DeSantis: Haley is ‘out of step’ with GOP base, won’t participate in one-on-one debate
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis swung at former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley after she didn’t respond to a one-on-one debate offer from Fox News’ Laura Ingraham.
“I offered to host a debate between the two on the Angle,” Ingraham said on her show. “Why do you think Nikki Haley has not responded yet?”
“Well, she probably wouldn’t like what the debate would be about,” DeSantis said. “I think she has taken very, very establishment oriented positions. We know she had the social media proposal to force everybody to give their names, which we know would be weaponized against conservatives. Anybody that’s been alive for the last three or four years knows how that censorship regime works.”
DeSantis scathes ‘dangerous’ Haley plan to forcibly identify anonymous social media users
“She also took the side of Disney against the state of Florida and against us, protecting our kids,” he said. “We had a debate about making sure that our young kids in elementary school were subjected to sexualized curriculum and transgender ideology. We were right to stand with the kids. Of course, she sided with the corporation.”
The governor argued that Haley is “out of step” with Republican voters and banks on “liberal media” to give her campaign life.
“But I’m game for the debate,” he said. “You know, I’ll debate at any of these folks. I think that’s what it’s all about.”
The governor agreed to debate on the Ingraham Angle earlier in November.
He will be debating California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday, also on Fox News, hosted by Sean Hannity.
Then, DeSantis will participate in the fourth GOP primary debate, hosted by NewsNation on Dec. 6.
DeSantis and his campaign have been sparring with Haley for weeks after she sprung to third place nationally in the GOP primary.
Tuesday, DeSantis’ campaign responded to a Koch brothers-founded group endorsing Haley and called her a “moderate who has no mathematical pathway of defeating the former president.”
“Every dollar spent on Nikki Haley’s candidacy should be reported as an in-kind to the Trump campaign,” DeSantis’ campaign said. “No one has a stronger record of beating the establishment than Ron DeSantis, and this time will be no different.”
