Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday criticized his presidential rival Nikki Haley for waiting eight days to accept an invitation to a debate in Iowa, saying the former South Carolina governor had to be “embarrassed” to participate.
DeSantis, 45, was the first candidate to sign up for the Jan. 10 CNN showdown at Drake University in Des Moines.
The 10% requirement to qualify in the polls will likely restrict participants to DeSantis, Haley and GOP front-runner Donald Trump, 77, should he decide to join.
Haley, 51, did not commit to the CNN debate after it was officially announced on December 7, and her team declined to say whether she was interested in attending.
Her camp also made no statement after the Republican National Committee lifted all restrictions on candidate debate the next day, officially allowing Haley to participate in any forum she wanted.
On Thursday, Haley spokesperson Olivia Pérez-Cubas told The Post that the former ambassador to the United Nations had several “options” for participating in the Iowa debate, but that they were “not ready to share those details.” ”.
The January 10 CNN debate was the only publicly announced Iowa forum at the time.
Nikki Haley has participated in every RNC debate, facing off against other Republican candidates in Wisconsin, California, Florida and Alabama. REUTERS
Haley then announced Friday that she would participate in the CNN debate and asked Trump, who has so far skipped all RNC-sponsored debates, to attend as well.
“The first four debates have been fantastic for our campaign and for voters, and we look forward to the fifth in Iowa,” he said in a statement. “As the debate stage continues to shrink, Donald Trump is finding it increasingly difficult to hide.”
DeSantis responded by tweeting that Haley was “embarrassed” to attend.
“If Donald Trump and Nikki Haley are going to continue spending millions against me on television with false attacks, they should at least have the courage to meet on the debate stage,” he said.
Ron DeSantis’ campaign had been pressuring Nikki Haley to accept CNN’s debate invitation. REUTERS
“Now that Nikki Haley has been shamed for coming to the CNN debate, it’s time for Donald Trump to do the same and join us,” he added.
The former president has given no indication that he will attend the Iowa debate.
After the Iowa caucuses on January 15, debates move to New Hampshire.
ABC and its Manchester, NH affiliate, WMUR-TV, will host a debate on January 18, and CNN will host its own show on January 21.
The New Hampshire Republican primary will take place two days later, on January 23.
All future debates will be outside the purview of the RNC, which has said the Dec. 6 debate in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, would be the last it would sponsor this cycle.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn