DeSantis Praises NBC Moderators for a ‘Good Job’, Says Debate Was More Valuable Than Fox Event

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis praised NBC News moderators for doing a “good job” on Wednesday and said the debate was more valuable than September’s chaotic debate hosted by Fox Business.

During an interview with NBC News following the debate, DeSantis said:

I think we did really well and I think NBC did a good job. I mean, I have watched debates over the years, I participated in a couple already, and I think the people at home probably got a good viewing experience because the questions were substantive, people were able to talk, there wasn’t a lot of screaming back and forth, and so I think the value of this debate was probably more than the one we did in Simi Valley.

He continued, “Look, Donald Trump is not the same guy he was in 2016. You would not have been able to keep him off that stage in 2016, the consultants wouldn’t have been able to do that. Now, they don’t want him up on the stage. When he gives speeches, it’s usually off the teleprompter, and I think his view is like, well, he has a polling lead, therefore, why would he want to get involved and actually earn the job? But that’s not the way this goes.”

During Wednesday’s debate, NBC News anchor Lester Holt repeatedly scolded the audience for drowning out his questions and the responses from candidates with cheers.

“Let me just caution the audience. Let’s not go down this road,” he warned. “We’ve asked you to please, you know, keep restraining yourselves. That would be helpful, so we can hear the candidates, because these are important issues and the voters want and need to hear them.”

Vivek Ramaswamy had less positive words for NBC News than DeSantis. During the debate, Ramaswamy trashed the moderators and argued that former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, podcast host Joe Rogan, and billionaire Elon Musk should have been enlisted to moderate the event instead.

Watch above via NBC News.