BY MAX GREENWOOD
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday criticized former President Donald Trump for suggesting that he may skip the first Republican primary debate in August, accusing him of ignoring a major step in the party’s nominating process and acting as if he’s entitled to the GOP’s presidential nod.
“Nobody is entitled to this nomination. You have got to earn the nomination. And … doing things like these debates — they’re important parts of the process,” DeSantis told the conservative radio host Howie Carr in an interview. “I’ll be in Milwaukee for the first debate and I’ll be at all of the debates.”
Even more problematic, DeSantis said, is that Trump would miss out on the debate after losing to President Joe Biden in 2020, arguing that the former president needs to work to earn back the GOP nomination and not take it for granted.
“This idea that he’s entitled to this, you know, I just totally reject, especially given we had Biden-Trump in 2020 and Biden’s president,” DeSantis said. “The idea that he’s just entitled after that, it just doesn’t make any sense.”
Trump and his allies have repeatedly dangled the possibility that he won’t participate in the first Republican primary debate, given his outsize lead in most national and state-level polling. The debate is scheduled to take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Aug. 23.
Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump’s campaign, snapped back at DeSantis’ criticism, saying that the Florida governor “should focus on his own flailing campaign rife with internal conflict and subversion among his closest supporters, instead of throwing a temper tantrum because he is losing so badly.”
“President Trump has traveled to Iowa more times than DeSantis has, and holds a commanding lead because voters know he is the only person who can beat Joe Biden and take the White House back,” Cheung said.
Trump has faced at least some pressure to show up at the debate. In addition to DeSantis’ remarks on Wednesday, another 2024 GOP presidential candidate, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, suggested that Trump is a “coward” for refusing to commit to the debate.
“Donny, you got so much to say, why don’t you say it directly to my face on the debate stage?” Christie tweeted. “Or are you a coward?”
Exactly who will be allowed to participate in the debate remains an open question. The Republican National Committee has imposed a list of requirements around fundraising and polling that candidates must meet in order to make the debate stage. Once the candidates meet those requirements, they’ll also have to sign a pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee.
DeSantis — who is polling in a distant second place behind Trump and raised $20 million in the first six weeks of his campaign — is almost certain to meet those requirements. He committed to debating in an interview on Fox News last week, saying that he would be in Milwaukee “regardless” of whether Trump participates or not.
Despite that commitment, Trump’s team has continued to play up the notion that Trump shouldn’t – and likely won’t — participate in the August debate. Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Trump’s campaign, said during an appearance this week on NewsNation that Trump “has indicated that he’s unlikely to participate, at least in the first two debates.”
“Ultimately, President Trump will make a decision as we get closer,” Miller said. “He has not said anything definitive, one way or the other. I’m not expecting him to participate, though.”