankly.”

After rolling footage from the clash where Haley called Ramaswamy “scum,” Maddow turned to her colleagues and said “I think if they all just said what they really meant, cut to the chase, this could be a lot more clarifying. Wow! Never seen that in any debate at any level, and I’ve covered some weird debates at weird levels.”

Watch above via MSNBC