After Wednesday night’s second GOP debate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis addressed the constant attacks thrown at him from former President Donald Trump, saying he should “step up on stage and do it to my face.”
“He’s [Trump] had a lot to say about me on social media, really, since 2022, right before the midterm election,” DeSantis said Thursday while speaking with Fox News after the debate. “He started attacking me when I was – well, we all Republicans were supposed to be united for a red wave. No, he tried to attack me, and he’s been doing it a lot. You know, it’s one thing to do it behind the keyboard, step up on stage, and do it to my face.”
During the debate, DeSantis also slammed the former president and current GOP front-runner, criticizing him for not being present at the debate, saying it was disrespectful to voters and that he “owes” it to them to defend his record “where they added $7.8 trillion to the debt, that set the stage for the inflation.”
“Donald Trump is missing in action. He should be on this stage tonight,” DeSantis said.
The Florida Republican continued this rhetoric during his discussion with Fox News on Thursday, saying that the presidency is something that candidates “earn,” not something that someone is entitled to.
“So, he owes it to the voters to defend his record, to defend the decisions he’s made, and also to defend why is he running on the same program in 2016 that he did not actually implement, for example, draining the swamp,” DeSantis said. “He didn’t fire Christopher Wray, he didn’t fire Anthony Fauci, he didn’t do anything to clean house.”
DeSantis brought up potentially debating Trump one-on-one, but the former president declined in a statement minutes after the suggestion was made.
“Sorry, Ron. We’re not as thirsty and desperate like you or sleazeball partner Gavin Newsom,” the statement said, referencing DeSantis’s upcoming debate with the California governor.
Trump has now skipped the first two GOP nominee debates and has not shared plans to attend any future debates.