Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized former President Donald Trump for saying his choice to debate Hillary Clinton in 2016 was braver than soldiers fighting in war.
Mr. Trump said it took courage to meet Ms. Clinton on the debate stage after a video surfaced in which he made lewd comments about women.
“Trump denigrates military service by claiming it is ’braver’ that he debated Hillary Clinton than what soldiers endure on the battlefield,” Mr. DeSantis wrote Sunday on X. “Debating isn’t ’brave’; it’s the bare minimum any candidate should do. Hiding from debates, on the other hand, is an example of cowardice.”
Mr. DeSantis, who is vying with Mr. Trump for the Republican presidential candidate, leveled the criticism in response to Mr. Trump’s remarks at the New York Young Republican Club’s annual gala Saturday night.
At the event, Mr. Trump was talking about his decision to debate Mrs. Clinton in the 2016 presidential race. The debate came days after a video clip was circulated of Mr. Trump in 2005 saying he could grab women by their genitals because he is a “star.”
In the clip, Mr. Trump recalls a general calling his debate participation “the bravest thing” he’s ever seen.
“But I went onto that stage just a few days later. And a general, who’s a fantastic general, actually, said to me, ’Sir, I’ve been on the battlefield, men have gone down on my left and on my right. I stood on hills with soldiers who were killed. But I believe the bravest thing I’ve ever seen was the night you went onto that stage with Hillary Clinton after what happened,’” the former president said in his speech.
Mr. Trump joked that his 2005 comment was just “locker room talk.”
The former president is leading the 2024 GOP presidential race. In a poll released Monday by NBC News/Des Moines Register/ Mediacom, he beats Mr. DeSantis by 32 points in Iowa just weeks away from the state’s caucus.
Mr. Trump’s fellow candidates have repeatedly made comments about how he has not attended any of the four RNC-sanctioned debates.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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