WATCH: Ron DeSantis calls opponent 'worn-out previous donkey' throughout Florida governor debate

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) dodged questions on whether or not he’d decide to serving a full four-year time period as Florida governor, as an alternative calling his Democratic opponent a “worn-out previous donkey” whom he's centered on defeating.

The dig got here throughout the first and solely debate between DeSantis and Democrat Charlie Crist as the 2 met on Monday evening to offer their ultimate pitches to voters simply two weeks earlier than Election Day. The race has had nationwide implications for DeSantis, who is taken into account to be a possible contender for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024 — prompting the problem from Crist.

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“You’re operating for governor, why don’t you look within the eyes of the folks of the state of Florida and say to them that when you’re reelected, you'll serve a full four-year time period as governor,” Crist stated. “Sure or no? It’s not a tricky query.”

“Hear, I do know Charlie is involved in speaking about 2024 and Joe Biden, however I simply wish to make issues very, very clear,” DeSantis replied. “The one worn-out previous donkey I’m trying to put out to pasture is Charlie Crist.”

Though DeSantis has not introduced whether or not he plans to launch a presidential bid in 2024, the Florida Republican is broadly thought-about to be a high contender within the race. DeSantis has grow to be more and more well-liked throughout the social gathering, with 72% of Republican voters saying DeSantis ought to have an awesome deal or good quantity of affect over the social gathering’s path in comparison with 64% who stated the identical about former President Donald Trump, in line with a current ABC News/Ipsos ballot.

The Florida Republican has spent a lot of his midterm marketing campaign constructing his nationwide profile, cultivating donors nationwide and showing alongside candidates from swing states to bolster their election probabilities.

DeSantis is poised to win reelection towards Crist in November, main the Democrat by a median of 8 proportion factors, in line with election forecaster FiveThirtyEight.