DeSantis nukes tech guy Vivek after Ohio drubbing: Not in tune with blue-collar voters

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis blasted failed Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and his GOP handlers, arguing on a podcast that he wasn't "in tune" with the working-class people of the state.

Biotech entrepreneur Ramaswamy lost his scandal-plagued race to Democratic candidate Amy Acton by 7.9 percentage points. Despite President Donald Trumps endorsement and guidance from Vice President JD Vances top advisers, Ramaswamy lost amid a "blue wave" that produced major Democratic upsets across the country. The midterm elections were widely viewed as a referendum on Trump's presidency.

But DeSantis, who ran for president in 2024 and is term-limited after 2026, shared on the Sage Steele Show that Ramaswamy bore some responsibility for his loss.

"I don't know why they would have pushed him to be the candidate there. Oh, my mom's from Youngstown. Ohio is a working class state, very blue collar. You know Vivek, he's like a tech guy," DeSantis said.

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Ramaswamy, who previously ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, is the founder of biotech company Roivant Sciences and anti-ESG investment firm Strive Asset Management. He also briefly co-led President Trumps Department of Government Efficiency with Elon Musk.

He was warmly embraced by Trump, who endorsed him the same day Ramaswamy announced his candidacy. Trump had previously encouraged Ramaswamy to consider seeking Vances former Senate seat. Ramaswamy and Vance have known each other since their time at Yale Law School.

DeSantis criticized Ramaswamys support for a merit-based H-1B visa system, arguing that it likely further distanced him from Ohios blue-collar voters. Ramaswamy had said the current lottery-based system should be "gutted."

'He wants to bring in foreign workers on visas. That is not the type of person that's going to sell." DeSantis said.

Ramaswamy's own companies have used the H-1B program, with Roivant Sciences having 29 H-1B applications approved between 2018 and 2023.

Meanwhile, Strive Asset Management, the investment firm he co-founded, moved its headquarters from Columbus to Dallas in 2025, months before Ramaswamy launched his campaign for Ohio governor. Ramaswamy said he was no longer involved in the companys operations, but remained a major shareholder.

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"And I know he shot himself in the foot," DeSantis said. "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," DeSantis said. "I think we would have done better in Ohio had we had a candidate that was more representative or more in tune with the interests of kind of these blue collar people that make the backbone of Ohio."

Just weeks before the election, Ramaswamys campaign drew bipartisan outrage for using Democratic Gov.-elect Amy Actons estranged mother in an attack ad that called the D