Donald Trump has been going after Ron DeSantis since before last year’s Midterm elections.
DeSantis recently started firing back at Trump by pointing out his failure to build the wall and drain the Swamp.
But now Ron DeSantis just set himself apart from Donald Trump with this one major decision.
The first Republican Presidential Primary debate is scheduled for August 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Aired on Fox News Channel, the debate will take place from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. CDT and will be moderated by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.
The Republican National Committee set strict requirements that candidates have to meet in order to participate in the debate.
“To participate, GOP presidential candidates must receive 1% in three different national polls, or 1% in two national polls and 1% in two polls from different early primary or caucus states — such as Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada,” the Washington Examiner reported. “Candidates are also required to have 40,000 unique donors, including 200 unique donors in 20 states or territories.”
So far, Ron DeSantis, Chris Christie, Vivek Ramaswamy, Doug Burgum, Tim Scott, and Nikki Haley have qualified for the debate.
But Donald Trump is planning on skipping the debate due to his massive lead over the rest of the field.
However, Trump also failed to meet one of the requirements needed to qualify for the debate.
Aside from polling and fundraising requirements, all participants must sign a GOP loyalty pledge to support the eventual nominee.
“I have a problem with the debate for another reason: I wouldn’t sign the pledge,” Trump said. “Why would I sign a pledge?” he continued, before adding that “there are people on there that I wouldn’t have, I wouldn’t have certain people [as President].”
“So, they want you to sign a pledge, but I can name three or four people that I wouldn’t support for President,” Trump said in an interview with Newsmax. “So, right there, there’s a problem.”
Trump has time to change his mind, as candidates have until 48 hours before the debate to complete the required criteria to participate.
In June, Ron DeSantis refused to answer a reporter’s question about the loyalty pledge, specifically if he would support Trump if he was the eventual nominee.
Instead, DeSantis said he’s “going to be successful” and will beat President Joe Biden.
“And I think more importantly than that, I will actually bring these policies for a landing and get it all done up there,” DeSantis said. “And it’s one thing to promise things,” he continued, before adding “so we’ll do it.”
“But it’s an important process and, you know, you respect the process and you respect the people’s decisions how this goes,” DeSantis said. “But I’m very confident that those decisions are going to be positive for us.”
Although Trump is refusing to pledge to support the eventual nominee, on Wednesday Ron DeSantis shared a picture of his signed loyalty pledge with the caption “see you in Milwaukee!”
See you in Milwaukee! pic.twitter.com/zFeGjrtLph
— Team DeSantis (@TeamDeSantis) August 9, 2023
With Donald Trump sitting out, DeSantis will be the highest polling candidate on stage.
DeSantis views the debate as a chance to make up ground on Donald Trump.
And he is putting a lot of time in preparing for his chance to shine on August 23.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
