Ron DeSantis reflects on his debate performance, how he is different from Trump
Republican presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis on how he compares to former President Trump and the growing concern of terrorists crossing the southern border
NBC News received some mockery online after it called out Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis for hypocrisy over Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden's 53-year-old son.
"I think the kids are out of bounds. I didn’t think that was an appropriate thing to do," DeSantis said in an interview on Fox News, responding to a viral incident during Wednesday night's Republican presidential debate when rival Vivek Ramaswamy mentioned former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley's daughter during an exchange about the use of TikTok by America's youth.
"I keep the kids out of it for sure," DeSantis added.
Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis was called out for hypocrisy after he bashed rival Vivek Ramaswamy for mentioning former governor Nikki Haley's daughter during the most recent GOP debate. (Getty / Reuters)
Haley called Ramaswamy "scum" for bringing up her daughter. "She made fun of me for actually joining TikTok while her own daughter was actually using the app for a long time," Ramaswamy said. "So you might want to take care of your family first before preaching to anyone else."
NBC News added to the controversy in an article headlined, "Ron DeSantis says it's 'out of bounds' to attack candidates' kids — except for Hunter Biden," giving different examples of DeSantis mentioning Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden's son.
"But out on the campaign trail, the governor does not shy from making a punchline out of Hunter Biden, 53, joking about his history of addiction and embarrassing details of his personal life that have surfaced publicly," according to NBC News.
DeSantis has also joked that his children won't be doing "cocaine" in the White House, suggesting that Hunter was "connected to the cocaine found in the White House" back in July. (Rebecca S. Gratz for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The comparison received some mockery online from political figures and commentators.
"Great to see you guys admit that Hunter Biden is a man child," press secretary for DeSantis's governor's office, Jeremy Redfern, wrote.
"You do know he's literally older than Ron DeSantis... Right?" conservative commentator Lydia Leitermann wrote of Hunter Biden.
"Hunter isn't a child," show host Abby Libby wrote. "I hope this helps."
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Hunter Biden recently attempted to defend himself amid the intense public scrutiny he has received. The Biden son wrote in an op-ed for USA Today that his addiction has become a tool of "political weaponization."
"My struggles and my mistakes have been fodder for a vile and sustained disinformation campaign against him, and an all-out annihilation of my reputation through high-pitched but fruitless congressional investigations and, more recently, criminal charges for possessing an unloaded gun for 11 days five years ago – charges that appear to be the first-ever of their kind brought in the history of Delaware," he wrote.
NBC News claimed in its article that "many Republican swipes against Hunter Biden are based on unproven theories and occasionally veer into personal attacks."
DeSantis press secretary Bryan Griffin told Fox News Digital in a statement that "Hunter Biden is an adult who has likely committed criminal activity and leveraged his father’s time in the White House to get lucrative contracts and payments from foreign entities. He’s inserted himself into the national dialogue through his own actions."
"Ron DeSantis is correct to call him out and has committed to eliminating the two-tiered standard of justice that has enabled Hunter Biden to avoid consequences for his actions because of his connections in Washington," Griffin continued. "There is clearly a distinction between him and family members of other political figures who would only be relevant by association."
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Fox News' Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.
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