"I hope everybody who is eligible comes," DeSantis told Fox News when asked about his plans for the debate.
AP Photo/Phil Sears, File
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is vowing to attend the first Republican presidential debate regardless of what Donald Trump does.
"I'll be there, regardless," DeSantis told Fox News on Thursday evening. "I hope everybody who is eligible comes. I think it is an important part of the process, and I look forward to being able to be on the stage and introducing our candidacy and our vision and our leadership to a wide audience."
DeSantis' commitment stiff arms the possibility first floated by his allied super PAC that the Florida governor would skip the first debate on August 23rd in Milwaukee if Trump decided to skip too. The possibility that the former president and his closest challenger would avoid the event led to fears that the debate wouldn't really matter.
The former president has not officially said he would skip the debate. Instead, Trump has strongly hinted for months that he might not show up due to a combination of frustration with Fox News, the host, and a general sense that his lead is so big that he only risks hurting himself.
Former Vice President Mike Pence has said he is unafraid to challenge Trump directly, should his former running mate actually show up.
"I've debated Donald Trump a thousand times, just never with the cameras on," Pence recently told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. "And I'd look forward to it, and I sure do hope he comes to every single one of those debates."
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said if Trump is so proud of his record he shouldn't have any issues debating it with the rest of the field. Christie, who based on his polling, faces a tougher task in qualifying for the debate has been relentless in his criticism of the former president.
"If he thinks his record is so great and everything he did is so laudable ... well then, he should have no worries," Christie told CNN's Jake Tapper on Thursday evening. "If everything he did was so correct — perfect is the word he uses most of the time — then somebody like me, or Mike Pence, or Tim Scott, or Nikki Haley will not be able to glove on him during a debate."
The Republican National Committee has imposed polling and donor thresholds that will likely leave some candidates off the stage. Candidates must also sign a loyalty oath to pledge to support the party's nominee.
According to FiveThirtyEight's weighed tracker, Trump has nearly a 29-point lead over DeSantis. DeSantis remains the only other candidate in double-digits in national polling. Former Vice President Mike Pence, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina follow. Pence is the only one in that group that is above 5%.
