Republican Strategist Says Nobody Likes ‘Annoying’ Ramaswamy: It’s ‘Not Fixable Because That’s Just Who He Is’

Republican strategist and CNN commentator Scott Jennings had some harsh words for Vivek Ramaswamy after Wednesday’s Republican presidential debate.

After the event concluded in Simi Valley, California, Jennings called most of the debate “unwatchable” except for the parts where Ramaswamy served as a piñata for his GOP rivals. The political upstart enjoyed a bump in the polls over the summer, but in the first debate, he irked his opponents and their supporters by calling them “bought and paid for.”

Jennings lauded former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who repeatedly tangled with Ramaswamy.

“The most watchable parts were when Nikki Haley was taking him over her knee and just spanking him over his views, his attitude, whatever – all night long,” Jennings said. “And all the other candidates got in on it as well. And although he is no threat to get the nomination, and he’s obviously just running as a Trump surrogate rather than a Trump stand-in, he deserves to be taken to task.”

Jennings went on to criticize Ramaswamy for his ingratiating, salesman-like disposition, saying, “Nobody likes what they’re seeing.”

“I mean, he’s a salesman,” he added. “He’s constantly selling, but that’s different than having values and principles.”

“It was interesting to hear him on the stage sort of acknowledging some of the criticisms,” Anderson Cooper said. “Clearly, he saw research on how people viewed him after the last debate and tacked course. And that is what he said on the stage.”

“Yeah, some consultant said, ‘Hey man, they don’t like you. They think you’re annoying.’ What they said was everything he just repeated back. That’s not exactly how you defeat that. But you can tell that someone told him that and he’s trying to fix it, which is not fixable because it’s just who he is.”

Watch above via CNN.