TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — With just days between now and the first 2024 GOP presidential debate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will be hitting the stage with other Republican hopefuls.
10 Tampa Bay’s political expert Dr. Lars Hafner said this debate could make or break his chances of being president.
“If he does not have a good debate, we could see him pack it in even before the voters vote in Iowa,” Hafner explained.
According to Hafner, the debate could help turn things around for DeSantis in his bid for the presidency, or it could be another issue in an already rocky campaign.
The latest misstep was an apparent memo on debate strategy for the governor being found online.
“The fact that this has leaked out, it’s going to make it so much more difficult for him to get his message out,” Hafner said. “Because it looks like it’s so scripted…he’s shown no evidence of being strong on the debate stage.”
CBS News reports explain former President Donald Trump likely won’t be present at the debate.
DeSantis is still polling widely behind the former president, and Hafner said that’s partially because the governor won’t go after him aggressively.
“If you don’t take on the leader of the pack who’s 40 points ahead of everyone else, how do you ever expect to get in the first place and actually get the nomination?” he questioned.
Hafner said DeSantis will probably be the main target for most of the other candidates on stage next Wednesday, and that he’ll likely have to figure out how to defend the current state of things right here in Florida.
“We see all the legislation that he’s passed getting caught up in court battles, that’s anywhere around 20 million dollars or more of taxpayer's money being spent to defend these really conservative ideas in the court system,” he said. “Then we have Disney…and Disney, up in the Midwest, is beloved.”
According to Hafner, issues like these “bubbling up” in Florida could hurt the governor more than he may have expected.
We’ve reached out to the governor for comment and are waiting to hear back.
The debate is scheduled for 9 p.m. on Aug. 23.