Sean Hannity tears into Vivek Ramaswamy, Fox News host inadvertently suggests Donald Trump's not qualified to be president

Sean Hannity unintentionally inflicted collateral damage on former President Donald Trump while verbally sparring with Vivek Ramaswamy in a heated debate on Thursday night.

During the fiery exchange on Fox News, Hannity slammed Ramaswamy for his voting record.

Ramaswamy has said that he voted for a libertarian in 2004 but then didn't vote in the 2008, 2012, and 2016 elections because he was "disillusioned by partisan politics." He added that he was "apolitical before 2020" and then cast his vote for Trump in the 2020 election.

Hannity aggressively attacked Ramaswamy for accusing Nikki Haley of profiting from war.

During a recent interview with Tucker Carlson, Ramaswamy stated, "It is wrong what happened to Israel, and I call that out as a human being and as somebody who’s on a belief of some people are on the right side and the wrong side of a conflict. I think that is far clearer here than it is, for example, in the Russia-Ukraine conflict or other areas where people have baked that cake. But the selective nature of ignoring certain other conflicts – while, even more importantly, ignoring the interests of the U.S. right here at home – is what irritates the heck out of me."

Speaking of the unprecedented and bloody onslaught on Israel, Haley said the invasion of Israel was an "attack on America." She also demanded that Hamas be eliminated and for Israel to "finish" Hamas and Iran with assistance from the United States.

Carlson described Haley's comments as an "ignorant" tantrum by a child.

Ramaswamy rebutted, "I think that Nikki Haley — I disagree with you a little bit there. I don't think she’s a child; I think that she is somebody who is, like many politicians, in a position to get wealthier from war."

Ramaswamy asserted that there are "financial and corrupting influences that lead them exactly to speak the way they do."

During the Republican presidential debate in August, Ramaswamy told Haley, "I wish you well on your future career on the boards of Lockheed and Raytheon."

Hannity contentiously pressed Vivek about his claim that Haley's concern about Israel is driven by "financial and corrupting influences."

Ramaswamy said Hannity's remarks were a "shameful mischaracterization."

Hannity fired back, "Hey, Vivek, wait a minute, stop right now. You do this in every single interview. You say stuff and then you deny it. You deny your own words. So, you know, why don’t you just own what you say and stand by it and stop playing these games?"

Ramaswamy replied, "Sean, I am owning what I said. Where I differ from other candidates in this field is that I also believe that this is Israel’s decision to make. The U.S. should stand with Israel, but we need to be very careful not to enter a broader regional war in the Middle East."

The interview got only more intense, and Hannity forcefully demanded Vivek answer his questions.

Ramaswamy attempted to get under the skin of the Fox News host by insinuating that Carlson was a better interviewer than Hannity.

"One of those things that I loved about that interview with Tucker is we were actually able to have a thoughtful conversation and go deep into issues rather than this kind of political gotcha," Ramaswamy said.

Vivek then slammed Hannity, "You have been laughing about the fake news media how many times for the last several years? And now you’re buying the mainstream media narrative when you know how corrupt it is."

Ramaswamy advised Hannity's audience that they "should get their own information rather than filtered through centralized media."

In his closing statement assailing Vivek, Hannity inadvertently suggested that Trump was not qualified to be president in 2016.

"I think people that never held public office, like you, maybe they’re not qualified to be president,” Hannity proclaimed.

Ramaswamy wrote on the X social media platform, "Sean Hannity would have disqualified 2016 Donald Trump, who would go on to become the greatest president of the 21st Century. I’m the new outsider and the Establishment is flailing and will try to prop up their flavor-of-the month puppet: last month (DeSantis), (Nikki) this month. If you strike the swamp, the swamp strikes back."

When Trump was running for president in 2016, he was a real estate tycoon and reality TV star who had never held public office or served in the military.

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