Notable & Quotable: DeSantis on Trump

‘Let’s have those debates about the issues. I’m not going to insult somebody—somebody’s looks or somebody’s dress or something like that.’ Aug. 7, 2023 5:59 pm ET Ron DeSantis attends a barbecue in Rye, N.H., July 30. Photo: REBA SALDANHA/REUTERS Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in an appearance on New Hampshire’s WMUR-TV, Aug. 4: Q: You get on that debate stage with Donald Trump and he starts to belittle you. How are you going to respond? DeSantis: . . . These insults are so phony. These insults are juvenile. That is not the way a great nation should be conducting itself. That is not the way the president of the United States should be conducting himself. . . . Let’s have those debates about the issues. I’m not going to insult somebody—somebody’s looks or somebody’s dress or something like that. I wouldn’t teach my kids

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Opinion Aug 8, 2023 Add to Reading List

‘Let’s have those debates about the issues. I’m not going to insult somebody—somebody’s looks or somebody’s dress or something like that.’

Aug. 7, 2023 5:59 pm ET

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in an appearance on New Hampshire’s WMUR-TV, Aug. 4:

Q: You get on that debate stage with Donald Trump and he starts to belittle you. How are you going to respond?

DeSantis: . . . These insults are so phony. These insults are juvenile. That is not the way a great nation should be conducting itself. That is not the way the president of the United States should be conducting himself. . . . Let’s have those debates about the issues. I’m not going to insult somebody—somebody’s looks or somebody’s dress or something like that. I wouldn’t teach my kids to treat people like that. We have a 6-, 5- and a 3-year-old. We teach our kids to treat people the way you would want to be treated yourself.

So we will have differences on issues, and one of the things I think about the former president—and I appreciate he did do a lot of great things, and I was a big supporter—but he’s running in 2024 on the things that he promised to do in 2016 and didn’t do. He said he was going to drain the swamp. He did not drain the swamp—not even close. We ended his presidency with Anthony Fauci running the country. You couldn’t even fire Fauci, and so now you’re going to go drain the swamp? Give me a break. He said Mexico was going to pay for the border wall. Do you see the border secured? I see people coming in [ad] infinitum. He said that he was going to lock Hillary up, just like he’s now saying he’s going to do a special counsel for Biden. Two weeks after the election—ah, forget about it, don’t worry about it. And then he actually said he was going to eliminate the national debt. He added $8 trillion to the debt. . . .

That’s the record we should talk about. Don’t worry about how he does his hair. . . . There are millions of voters out there who do not like what Biden is doing to this country. They do not like the direction the country’s going in, but they aren’t going to sign up for a candidate who is behaving like that. So let’s be better, let’s look higher, and let’s set a good standard for our children to follow.