Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis blasted the remaining Republican presidential primary opponents on Tuesday for refusing to debate him ahead of the New Hampshire nominating contest, accusing them of running an “underground campaign.”
After former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley announced she would only appear on stage with former President Donald Trump or President Biden after finishing third in the Iowa caucuses, ABC News and local New Hampshire WMUR-TV canceled their debate scheduled for Thursday at Saint Anselm College in Manchester — and a CNN-hosted debate in the Granite State scheduled for Sunday was in doubt.
“I’m the only candidate who actually agreed to come to New Hampshire to debate,” DeSantis, who edged out Haley by two points to finish second in Iowa, told voters during a town hall in Henniker, New Hampshire.
“What does that say? We have four presidential candidates now — Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Nikki Haley and me. I am the only one who is not running an underground campaign at this point,” the Sunshine State governor added.
DeSantis accused Trump and Haley of running an “underground campaign” for their refusal to debate him in New Hampshire. REUTERS Haley announced she will only debate former President Donald Trump or President Biden after she finished third in the Iowa Caucus. Getty Images
DeSantis argued that New Hampshire voters “deserve” to have all White House candidates answer questions in moderate debates and noted that Trump, the 77-year-old GOP front-runner, has not participated in a debate since announcing his candidacy for president.
“We’ve gone from, hey, let people make these decisions, almost like, you know, just let the media coverage dictate what happens,” DeSantis said. “I don’t think that’s what we want in a Republican form of government.”
Trump leads Haley in New Hampshire by more than 14 percentage points, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average. AP
The 45-year-old Florida governor continued to criticize Haley, 51, for spending “100% of her money attacking me and not one red cent attacking Trump” in Iowa, where she accused Democrats of switching their party affiliation on caucus sites to vote for Haley improve its performance.
“In New Hampshire, you can’t do that,” DeSantis said.
“To win the Republican primary, you can’t rely on Democrats coming in and changing their registration. You must be able to win over the core Republican Party. You have to be able to win over conservatives, and he can’t do that,” he argued.
“He doesn’t have the ability to build the kind of coalition you need to win a Republican primary, much less against Donald Trump,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis also expressed optimism about his campaign despite Trump’s big win in Iowa, arguing that the fact that “half of the electorate rejected Trump” showed “there’s an appetite for a different leader.”
The New Hampshire GOP primary will take place on Jan. 23.
An average of RealClearPolitics polls in the Granite State – all conducted before the Iowa Caucuses – showed DeSantis with just 6.5% support, well behind Trump’s 43.5% support and Haley’s 29.3% support.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
