It depended on what his goal was - cement his primary status and have DeSantis stand down OR start a move to the middle and get the critical independent vote on why he lost in 20.
For the former, yes, the base loved it. No question. The people in his room are his passionate base.
He already has his base. He needs to expand it.
For the latter, fail. He dwelled on 2020 when he could have EASILY moved past it, was undisciplined around his answers on the rape trial, beat up a 28 year old young woman who embodies every thing that he SHOULD be bringing into his base - she is from Alabama, went to UA and actually worked for (I believe the Daily Wire).
My daughters (19 and 21) looked at it and saw an old guy punching down, hard, and said, "this guy is a clown and a bully."
That is a miss. He could have been charming, and then re-directed Kaitlin in his clever way. For example, he could have said, "Kaitlin - I know your producers want to rehash the 2020 election for ratings, but we, collectively as a country, want to focus on 2024 when you have record deficits, mass illegal immigration, crime exploding, inflation at 40 year highs, etc. Let's take the discussion there."