Former Vice President Mike Pence had little patience for newcomer Vivek Ramaswamy at Wednesday night’s Republican debate.
“Now is not the time for on-the-job training,” Pence said, nearly shouting, as he threw a quick glance over at Ramaswamy. “We don’t need to bring in a rookie, we don’t need to bring in people without experience.”
The irony was evidently lost on Pence that his former boss—the elephant in the room, frontrunner and former President Donald J. Trump—never held any elected office before serving as president and made the exact type of a populist outsider appeal Ramaswamy delivered with verve.
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Pence clearly had a game plan to go after Ramaswamy Wednesday night, and the candidate with arguably the most relevant presidential experience decided he was best-positioned to go after the candidate with the least relevant experience.
Either way, a number of candidates got in on the exchange. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis rattled off a set piece about COVID-19 shutdowns.
After DeSantis blew off some steam, Ramaswamy once again tried to lighten the mood.
“Listen, now that everybody has gotten their pre-prepared speeches and slogans out of the way, we can actually have a real discussion now,” Ramaswamy said, maintaining a gaping smile and ample open hand gestures throughout.
Pence tried to cut in, asking if Ramaswamy had just delivered a memorized soundbite himself. But the political rookie dismissed the former vice president.
“Not really, Mike. We’re just gonna have some fun tonight,” he said.
