Crist Campaign Falsely Claims DeSantis ‘Scared’ to Debate; DeSantis Already Agreed to Televised Debate

TALLAHASSEE (FLV) – The Charlie Crist campaign claimed on social media that Gov. Ron DeSantis is “scared” to debate, even though DeSantis had already agreed to a televised debate.

Samantha Ramirez, the communications director for the Crist campaign, tweeted Saturday about the governor not participating in the “Before You Vote” debate.

“Ron DeSantis is skipping this debate because he’s scared,” Ramirez said.

However, Ramirez did not include information that Governor DeSantis had previously agreed to a debate with CBS12.

“Just got a second source here: DeSantis not only is confirmed for CBS12’s debate, he did it BEFORE today,” National political reporter Marc Caputo said.

“So if you’re trusting any blogger tweeting today about DeSantis ducking debates, you got played.”

DeSantis Campaign Rapid Response Director Christina Pushaw said the CBS12 debate will be available to watch statewide.

The Crist Campaign also claimed DeSantis “pulled out” of debating at the “Before You Vote” debate. However, the DeSantis campaign said the governor had never committed to the debate in the first place so he could not have backed out.

False claims that the governor “pulled out” of debating Crist spread like wildfire on Twitter. Online outlets, commentators, and those with large social media accounts amplified the lie.

Florida Politics Publisher Peter Schorsch reported that the governor would not participate in the Oct. 20 debate.

“No other Gov. race debate dates are locked in, although there are requests from CNN, etc,” Schorsch said, even though a debate with CBS12 was already scheduled.