Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said that rival Vivek Ramaswamy’s comments during the recent presidential debate were “out of bonds.”
This comes after DeSantis responded to a viral incident during the Republican presidential debate where Ramaswamy mentioned former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s daughter regarding American children’s addiction to TikTok.
“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.”
“Leave my daughter out of your voice,” Haley immediately shot back at the tech entrepreneur candidate. “You’re just scum.”
During an interview on Fox News, DeSantis said that kids shouldn’t be involved in heated exchanges. Haley called Ramaswamy “scum” for bringing up her daughter.
“I think the kids are out of bounds. I didn’t think that was an appropriate thing to do,” the Florida governor said. “I keep the kids out of it for sure.”
Ramaswamy doubled down on his comments following the debate, saying that the country needs lecturing over the “perils of [TikTok].”
“The error is somebody sanctimoniously lecturing the rest of the country about the perils of [TikTok] while actually failing to set an example of leadership a little closer to home,” he said. “We have to show up and engage with the next generation. That’s the point I was making, and I stand by it.”
NBC News, meanwhile, chimed into the controversy and published an article headlined, “Ron DeSantis says it’s ‘out of bounds’ to attack candidates’ kids — except for Hunter Biden,” citing different examples of DeSantis mentioning Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son.
The liberal news network also said that “many Republican swipes against Hunter Biden are based on unproven theories and occasionally veer into personal attacks.”
The comparison received some mockery on social media from political figures and commentators.
DeSantis’ press secretary, Bryan Griffin, told Fox News 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.”
