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Fox News co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy snapped at Pete Hegseth for taking pleasure in a prankster’s trolling of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
On Fox & Friends, Campos-Duffy, Hegseth, and Will Cain covered the viral moment of a heckler who sarcastically celebrated the governor as “our little snowflake” and derailed DeSantis’ town hall by giving him a participation trophy, and the tension was palpable.
Hegseth thought the stunt was “hilarious,” but Campos-Duffy said that her co-host had shown her the video before the show, and she wasn’t nearly as amused.
“Pete sent this clip to me, and he was like, ‘Isn’t this funny?’ I said, ‘Actually, I don’t think it’s funny,’ because I think — and I love you Pete — I’ve been a candidate’s spouse, so I can put myself in Casey DeSantis‘ shoes there. It is cold as you know what, and you’re campaigning. You’re doing your best, and I just think this kind of unnecessary humiliation is unnecessary.”
“He’s doing his best, so he got a participation trophy,” Hegseth said, laughing as he defended the clip. Campos-Duffy responded by calling the incident “unnecessary trolling of good public servants trying to do the right thing, campaign, and I don’t like it.”
Cain, who didn’t want to miss a thing, wondered aloud why his co-hosts hadn’t given him a copy of the tape before the show.
WATCH:
Former President Donald Trump landed a historic victory Monday evening during the country’s first 2024 presidential primary in Iowa, a win that renewed talk of who he is considering as a running mate.
On Monday evening, as the ballots were being tallied, some supporters of the former president said they would like to see him select business entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who dropped out of the ’24 race following his distant finish behind most of the field.
But Trump aide Jason Miller told the New York Post that supporters who favor Ramaswamy could “probably” rule him out a day after Trump unleashed a verbal attack on his now-former competitor.
The former president accused Ramaswamy of being “sly,” having “deceitful campaign tricks,” and not being MAGA during a blistering attack on Saturday on Truth Social.
“Pretty safe to say it won’t be Vivek,” Miller told The Post.
The biotech mogul has previously said he is not a “plan B person,” while Trump said in August that Ramaswamy could be a “very good” vice president, The Post added.
A video of Trump rocketed across the internet and social media platforms Monday evening as votes were beginning to be tallied following the nation’s first GOP primary in Iowa.
In it, Trump can be seen walking down a set of stairs before coming up towards a camera and addressing reporters who were gathered.
“Great night and fantastic place,” Trump said about Iowa. “We’ve won it twice, as you know, the last two elections, and I think we’re gonna have a fantastic night tonight.
“The people are fantastic, and I’ve never seen spirit like they have — countrywide, but in Iowa, I’ve never seen spirit like this, thank you,” Trump said, turning away from the camera as reporters shouted questions at him.
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) January 16, 2024
Trump went on to win the Iowa caucus with more than 51% of the vote, ahead of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis with about 21.2 percent and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley with 19.1 percent.
Trump addressed his two closest rivals’ performances after the race was called.
“I really think this is time now for everybody to come together, whether it is Republican or Democrat or liberal or conservative. It would be so nice if we could come together and straighten out the world and straighten out the problems and all of the death and destruction that we’re witnessing that has practically never been seen,” he said. “I want to make that a big part of our message. We’re going to come together.”
