‘Goodnight, sweet prince,’ Trump campaign rejects DeSantis’ one-on-one debate idea
Following the conclusion of the second Republican primary debate, GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis proposed another debate, this time a one-on-one showdown with former President Donald Trump.
DeSantis made this suggestion to Fox News host Sean Hannity, stating, “Since the former president didn’t come here, maybe he would be willing to do one with you and me. I think he owes it to our voters to come and make the case.”
He emphasized the idea that every candidate owes it to the voters to present their case and that nobody is entitled to anything based solely on early polls or other factors. DeSantis stressed the importance of candidates making their case to the voters.
The inspiration for DeSantis’ proposal for a debate moderated by Hannity with Trump came from an upcoming 90-minute debate that the Florida governor is scheduled to have with Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom on November 30. Newsom had attended the GOP California debate as a surrogate for President Biden’s re-election campaign.
The Trump campaign swiftly rejected the idea, with Jason Miller, a senior adviser for the Trump campaign, providing a dismissive response to Fox News Digital.
“Rob DeSanctimonious? The loser in 5th place in New Hampshire? His pathetic campaign is over. Good night, sweet prince,” Miller stated.
In contrast to participating in the second GOP debate, Trump chose to hold a rally in the battleground state of Michigan, where he criticized President Biden’s support for electric vehicles during an autoworkers’ strike. During the debate, DeSantis asserted that both President Biden and Trump were “missing in action.”
DeSantis commented from the debate stage, saying, “Where’s Joe Biden? He’s completely missing in action from leadership. And you know who else is missing in action? Donald Trump is missing in action. He should be on this stage tonight. He owes it to you to defend his record, where they added $7.8 trillion to the debt that set the stage for the inflation that we have.”
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also took the opportunity to criticize the former president for his absence from the debate.
“Joe Biden hides in his basement and won’t explain why he’s increasing the debt the way he is. And as for Donald Trump, he hides behind the walls of his golf clubs and refuses to appear here to address questions like the rest of us are doing,” Christie remarked during the debate. “He added $7 trillion to the debt. He should be in this room to answer those questions for the people who are suffering, as you mentioned.”