Republican presidential candidate Will Hurd took aim at Florida governor Ron DeSantis on Friday, saying the governor’s presidential campaign is “circling the drain.”
Hurd’s comments came in response to a leaked debate prep memo from the pro-DeSantis Never Back Down PAC that suggested DeSantis should defend former president Donald Trump against attacks from former New Jersey governor Chris Christie during the first GOP primary debate next week.
Hurd, who is currently in 11th place in a RealClearPolitics polling average and hasn’t cleared the threshold to qualify for the debate, said during an appearance on CNN that he wants to be “speaking truth to power.”
“I’m not going to be like Ron DeSantis and defend Donald Trump, which is absolutely crazy,” he said. “The Ron DeSantis campaign is circling the drain. The fact that they’re having to cut so much staff, they don’t have the resources to do their own debate prep.”
“Defend Trump when Chris Christie attacks him,” the debate prep memo said. It went on to include a proposed line for DeSantis to use against Christie during the debate: “Trump isn’t here so let’s just leave him alone. He’s too weak to defend himself here. We’re all running against him. I don’t think we want to join forces with someone on this stage who’s auditioning for a show on MSNBC.”
Hurd said the strategy laid out in the memo is “flawed.”
“If you’re afraid to take on Donald Trump then you shouldn’t be on that stage, and you shouldn’t be running for president,” he said.
Hurd accused DeSantis of focusing too much on “attacking other people” rather than “laying out a plan for America.”
“America wants someone who is not afraid of Donald Trump, but is articulating a vision for the future,” Hurd continued. “That’s what that campaign memo should have said.”
A RealClearPolitics polling average has Hurd at just 0.1 percent. Meanwhile, DeSantis is polling at 14.8 percent, putting him in a distant second place behind former president Donald Trump, who reportedly plans to skip the first primary debate. The former president will instead sit for an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
Hurd has reached the 40,000 donor threshold required to make the debate stage next week but is still one poll short of meeting all requirements. He said Wednesday that he is “pretty confident” he will qualify for the debate.