DeSantis vows to attend GOP debate, regardless of Trump’s presence.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Commits to Republican Presidential Debate

On Thursday, Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis made a bold statement, declaring his participation in the upcoming Republican presidential debate scheduled for August, regardless of whether former President Trump attends or not.

“Donald Trump has said, I believe, he won’t debate in August; he’s not planning to attend the Republican debate,” Fox News host Will Cain noted. “If he does not show up to debate, will you be at the debate?”

“I’ll be there, regardless,” DeSantis asserted. “I hope everybody who is eligible comes. I think it is an important part of the process, and I look forward to being able to be on the stage and introducing our candidacy and our vision and our leadership to a wide audience.”

NBC News reported in late June that Trump was considering skipping the GOP debate and organizing an event featuring himself instead. This is not the first time Trump has taken such action; in 2016, he opted out of the final Republican debate before the Iowa caucuses, choosing to hold a fundraiser for veterans instead. As a result, he lost the Iowa caucuses to Texas GOP Senator Ted Cruz.

DeSantis Criticizes President Biden’s Economic Record

DeSantis didn’t hold back in criticizing President Biden’s economic policies, stating, “Bidenomics in a nutshell is you pay more for the necessities of life, your standard of living goes down, the government gets more and more powerful, and ultimately China will benefit.”

He proudly highlighted his home state’s conservative governance, saying, “We rejected Bidenomics; we governed conservatively; we don’t spend our state into oblivion. We run big-budget surpluses; we’ve actually paid down billions of dollars in state debt. … We don’t let criminals run the streets; we should not allow that in any place in this country. We respect the rights of parents; every parent’s rights throughout the country should be respected; it doesn’t matter if you live in a red or blue state. We’ve gotten indoctrination out of our curriculum.”

“You can theoretically have good economic policy, but if you have San Francisco-style social policy, everything’s gonna end up decayed,” he added.

DeSantis Confident in Fundraising and Ability to Defeat the Left

When asked about his trailing poll numbers compared to Trump, DeSantis pointed to his campaign’s record-breaking fundraising, stating, “Did you just see the news today about the record fundraising haul we’ve had? Nobody’s been able to match that in the history of modern presidential politics. We’ve got a huge amount of support to be able to take the case to the people. We really haven’t started that yet; we’re in the process of building out a great organization … we’re going to be on the ground in all these early states. It is a three yards and a cloud of dust-type situation.”

He also highlighted the fear shown by the Left towards his candidacy, stating, “I think if you look at the people like the corporate media, who are they going after? Who do they not want to be the nominee? They’re going after me. Who is the president of Mexico attacking because he knows we will be strong on the border, to hold him accountable and the cartels? He is going after me. So, I think if you look at all these people that are responsible for a lot of the ills in our society, they are targeting me as the person they don’t want to see as the candidate.”

“I’m the guy that not only can beat Biden, I’m the guy that can beat the Left on all these different issues because people’s freedoms are under assault,” he confidently opined. “We had to fight all these people in Florida. Of any Republican in the country, I have the best record of defeating the Left on issue after issue.”

DeSantis emphasized his ability to win over independent voters, citing his overwhelming victory in his 2022 reelection bid, where he secured a whopping 19-point victory:

“At the end of the day, people want to win, and you can’t win with just Republican voters,” he said. “I think we showed in Florida, if you want a big victory, you gotta win independent voters, you gotta win people who haven’t voted for our party in the last several cycles. I’ve shown I can do that, and I think we can do it nationally.”

Related: DeSantis Campaign Raises Eye-Popping Sum Of Money In Its First 6 Weeks

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