Gov. Ron DeSantis deserves credit for consistency, calling on yet another Fox News host to help shore up his presidential campaign by hosting a debate.
"If you want to do other debates, Nikki Haley and me, I'm in. Donald Trump and me, I'm in. So just say the word. You've shown that you can do it in a way that I think really helps the voter. So I'm game, just let me know," DeSantis told Sean Hannity.
DeSantis benefited late last month from holding a debate with California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Hannity's show, an event where DeSantis faced little in the way of tough questioning and seemed to benefit from not having multiple candidates on stage with him to distract from his message.
DeSantis told Hannity his supporters "said it was the most substantive debate that they've seen in this entire election cycle."
Whether that's true or not, DeSantis previously attempted to cajole Haley into a debate hosted by another Fox News host.
Haley shot down the Laura Ingraham call for Haley and DeSantis to debate on her program during a pre-Thanksgiving hit on the "Guy Benson Show." The former South Carolina Governor said she would see DeSantis in Tuscaloosa, a reference to the fourth and final debate hosted by the Republican National Committee.
During a late November interview on "The Ingraham Angle," the 2024 presidential candidate said Haley "probably wouldn't like what the debate would be about."
That said, it's arguable that Ingraham's bias was all too apparent to Haley, given the Fox News host accused the former South Carolina Governor of "political suicide" after she got praise from the center after her performance in the presidential debate in Miami.
"There's no future in the Republican Party for someone who's been endorsed by POLITICO and The New York Times," Ingraham pronounced, as transcribed by Media Matters.
Conversely, Ingraham lauded DeSantis, saying he emerged "strongest" from the debate and was the only candidate with a "presidential" mien.
CNN has offered to host debates in January, in which DeSantis has also agreed to participate. At this point, it appears that the Iowa event scheduled for Jan. 10 may not happen, given Haley's reported reluctance to commit to it.
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