DeSantis Campaign Press Release - Ron DeSantis on Challenging Trump to a Debate: "Let's do it, right?"

"He owes it to our voters to come and make the case."

SIMI VALLEY, CA - Ron DeSantis today joined Sean Hannity live following the second GOP primary debate. The highlights are below.

Watch HERE.

On debating Donald Trump:

DESANTIS: You know what, maybe we can say, since the former president didn't come here, maybe he'd be willing to do one with you and I – I think he owes it to our voters to come and make the case.

HANNITY: You're now challenging. So, this is going to be another Hannity one-on-one debate.

DESANTIS: Let's do it, right?

Here's the thing, though. You owe it to the voters to come and make the case. No one is entitled to anything. You can say, 'Oh, there's some poll months before.' No. You have got to make the case. You owe it to the voters. So, I'm going to show up everywhere. I think that's what we were able to do. And, you know, there were some, I think, some important issues that were discussed tonight. There's also others that I know you and I have talked about that weren't discussed. But at the end of the day, I think the thing that was clear from this--there's a lot of talk, a lot of people had good things to say, [but] I'm the guy that's done it and in Florida we did everything I promised. We delivered, and we're sick of the talk with Republicans. They always promise all this, like what are the two biggest issues, arguably right now? The debt and the border. You and I have been talking about this for as long as we've known each other. Isn't a time we get a leader to come in and bring this stuff into a conclusion and a landing? And I think if we're able to, you know, to do that with the nomination and win the election, we're going to be able to get all this stuff done.

On slapping down the on-stage squabbling:

Tonight there was a lot of bickering on the stage. My thing is, we owe it to the American people to give our vision about how we're going to reverse this country's decline. And I think I was able to do that. I think some of the crosstalk, if I was at home watching that, I would turn the channel when I saw that. So we were able to, I think, rise above that and deliver our message.

On what he will accomplish as president:

In 2033, in January, what would I say to the American people after serving two terms, and that's really the vision of, you're going to be able to get ahead again in this country. We're going to have an economy that works for people. We're going to have our sovereignty restored and borders enforced. We're going to make sure that we have education, not indoctrination. We will be the world's leading superpower. We will fend off the threat from China successfully. We're not going to have crime overrunning every city in America anymore. And we're going to restore the Constitution so that we have a limited government that works beside us and on our behalf – not a weaponized government that comes after us. If we can do that, then we will have restored the shining city on the hill that Reagan talks about, and we'll be able to turn over America to our kids and grandkids better than we found it.

On the border crisis:

These guys in DC, they don't care. There's no urgency. I mean, some of our guys in the House care, but like, the elites in DC, they don't care. Biden doesn't care. He's missing-in-action on this as the carnage mounts. And I agree. I mean, I think that this is above all a national security issue. Now, there's also nuts and bolts issues. I mean, the amount of illegals that are pouring in, medical care is being taxed, schools. It's overwhelming communities far away from the border. You see it in New York City.