There are softball interviews, and then there’s Brian Kilmeade literally tossing a baseball softly with Ron DeSantis. The Florida governor indulged the Fox & Friends anchor by joining him on a baseball field in Dunedin where the two discussed DeSantis’ potential presidential run while playing catch (no fastballs included, literally).
Kilmeade, who’s been a frequent defender of DeSantis, even teed up the governor for a shot at Donald Trump because, again, the whole thing took the softball interview to a level of cringe that’s surprising even for Fox News. Kilmeade asked DeSantis what he thought about Trump testing out nicknames, and he worked in a little jab of his own.
Via Florida Politics:
“You have a record of achievement. People can call you a name, but that’s not going to trump the achievement. And so we built the astounding record of achievement. The best is yet to come. I’m defined by my accomplishments. I’m defined by leading the state, and I’m defined by having a state, which is the number one destination for Americans who are looking for a better way of life.”
While the softball interview might play well with Fox viewers, over on Twitter it’s getting ripped to shreds where users are dunking on everything from DeSantis’ height to the “divorced dad energy.” However, people also began theorizing that the whole production may be a deliberate attempt to troll Trump and the infamous photo of him attempting to play catch, but mostly it was meatball jokes.
You can see some of the reactions below:
Literal softball questions. https://t.co/GaqEXbCygQ
— Will Rubin (@WillCRubin) March 13, 2023
Give meatball some credit, it ain’t easy playing catch in 3” heels
— Scott 🇺🇸⚾️🏈🏀 🏌🏻♂️🎣 🌊 (@scott68ca) March 13, 2023
“It’s all substance driven”
Plays staged catch on camera in a suit— Matt Chatham (@chatham58) March 13, 2023
Embarrassing. Cringy. Lacks journalistic integrity.
That's Brian Kilmeade, folks. https://t.co/fPxsXEYyvy
— Bert & Ernie 🏳️🌈 (@bert__n__ernie) March 13, 2023
Strong divorced dad energy
— Eric McClung (@ericmcclung) March 13, 2023
DeSantis remains on the mound to keep his height advantage.
— Philly 🇺🇸🌻 (@Jadair) March 13, 2023
I only do interviews on the sandlot field as well https://t.co/pbMTGDOtjO
— Neil Kornutick (@nkornutick) March 13, 2023
Wonder why they chose to do that activity specifically? Can’t imagine.. pic.twitter.com/amY9RFA05w
— Hal Sparks (@HalSparks) March 13, 2023
His best pitch: a meatball slider.
— KP (@lightsoutonight) March 13, 2023
(Via Aaron Rupar on Twitter)