Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) didn’t try very hard to mask his likely plans for a 2024 presidential bid during his only debate with Democratic challenger Charlie Crist on Monday night — and the audience apparently could tell why the governor was being so cagey.
During the debate, Crist blasted DeSantis for repeatedly refusing to commit to carrying out a full four-year term if he were to win reelection.
“You’re running for governor. You’re asking them to vote for you for governor,” Crist told him. “At a minimum, you ought to be able to tell them if you get reelected, you’ll serve as governor, Ron.”
DeSantis responded with an Olympic-level backflip.
“So we had the border that was in much better shape—” the Republican governor began before the audience started laughing “—in January of 2021. The Biden administration reversed almost every policy that was in place, and they opened the floodgates.”
absolutely brutal pic.twitter.com/mToUAadU2Y
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 25, 2022
It was one of several moments on Monday night in which Crist pressed DeSantis on whether he’d actually serve as governor for a full term or if he was merely using the governorship as a springboard to challenge President Joe Biden in 2024.
DeSantis kept dodging the question until, finally, he said that “the only worn-out old donkey I’m looking to put out to pasture is Charlie Crist.”
Reptiles squirm. So does DeSantis. That pic makes it look like he is grasping for a life line.
DeFascist is so genuine.
So much charisma.
This is all great theater but, unfortunately, I think that virtually all Republicans and right leaning independents stopped watching debates years ago. I strongly suspect that debates no longer have any impact whatsoever on election results. If the Republican candidate were to drop his pants and pee all over the moderator it would be in the headlines of every major news outlet the next day, yet I doubt it would have any effect on the polls even a week later.
“So we had the border that was in much better shape—” the Republican governor began before the audience started laughing “—in January of 2021. The Biden administration reversed almost every policy that was in place, and they opened the floodgates.”
Trolls gonna troll.
I’m assuming DeSatan learned to do comments like this one during his internship at Prigozhin’s IRA in St. Petersburg.
It’s heartening that Crist didn’t take the bait.