: Will you run for president? Florida governor refuses to say in caustic debate #IndiaNEWS #International MIAMI — Democrat Charlie Crist came to his first and only debate with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

Will you run for president? Florida governor refuses to say in caustic debate #IndiaNEWS #International
MIAMI — Democrat Charlie Crist came to his first and only debate with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ready with just one question Monday night about his opponents political aspirations.
“You’re running for governor,�? Crist said, looking at DeSantis as the governor looked forward. “Why don’t you look in the eyes of the people of the state of Florida and say to them if you’re re-elected, you will serve a full four-year term as governor. Yes or no?�?
DeSantis said nothing as four seconds ticked by and the debate hall started to fall quiet.
“Yes or no, Ron?�? Crist asked again.
DeSantis asked the moderator about his allotted time.
“It’s not a tough question,�? Crist said, filling the dead air. “It’s a fair question. He won’t tell ya. �?
Thats when the moderator, CBS12’s Liz Quirantes, stepped in and pointed out that both sides had agreed they wouldn’t ask each other questions onstage.
DeSantis then went on the attack.
“Well, listen,�? he said, “I know that Charlie’s interested in talking about 2024 and
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. �?
The exchange, which came during the first 20 minutes of the hour-long debate, underscored the dynamics of the race: Crist, the former governor trying to make a comeback by needling the sitting governor, and DeSantis giving as acidly as he got.
On topics ranging from housing and insurance to immigration and transgender therapies for kids, the two candidates traded insults, pre-cooked one-liners and talking points as each side’s supporters in the audience howled in derision of the other guy and approval of their own.
Crist called DeSantis “divisive�? and a “bully,�? while DeSantis repeatedly cast Crist as a Biden Democrat who voted with the president “100 percent of the time�? before stepping down from Congress to focus on the governors race. When Crist blamed DeSantis for the skyrocketing cost of hurricane insurance and rising utility bills, the governor faulted Crist for supporting Biden’s policies amid rising inflation.
DeSantis is leading Crist in every major poll in Florida, with survey averages giving the governor as much as a 10 percentage point lead in a state that the governor won by less than half a percentage point in 2018.
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