MEAWW.COM / NEWS / POLITICS

Dana Perino blasted for pushing 'irrelevant' fact about Nikki Haley to Ron DeSantis at second GOP debate

Dana Perino was joined by Ilia Calderon and Stuart Varney as moderators for the the second GOP presidential debate

SIMI VALLEY, CALIFORNIA: Moderator Dana Perino became the butt of many jokes after she appeared to be pushing 'irrelevant' facts about Nikki Haley to Ron DeSantis during the second Republican presidential debate on Wednesday, September 27.

Joined by Ilia Calderon and Stuart Varney as moderators, the 51-year-old former White House press secretary tested the seven GOP candidates with her furious questions during the debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.

During the debate, the Fox News host even told the 2024 White House hopefuls that it’s "now obvious" that if they all stayed in the race "former President Donald Trump would win the nomination."

"So which one of you onstage tonight should be voted off the island?" Perino asked, instructing the Republican White House hopefuls to name the individual they most thought should drop out, according to Daily Mail.

What did Dana Perino say about Nikki Haley?

At one point in the debate, the Florida governor Ron DeSantis spoke about his family and childhood while answering one of Perino’s questions regarding 9/11.

“I also just want to come back on Dana asked last segment about 9/11. Because I was just at the 9/11 Memorial with the families. My wife and everybody’s very touching to be there.”

“I’ve been a blue-collar kid, minimum wage and done in Florida. I ended up getting through Yale and Harvard Law School and somehow came out more conservative than when I went in,” he stated.

DeSantis continued by stating how he would become the first president since 1988 to serve the nation in the military.

“I wanted to serve and I’ll never forget coming back on the plane from Iraq, landing in Coronado, California, North Island, and feeling that breeze off the Pacific Ocean and say, you know what, I am lucky to have been born an American.”

“I think being able to serve and I’ll be the first president elected since 1988, was actually served overseas in a war. I think that’s going to help me as Commander in Chief, to know how you see these issues,” he claimed.

This was the point when Perino chimed in, saying, “Yeah, we know that Governor Haley’s husband is serving right now as well. And we thank him for that.”

Haley’s husband, William Michael Haley is a commissioned officer in the South Carolina Army National Guard who served as the first gentleman of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017.

Dana Perino slammed for pushing 'irrelevant' fact about Nikki Haley

Dana Perino’s comments garnered immense social media attention, with users slamming her for pushing ‘irrelevant’ facts about 51-year-old Haley.

“I thought the same thing watching it. It was a really weird editorial addition by Dana,” one user said.

“Classless and irrelevant, @DanaPerino. I thought you were better than this. Yikes. No need to be so spiteful and unprofessional,” a second user wrote.

“I was shocked that she said that even though I know you I know you shouldn’t,” the third user said while the fourth wrote “O thought the same thing! 😂 Dana was not on her game.”

“She's auditioning for communications director in a Trump/Haley White House. It was a huge reveal,” another user fumed.