Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) refused to participate in Democrat Rep. Charlie Crist’s (D-FL) repeated attempt at a power play during Monday night’s debate, making it clear to Floridians that he is focused on defeating the Democrat.
Crist attempted to distract from the issues during Monday’s debate by feeding the establishment media’s speculations of DeSantis looking to run for President in 2024. DeSantis attempted to dispel the rumors last year, telling reporters that the speculation is “purely manufactured.”
“I just do my job and we work hard… I hear all this stuff and honestly it’s nonsense,” he said at the time.
Many political influencers surmise that the Florida governor will not throw his hat into the 2024 ring if former President Trump runs for office again, but again, these scenarios are purely speculative. While Trump has repeatedly hinted at a 2024 run, DeSantis has given no credence to the possibility.
However, Crist attempted to make it sound as if DeSantis is not committed to the state of Florida and rather auditioning to be president. Even though candidates were instructed not to ask each other questions, Crist attempted to put DeSantis on the spot, asking him to commit to four years in office.
“Ron, you talked about Joe Biden a lot. I understand. You think you’re going to be running against him,” Crist said, failing to recognize that mentions of Biden policies are objectively fair, given that Crist is a strong ally of those far-left ideas and would more than likely impose them in Florida.
In this 2014 file photo, then-Vice President Joe Biden stands with former Florida Governor Charlie Crist during a campaign event. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
“I can see how you might get confused. But you’re running for governor. You’re running for governor and I have a question for you. You’re running for governor. Why don’t you look in the eyes of the people of the state of Florida and say to them if you’re reelected you will serve a full four-year term as governor? Yes or no? Yes or no?” the Democrat said, as DeSantis refused to cave to Crist attempting to switch the subject. The moderator then noted that the candidates did not agree on asking each other questions.
“Well, listen. I know that Charlie’s interested in talking about 2024 and Joe Biden, but I just want to make things very, very clear,” DeSantis said. “The only worn-out old donkey I’m looking to put out to pasture is Charlie Crist.”
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Tuesday’s RealClearPolitics average shows DeSantis leading Crist by double digits.