Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis repeatedly interrupted Fox News’ Bill Hemmer on Wednesday during a question on the upcoming Republican primary debate.
DeSantis touted how he is the only presidential candidate who battled and defeated Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs and indoctrination in education. Hemmer attempted to move on to the campaign trail, in which he quoted Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley saying DeSantis has “no rationale” of continuing his campaign if he loses Iowa.
“Biden was fourth in 2020, that didn’t stop him,” Hemmer said. “You’re gonna do a debate…”
“These people are trying to—” DeSantis began, followed by an interjection from Hemmer.
“I just want to get to the question,” Hemmer said. “You’re gonna do a debate with Nikki Haley—”
“They’re just trying to, they’re trying to puff and all that,” DeSantis interrupted.
“You’re gonna do a debate with Nikki Haley,” Hemmer repeated.
“Exactly, we’re gonna do a debate,” the governor continued.
“Okay, on CNN, would you characterize that—” Hemmer continued. (RELATED: Fox News Hosts Press Charlie Crist On DeSantis Garnering More Hispanic Support Than Him)
“We’re gonna do a debate and we’re gonna be able to have a sharp contrast in our visions,” DeSantis said. “And I think she’s had [a] very difficult time recently because she had been pumped up by liberal media, which I understand, she’s the liberal candidate running, and now she’s come under scrutiny and she hasn’t been able to handle basic questions that people are asking. She hasn’t been able to defend her record as governor of South Carolina where she was the number one governor of bringing in Chinese Communist Party investment into her state. In Florida, I banned China from buying land in Florida and I kicked them out of our universities. So it’s just a contrast in visions, contrast and records and clearly, Republican voters are gonna pursue my vision to hers.”
DeSantis, Haley and former President Donald Trump are the only three candidates who qualified for CNN’s Republican primary debate in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 10. The three candidates exceeded the debate criteria by garnering more than 10% support in at least three separate national or Iowa polls that meet the network’s standards.
Trump leads in the Iowa Republican primary polls with 50% support, and DeSantis leads in second with 18.4% favorability, according to FiveThirtyEight. Haley is in third place with 15.7% support. The former president holds 61.3% support nationally, while DeSantis and Haley are tied with 11.3%, according to a FiveThirtyEight national poll.