Gov. Ron DeSantis and Democratic challenger Charlie Crist had their only debate Monday night in the Florida gubernatorial race, and one subject in particular was getting a lot of attention in the aftermath—DeSantis' White House ambitions. The governor is considered to be a top 2024 presidential candidate, and Crist twice asked him directly whether he would commit to serving a full four-year term as governor, reports the New York Times. DeSantis declined to do so, while getting in a shot at both Crist and President Biden in one of the exchanges:
- "I have a question for you. You're running for governor. Why don't you look in the eyes of the people of the state of Florida and say to them if you're reelected, you will serve a full four-year term as governor?" Crist said, per CNN. "Yes or no?"
- DeSantis remained silent, waiting for Crist's allotted time to elapse, then said: "I know that Charlie's interested in talking about 2024, in Joe Biden. But I just want to make things very, very clear. The only worn-out old donkey I'm looking to put out to pasture is Charlie Crist." See video of the moment, in which the 66-year-old Crist smiles at the dig from the 44-year-old.
See the
AP for more details from the debate, which included a clash over COVID policies. "We had one of the highest death rates in America, Ron," said Crist. Responded DeSantis: "He called for harsh shutdowns. It would have thrown millions of Floridians into turmoil." (More
Ron DeSantis stories.)
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