A.G. Gancarski
Ron DeSantis has been a recurrent critic of the presidential debate schedule, but in the end, two debates he’s been asking for will be on.
CNN will host two events as voters in Iowa and New Hampshire close in on their decisions before their presidential nominating contests, fulfilling the Governor’s wish that debates be “where the action is.”
The Iowa event will be five days before the caucuses, at Drake University in Des Moines.
The New Hampshire event will be just two days before the Primary, at St. Anselm College.
Expect a narrower field than seen in the four debates sanctioned by the Republican National Committee. Qualifying candidates must have at least 10% support (without rounding) in three separate national and/or in-state “polls of Republican primary voters that meet CNN’s standards for reporting.” For the Iowa debate, one of those polls must be in-state, and the same condition holds true for the Granite State showdown.
That could disqualify Vivek Ramaswamy from both debates, and Chris Christie from the Iowa showdown at least.
DeSantis said that’s what he wanted on Thursday’s “Hugh Hewitt Show.”
“I think we’re going to have a debate in Iowa. And I think we’re going to have a debate in New Hampshire. I don’t know that the RNC is going to put it on. But I don’t think that they’re going to block it. And we need to do that in those two early states, I think it’s very important.”
In remarks in the early states, DeSantis questioned the scheduling of November’s debate in Miami and this week’s debate in Tuscaloosa.
“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, back in October.
“I would have liked to have seen the December one in Iowa, but hopefully we do have a couple of weeks in early January to have a debate in Iowa. But that needs to be done. And the same thing with New Hampshire, those are the two states in January that are going to vote and we need to really focus on reaching those voters so that those voters can make a decision,” DeSantis said in November in Iowa.
As seen below, the Governor is ready and raring to face off with whoever makes the cut.
I accept. Can't wait to debate in Iowa! https://t.co/qeCvrTLwqy
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) December 7, 2023
5 comments
Richard C Russell
December 7, 2023 at 12:23 pm
Ronny, when you coming back to Florida, after all you are our elected Governor? Are you going to be an absentee President (if elected) as you have been as Governor since June of this year, only five months into this four year term as Governor?
Michael K
December 7, 2023 at 12:47 pm
Woulda, shoulda, coulda and the blame game.
That’s all he’s got (besides demeaning entire swaths of people).
rick whitaker
December 7, 2023 at 1:30 pm
richard russell, you voted for him
Dont Say FLA
December 7, 2023 at 1:33 pm
Don’t nobody tell Rhonda they would need at least 10% polling to participate in the polls they want. Can’t wait to see the look on their face when they don’t qualify. I guess that’s what Rhonda’s face always looks like, so maybe I CAN wait.
Biscuit
December 7, 2023 at 4:27 pm
NewsScoop out of anywhere but Florida: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, still looking for love in all the wrong places, has gotten his New Year’s Wish and will be debating when and where he wanted, all thanks to CNN. No word on how long it will take for him to blame CNN for ambushing and bushwhacking and being unfair to him during the debates, but the betting is about fifteen minutes into the first one.
Arf.
Comments are closed.