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'Stop Being A Keyboard Warrior': DeSantis Ramps Up The Pressure On Trump To Debate

Scott Morefield
Scott Morefield  |  December 04, 2023 9:30 PM

Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis turned up the heat on former President Donald Trump to debate, challenging the front-runner to a one-on-one matchup during a Monday night appearance on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle."

"Donald Trump wants to blame me," DeSantis told host Laura Ingraham, responding to a question about Trump seeming to blame DeSantis for undefeated ACC champ Florida State being left out of the College Football Playoff. The former president called the snubbing the result of "bad lobbying" on the part of DeSantis in a Monday Truth Social post.

The Florida governor went on to cite previous Trump criticisms before challenging him to debate "one-on-one."

"He also took Disney’s side against us when we stood up for the kids," DeSantis continued. "He also said Cuomo in New York did COVID better than we did, then attacked me for being pro-life. Maybe that’s the reason we should have a debate on your show, Laura. Stop being a keyboard warrior and let's step up and debate one-on-one. He's had a lot to say about me over the last year. Say it to my face. I'm game."

Ingraham, who has offered to host a debate between DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, decried Republican National Committee rules that prohibit such matchups. "That all has to go away," she said.

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Trump has so far avoided the three official Republican primary debates and has no plans to attend the fourth, which will take place Wednesday at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Participants alongside DeSantis will include Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, and former Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. 

Of course, given DeSantis' particularly strong performance debating Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom last week, Trump's avoidance is hardly surprising. Prime moments from that debate included DeSantis pointing out that Newsom's own father-in-law moved to Florida from California because of how both states are run, a surgical takedown of California's economic policies, a devastating critique of California's destructive Covid regime, the now famous 'poop map' of San Francisco, and, best of all, a hilarious list of "freedoms" Californians enjoy, like the "freedom to defecate in public," "pitch a tent on Sunset Boulevard," and "create a homeless encampment under a freeway and even light it on fire."

"They're not the freedoms our founding fathers envisioned, but they have contributed to the destruction of the quality of life in California, and the results speak for themselves," he said.