Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared that “nobody is entitled” to the Republican presidential nomination as he called on former President Donald Trump to “step up” and join the first GOP primary debate next month.
The candidate – who previously vowed to be at the debate “regardless” of Trump’s attendance – pressed the former president, who has yet to confirm whether he’ll take part in the event on Aug. 23 in Milwaukee.
“Nobody is entitled to this nomination, you have got to earn the nomination and doing things like the [FaMiLY Leadership Summit] event [hosted by Tucker Carlson] in Iowa, doing things like these debates — they’re important parts of the process,” said DeSantis on ’The Howie Carr Show.”
“So he should debate, he should go to all these things and see if he can earn it with his vision.”
DeSantis continued to criticize the former president, referring to his promises to drain “the swamp” and build the wall along with his calls to build “freedom cities” and allow parents to elect their students’ principals.
“Every candidate needs to be put to the test and I think he needs to step up and do it,” DeSantis added.
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung, in a statement to The Hill, called on DeSantis to focus on his own campaign “instead of throwing a temper tantrum because he is losing so badly.”
The Florida governor’s comments arrive as he trails Trump by an over 28% average among national polls, according to FiveThirtyEight.
Carr, later in the interview, asked DeSantis whether he’d be open to being Trump’s vice president.
“No but it has nothing to do with that. I’m running because I think I’m the only guy who can win the primary and the general and then deliver on all these things for two terms and that’s why I’m running,” DeSantis said.
“I’m not running for any other reason than that but at the end of the day I’m an executive, I will call the shots and I just wouldn’t be good in that role is all I’m saying. We’re running to win and that’s what we’re going to focus on.”