Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is in the crosshairs of his opponents for the 2024 Republican nomination as the debate approaches.

DeSantis is currently the front-runner behind former President Donald Trump, who is not expected to appear at the debate. The former president has refused to sign a pledge to support the eventual nominee. According to Scott Jennings, a former adviser to President George W. Bush and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the Florida governor should be prepared to take shots from every other candidate without Trump there to draw their fire.

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"There’s blood in the water; everybody knows it. Obviously, Chris Christie’s gunning for [DeSantis,]" Jennings said on CNN's Erin Burnett Outfront on Friday. "But, at the same time, a lot of what voters have heard about Ron DeSantis have come from other people. They’ve come from Trump. They’ve come from never Trump. They’ve come from the media."

Jennings estimated some $20 million had been spent on attack ads against the governor. Most recently, Christie was in Florida this weekend on his own campaign trail to suggest that DeSantis should "get the hell out of the race" if he totes support for Trump during the debate.

"Everybody on that stage wants to replace Ron DeSantis as the front-runner of the non-Trump candidate," Jennings said. "So, he’s going to be getting it from all sides.”

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Besides DeSantis, Trump, and Christie, the remaining candidates include former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former Texas Rep. Will Hurd, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND), Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, political commentator Larry Elder, businessman Perry Johnson, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. DeSantis, Ramaswamy, Burgum, Haley, and Scott have qualified for the debate and signed the loyalty pledge, and Pence and Christie have said they will also sign it.

In order to qualify for the debate, candidates must be polling at a minimum of 1% and have at least 40,000 individual donations to their campaign. Candidates have until Monday to qualify.