DeSantis blasts Trump, Haley for refusing to debate

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis slammed his remaining Republican presidential primary opponents on Tuesday for refusing to debate him in the runup to the New Hampshire nominating contest, accusing them of running a “basement campaign.”  

After former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley announced she would only appear onstage with former President Donald Trump or President Biden following her third-place finish in the Iowa caucus, ABC News and local New Hampshire outlet WMUR-TV scrapped their scheduled Thursday debate at Saint Anselm College in Manchester — and a CNN-moderated debate in the Granite State slated for Sunday was put in doubt. 

“I’m the only candidate that actually agreed to come to New Hampshire to debate,” DeSantis, who edged out Haley by two points to finish in second place in Iowa, told voters during a town hall in Henniker, New Hampshire.

“What does that say? We have four candidates for president now — Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Nikki Haley and me. I’m the only one who’s not running a basement campaign at this point,” the Sunshine State governor added.

DeSantis argued that New Hampshire voters “deserve” to have all the White House hopefuls answer questions in moderated debates and noted that Trump, the 77-year-old GOP frontrunner, hasn’t participated in a single debate since announcing his presidential run. 

“We’ve gone away from, hey, let people make these decisions, to almost like, you know, just let the media coverage determine what’s going on,” DeSantis said. “I don’t think that’s what we want in a Republican form of government.” 

The 45-year-old Florida governor went on to criticize Haley, 51, for spending “100% of her money attacking me and not one red cent attacking Trump” in Iowa, where he charged that Democrats changing their party affiliation at caucus sites to vote for Haley boosted her performance.  

“In New Hampshire, you can’t do that,” DeSantis noted. 

“To win a Republican primary, you can’t rely on Democrats coming in and changing their registration. You’ve got to be able to win core Republicans. You’ve got to be able to win conservatives, and she cannot do that,” he argued. 

“She does not have the ability to build the type of coalition that you need to win a Republican primary period, much less take on Donald Trump,” DeSantis said. 

DeSantis also expressed optimism about his campaign despite Trump’s landslide victory in Iowa, reasoning that the fact that “half of voters rejected Trump” indicates “there is an appetite for a different leader.” 

The New Hampshire GOP primary will take place on Jan. 23. 

A RealClearPolitics average of polls in the Granite State – all conducted before the Iowa Caucus – show DeSantis with just 6.5% support, far behind Trump’s 43.5% backing and Haley’s 29.3% support.