DeSantis Slams Trump for Losing Debate to Biden and Hiding ‘Behind Keyboard’ Instead of Facing Opponents Now

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis slammed his GOP primary opponent ex-president Donald Trump for losing a debate to Joe Biden in 2020 and for hiding behind a keyboard to hurl insults instead of braving the GOP debate stage for the 2024 race, in an interview with Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer on Thursday.

Hemmer asked DeSantis why, after having not gone after Trump at the first debate, the governor and others went after the frontrunner at the second GOP debate that took place on Wednesday night.

DeSantis said that it’s time for Trump to defend his record and face his primary opponents, but implied Trump is afraid to do so after having lost a debate to Biden in 2020.

“This is something you have to earn. Nobody is entitled to this. You know, I remember back in 2020, I had a big party in Tallahassee for that first debate that Trump did with Biden. And the reality is Biden beat Trump in that debate. Biden,” he said. “And I don’t know how you can lose to Biden in a debate, but that happened.”

He suggested Trump is hiding behind Truth Social posts and online insults rather than braving the debate stage to face the other Republicans.

“You know, it’s one thing to do it behind a keyboard; step up on stage and do it to my face. I’m ready for it. You used to say I was a great governor. Now all of a sudden you’re saying the opposite. Let’s have that discussion. And I’ll do it, we could do it one-on-one,” he said. “Let’s do that. And let’s give the American people the choice that they deserve.”

HEMMER: In debate number one back in Milwaukee, you didn’t go after Donald Trump. But last night you did. Why?

DESANTIS: Well, he’s missing in action, Bill. This is something you have to earn. Nobody is entitled to this. You know, I remember back in 2020, I had a big party in Tallahassee for that first debate that Trump did with Biden. And the reality is Biden beat Trump in that debate. Biden — And I don’t know how you can lose to Biden in a debate, but that happened. And so, we’re in a situation now where we’re not getting a mulligan on the 2024 election. We’ve had three election cycles in a row as Republicans where we’ve underperformed.

Not in Florida. We set the standard in Florida. We got to get this right. We see the country is in decline. We can’t just be content with managing this decline. We’ve got to reverse it. We need an American revival. I think what we’ve shown in Florida is that it is possible to do.

President Reagan was somebody when he came in, because we were in his library, people said, it couldn’t be done, we’re in an era of limits, that the Carter performance was basically optimal at that point for America. Ronald Reagan rejected that, and I’m rejecting that here right now. And I have the ability to get the job done.

So he owes it to the voters to defend his record, to defend the decisions he’s made, and also to defend, why is he running on the same program in 2016 that he did not actually implement? For example, draining the swamp?

He didn’t fire Christopher Wray. He didn’t fire Anthony Fauci. He didn’t do anything to clean house. Now, all of a sudden, he’s going to slay the administrative state, when he gave Fauci an award his last day in office? What about all the spending and debt? They racked up massive amounts of debt, particularly in his last year in office. Of course, you’re going to end up leading to inflation when you do that.

So I think on issue after issue, he owes it to the voters to come out and do it. And I’d say the final thing, Bill, he’s had a lot to say about me on social media, really since 2022, right before the midterm election. He started, he started attacking me when I was, we all Republicans, we’re supposed to be united for a red wave. No, he tried to attack me and has been doing it a lot.

You know, it’s one thing to do it behind a keyboard; step up on stage and do it to my face. I’m ready for it. You used to say I was a great governor. Now all of a sudden you’re saying the opposite. Let’s have that discussion. And I’ll do it, we could do it one-on-one. I was with Sean last night. Let’s do that. And let’s let’s give the American people the choice that they deserve.

HEMMER: You may not get that opportunity. I’m not sure if he’s going to participate in these primary debates, but we’ll see. You saw the polling numbers in this past weekend from NBC and ABC. You know what the reality is. You trail him in some cases significantly. I’ve heard you speak —

DESANTIS: That’s wh — when you get into these early states, Bill, it’s very fluid. And you’ve seen this. You talk about those polls. They say 20% are definite Trump, 35% in Iowa are definitely not. And the rest are considering Trump or others. And so, you know, you can look at a poll, but a lot of these voters are just now starting to pay attention. So the idea that you take a poll in September and then you disenfranchise the voters’ ability to make things, make their choices? I can tell you this, in Iowa and New Hampshire, those voters expect you to show up. They expect you to participate in the process.

And I think he’s running a risk for his candidacy by not doing it. Obviously, he’d be running a risk by getting on the stage because it’s not been something he’s been willing to do. But you owe it to the voters to get up there and defend your record.

Watch the clip above, via Fox News.