Ron DeSantis says GOP debates need to be ‘where the action is’

Gov. Ron DeSantis has participated in two Republican presidential debates so far, with a third scheduled, but he doesn’t think any of these events have been in the right place.

“We should be doing these Republican debates in New Hampshire and in Iowa, since we’re going to be there anyway,” DeSantis said in Concord, New Hampshire, where he was Thursday to qualify for that state’s Primary ballot.

The Governor offered specific criticisms of the debate last month in California.

“I mean, I love the Ronald Reagan … Library but to go all the way out there, we were out there for a week, which is fine, you know, we did our thing,” DeSantis said. “But I hope the other debates will be, will be closer to where the action is.”

This is DeSantis’ first overt criticism of the debates thus far based on location. His previous critiques have focused on the relative comportment of his opponents.

“Anyone that watched that debate the other night saw, you know, there was one person who acted like a President should act. And if you look at how they were carping and all this stuff, to me, I thought it was very off-putting,” the Governor told reporters in Long Beach, after the second debate.

During an interview on “Fox & Friends” after the first debate in August, DeSantis defended his low-key strategy as avoiding a “food fight” between candidates.

“If someone came after me, I was ready to go loaded for bear, we were going to respond and put that to bed. But, you know, I was more interested in talking directly to the people at home rather than kind of some of the bickering that was back and forth,” DeSantis said. “There was a lot that was going on and, you know, my thing is just, like, OK, that’s fine, but let’s focus on the issues that matter.”

Next month’s debate is in Miami, and as with the previous events, the big question is whether Donald Trump bothers with it, and if it even matters if he doesn’t. The Race to the White House polling average in Florida shows DeSantis trailing Trump, 56% to 23%.