Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday slammed his remaining Republican presidential primary opponents for refusing to debate New Hampshire's nomination race, accusing them of running an “underground movement.”
ABC News and local New Hampshire broadcast after former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley announced that she would only share the stage with former President Donald Trump or President Biden after finishing third in the Iowa caucuses. Station WMUR-TV canceled its scheduled Thursday debate in St. Paul. Questions arose about CNN-moderated debates scheduled for Sunday at Anselm College in Manchester and the Granite State.
“I'm the only candidate who actually agreed to come to New Hampshire for a debate,” DeSantis, who finished second in Iowa by two points to Haley, told voters at a town hall in Henniker, New Hampshire. ” he said.
“What does that say? There are currently four presidential candidates: Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, and me. I'm the only one not running a basement campaign at this point,” the Sunshine State governor said. added.
DeSantis claimed New Hampshire voters “deserved” to have all White House candidates answer questions in a moderated debate, adding that Trump, 77, the Republican front-runner He pointed out that he has not participated in a single debate since announcing his candidacy for the election.
“We've gone from letting people make decisions to letting media coverage decide what's going on,” DeSantis said. “I don’t think that’s what we want in a Republican form of government.”
The 45-year-old Florida governor went on to criticize Haley, 51, for using “100% of her money to attack me and not a dime to attack Trump” in Iowa. and accused the Democratic Party of changing party affiliation at the caucus venue. Her vote for Haley boosted her performance.
“You can't do that in New Hampshire,” DeSantis pointed out.
“To win a Republican primary, you can't rely on Democrats coming in and changing registrations. You have to be able to win over core Republicans. You have to be able to persuade conservatives, but she cannot do that,” he argued.
“She doesn't have the ability to build the coalition needed to win the Republican primary, much less take on Donald Trump,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis also expressed optimism about his campaign despite Trump's landslide victory in Iowa, citing the fact that “half of the voters rejected Trump.” “This shows that there is a desire to seek another leader.”
New Hampshire's Republican primary election will be held on January 23rd.
According to RealClearPolitics' average Granite State poll (all conducted before the Iowa caucuses), DeSantis' approval rating is just 6.5%, ahead of Trump's 43.5% and Haley's 29.3%. Not as good as that.
