DeSantis takes swings at Ramaswamy for getting beat ‘like a drum’ in Ohio

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) took a swing at failed Ohio GOP gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, saying the Buckeye State Republican got beat “like a drum” in his race.

“Ohio governor. I mean, how bad did they beat Vivek like a drum? Now part of that was Vivek, quite frankly. I don’t know why they would have pushed him to be the candidate there. My mom’s from Youngstown. Ohio is a working-class state, very blue-collar,” DeSantis told former ESPN host Sage Steele on a Wednesday episode of her podcast .

“You know, Vivek, he’s a — like a tech guy, he did this Alzheimer’s drug, and he wants to bring in people, foreign worker on visas,” the Sunshine State governor continued. “That is not the type of person that’s going to sell — and I know he shot himself in the foot. I know he did a lot of other stuff to make it a real landslide against him. But even with that, it’s like, you know, you got to meet the voters where they are on some of this stuff.”

Democrat Amy Acton flipped the Ohio governor’s mansion Tuesday, defeating Ramaswamy. On Thursday afternoon, Acton was leading Ramaswamy by about 8 points, according to Decision Desk HQ.

Acton is the first Democrat to lock down the governorship in a decade and a half and the first woman elected to the office in Ohio history.

Ramaswamy is a biotech entrepreneur and billionaire who ran for president against DeSantis in 2024. He was endorsed in his gubernatorial bid by President Trump and Vice President Vance.

The biotech entrepreneur placed $4 million toward an ad with Acton’s estranged mother referring to her daughter as a “liar.” However, Acton described a childhood of abuse, resulting in rape charges against her deceased stepfather. The ad received a wave of backlash.

The Hill has reached out to Ramaswamy’s campaign for comment.