‘You’re a Loser’: Chris Wallace Dumps on DeSantis and Haley for Fighting Over Second Place in GOP Primary

CNN anchor Chris Wallace dumped on Republican presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley on Wednesday for fighting to become “the first loser” behind former President Donald Trump in 2024.

On CNN NewsNight, host Abby Phillip noted, “We are in this final countdown now to Iowa, and Trump is, as you said, the clear frontrunner. Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis are battling it out for second place, but they are now turning from attacking each other to saying that they are the ones who are gonna take on the former president.”

Wallace responded, “It’s awfully late in the game. I mean, how many months has this campaign been going on?”

He continued:

You know, you hear a little thing from DeSantis about, “Well he can’t win” or “Trump didn’t keep all his promises as president,” and from Nikki Haley about chaos. I mean, let’s put this in perspective. No Republican has ever won a contested race in the Iowa caucuses by more than 12 points. Right now, Donald Trump leads both Haley and DeSantis by more than 30 points. So it seems awfully late for them to come to this recognition. But you know, I know one of them wants to be second, the other third. If you finish second but 30 or 32 points behind the frontrunner, you’re a loser. You’re not the second-place finisher, you’re the first loser.

“Yeah, there’s no participation trophy here for these guys,” replied Phillip.

Wallace concluded, “I just think it’s so late now. I mean, we’re less than two weeks before the caucuses.”

According to RealClearPolitics’ poll average, Trump is the overwhelming Republican primary frontrunner at 62.7%, followed by Haley at 11%, and DeSantis at 10.9%.

In Iowa, while the race is closer, Trump still maintains a more than 30-point lead (at 51.3%) over DeSantis (18.6%) and Haley (16.1%).

Watch above via CNN.