MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow tore into Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis after his debate performance in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Wednesday. 

"I think DeSantis was absolutely terrible," Maddow said. 

"I really thought that he was performing, and forgive me, at a Doug Burgam level," she said, also claiming that former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgam and DeSantis all performed at a similarly low level compared to the other participants.

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Maddow said that she was "surprised" that a candidate like DeSantis "who has run in and won a lot of elections and been in a lot of debates" and has been the "number two person under Trump in the polling for so long" still gave what she thought was a lackluster performance in the debate. 

"I was shocked by how bad Ron DeSantis is at playing [the] politician," she added. 

DeSantis criticized former President Donald Trump during the debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin over Trump's leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic response. "Why are we in this mess?" DeSantis asked, before adding, "Part of it and a major reason is because how this federal government handled COVID-19 by locking down this economy." 

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"It was a mistake," he continued. "It should have never happened, and in Florida, we led the country out of lockdown. We kept our state free and open. And I can tell you this, as your president, I will never let the deep state bureaucrats lock you down."

Ahead of the debate, the Republican National Committee required candidates to obtain minimum of 40,000 donors with 200 in 20 or more states and poll at 1% at least in three national polls or a mix of national and early-state polls deemed acceptable.

Eight of the nine candidates who qualified showed up to the debate: The others included former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former Ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, biotech entrepreneur and bestselling author Vivek Ramaswamy, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.

Former President Donald Trump announced that he wouldn't attend the debate Sunday. 

Fox News' Jessica Chasmar contributed to this report.

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