Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis blasted presidential rival Nikki Haley on Friday for waiting eight days to accept an Iowa debate invitation, saying the former South Carolina governor had to be “shamed” into participating.
DeSantis, 45, was the first candidate to sign on to the Jan. 10 CNN showdown at Drake University in Des Moines.
The 10% polling qualification requirement will likely restrict the participants to DeSantis, Haley and 77-year-old GOP frontrunner Donald Trump — should he decide to join.
Haley, 51, was noncommittal about the CNN debate after it was officially announced on Dec. 7, with her team refusing to say whether she was interested in attending.
Her camp also did not make any statement after the Republican National Committee lifted all debate restrictions on candidates the following day, officially allowing Haley to participate in any forum she wished.
On Thursday, Haley spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas told The Post that the former ambassador to the United Nations had several “options” for which Iowa debate to participate in, but that they were “not ready to share those details.”
CNN’s Jan. 10 debate was the only publicly-announced Iowa forum at the time.
Haley then announced Friday she would take part in the CNN debate and called on Trump, who has skipped out on every RNC-sponsored debate thus far, to also attend.
“The first four debates have been great for our campaign and for voters, and we look forward to the fifth in Iowa,” she said in a statement. “As the debate stage continues to shrink, it’s getting harder for Donald Trump to hide.”
DeSantis responded by tweeting that Haley was “shamed” into attending.
“If Donald Trump and Nikki Haley are going to continue to spend millions against me on television with false attacks, they should at least have the courage to meet on the debate stage,” he said.
“Now that Nikki Haley has been shamed into coming to the CNN debate, it’s time for Donald Trump to follow suit and join us,” he added.
The former president has made no indication he will make an appearance at the Iowa debate.
Following the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses, the debates shift to New Hampshire. ABC and its Manchester, NH, affiliate, WMUR-TV, is hosting a debate on Jan. 18, with CNN holding its own spectacle on Jan. 21.
The New Hampshire Republican primary will be held two days later, on Jan. 23.
All future debates will be outside the purview of the RNC, which has said the Dec. 6 debate in Tuscaloosa, Ala., was the last it would sponsor this cycle.