Desantis Says He Will Debate Two Empty Podiums If Needed

No, this isn’t a Babylon Bee headline.

Governor Ron DeSantis on Tuesday took to X and wrote, “Nikki Haley is afraid to debate because she doesn’t want to answer the tough questions such as how she got rich off Boeing after giving them millions in taxpayer handouts as governor of South Carolina,”

He continued, “The reality is that she is not running for the nomination, she’s running to be Trump’s VP. I won’t snub New Hampshire voters like both Nikki Haley and Donald Trump, and I plan to honor my commitments. I look forward to debating two empty podiums in the Granite State this week.”

Take a look:

Nikki Haley is afraid to debate because she doesn’t want to answer the tough questions such as how she got rich off Boeing after giving them millions in taxpayer handouts as governor of South Carolina.

The reality is that she is not running for the nomination, she’s running to…

— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) January 16, 2024

ABC wasn’t fond of the idea and pulled the debate from airing.

JUST IN: ABC News Calls Off New Hampshire GOP Primary Debate Over Haley and Trump No Shows https://t.co/8DmM1GYnh3

— Mediaite (@Mediaite) January 16, 2024

Here’s what Just The News reported:

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday vowed to debate “two empty podiums” in New Hampshire after placing a distant second in the Iowa Caucus on Monday.

DeSantis, who invested heavily in the Hawkeye State, earned 21.2% support in the Caucus, according to the Associated Press, trailing former President Donald Trump’s 51.0%, and narrowly edging out former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who earned 19.1% support.

“Nikki Haley is afraid to debate because she doesn’t want to answer the tough questions such as how she got rich off Boeing after giving them millions in taxpayer handouts as governor of South Carolina,” DeSantis posted. “The reality is that she is not running for the nomination, she’s running to be Trump’s VP. I won’t snub New Hampshire voters like both Nikki Haley and Donald Trump, and plan to honor my commitments. I look forward to debating two empty podiums in the Granite State this week.”

Both ABC News and CNN had planned to host primary debates ahead of the Jan. 23 New Hampshire contest, though Haley has since suggested she will attend neither. In the aftermath of the Caucus, Haley insisted her next debate would either be with Trump or President Joe Biden, prompting DeSantis to suggest she was afraid to debate him again ahead of next week’s New Hampshire primary.

“We’ve had five great debates in this campaign. Unfortunately, Donald Trump has ducked all of them. He has nowhere left to hide. The next debate I do will either be with Donald Trump or with Joe Biden. I look forward to it,” Haley tweeted.

Ron DeSantis is a ratings disaster and irrelevancy is creeping in.

ABC cancels their debate.

CNN cancels their debate and opts for a Town Hall with birdbrain instead.

It’s over. pic.twitter.com/NgIppUHuCA

— Un Bad Hombre (@joma_gc) January 17, 2024

Per Mediate:

ABC News has canceled Thursday’s GOP debate in New Hampshire, after Nikki Haley (R-SC) said she would only show up if Donald Trump did, too.

The network had given the Haley and Trump camps until 5 p.m. Tuesday to commit to the debate, which they apparently did not do, leading to ABC News canceling the event altogether.

HuffPost posted on social media:

“ABC News called off its Republican primary debate in New Hampshire on Thursday after former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said she would no longer participate if former President Donald Trump failed to show up.”