Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took aim at former President Donald Trump for refusing to participate in the 2024 Republican primary debate.
The governor held his previous position that Trump should participate in the debate as he is not “entitled” to earn the party’s nomination. Trump confirmed he will not participate in the 2024 Republican debates in a Truth Social post Sunday.
“Everybody should debate. Everybody has a responsibility to earn people’s votes. Nobody is entitled to anything in this world, less of all the Republican nomination for president,” DeSantis told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum on Monday. “So, I’m gonna be there. I’m gonna be making the case and this is really a great opportunity because I don’t think very many people over this summer have been following it that closely. I think this is gonna be the first time where candidates are gonna be able to speak unfiltered to a large number of Americans.”
The governor said he plans to “make the case” that President Joe Biden has reset the U.S. into a “decline.”
“We need to send Biden back to his basement in Delaware and reverse the country’s decline and I’m the guy that can do it. I’ve proven it in the state of Florida and I won’t let people down as the next president,” DeSantis said. (RELATED: Pence Hints He’ll Attack Trump, DeSantis During Debate For Going Soft On Abortion)
DeSantis also addressed a leaked memo from the DeSantis-aligned super PAC Never Back Down, which urged the Florida governor to take a “sledgehammer” to Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
“That is not part — that’s a separate entity. I had nothing to do with it. It’s not something that I’ve read and it’s not reflective of my strategy, so we’re gonna talk about what we’re gonna do for the country across a wide variety of issues. You know, we’ll be ready, I mean, I think that with Donald Trump not being there, I don’t think it’s any secret that I’m gonna be probably the guy that people are gonna come after. I mean, certainly, that’s been true really since I got reelected as governor.”
DeSantis said he is the only candidate running to reverse the nation’s decline rather than to be a contributor on cable news. He appeared to slam Republican candidate and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie who regularly appears on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”
All of the major primary candidates other than Trump are expected to enter the debate stage. Republican analysts and consultants have said it is not in Trump’s best “interest” to debate DeSantis since he will dominate the news cycle regardless.
Trump pre-recorded an interview with Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson which is set to counter-program the debate.