DeSantis, Crist attack in rowdy Florida governor’s debate

FORT PIERCE — Gov. Ron DeSantis and Charlie Crist got personal in their lone gubernatorial debate on Monday night, with DeSantis deflecting questions about presidential ambitions with insults and Crist saying DeSantis has no decency.

The debate at the Sunrise Theater in Fort Pierce kicked off outside, with divided camps of Crist and DeSantis supporters shouting at each other from behind barricades, a raucous atmosphere that continued into the debate hall. The heated verbal battle came with just 15 days left before the Nov. 8 election.

The candidates often returned to rehearsed talking points, with Republican DeSantis constantly referencing “Biden-Crist” policies and Crist repeatedly calling DeSantis a “divider.” But despite agreeing beforehand not to ask each other questions, their back-and-forth quickly set the tone for the debate.

Crist, a Democrat, asked DeSantis twice whether he would commit to serving all four years of a second term. DeSantis didn’t answer either time.

“You talk about Joe Biden a lot,” Crist said. “I understand, you think you’re going to be running against him. I can see how you might get confused. But you’re running for governor. I have a question for you. Why don’t you look in the eyes of the people of the state of Florida and say to them if you’re reelected, you will serve a full four-year term as governor. Yes or no?”

“I know that Charlie’s interested about talking about 2024 and Joe Biden,” DeSantis said. “But I want to make things very clear, the only worn-out donkey I’m looking to put out to pasture is Charlie Crist.”

Crist responded by bringing up how DeSantis told high school students at an event in March to take off their masks, calling it “COVID theater” and “ridiculous.”

“I know you like to bully people,” Crist said. “... I can take it, but you shouldn’t do it when children are standing behind you at a press conference.”

Crist argued that DeSantis’ desire to run for president caused him to “take his eye off the ball” when it came to property insurance.

“He could have addressed it in this first special session,” Crist said. “He didn’t. He’s now calling a third special session. I don’t think the third time is going to be the charm.”

DeSantis said the insurance crisis stems from too many lawsuits.

“We’re number one in the nation in litigation with respect to homeowners insurance,” he said. “We have 8% of the policies, but 78% of the litigation. ... It’s not about lining the pockets of lawyers. It’s about having a competitive market where people have a shot to make ends meet.”

DeSantis also did not answer when asked by the moderator at what stage of pregnancy abortion should be banned, a question he has avoided for weeks.

DeSantis did defend the 15-week ban on abortion he signed this year without exceptions for rape or incest, telling a story about a Jamaican woman who chose not to abort her pregnancy, and whose daughter, Renatha Francis, was appointed by DeSantis to the state Supreme Court.

“I just think we’re better when everybody counts,” DeSantis said. “I understand not everyone’s going to be born in perfect circumstances.”

Crist pointed out DeSantis’ non-answer and then cited reports of a middle school girl and victim of incest in Florida who had to leave the state for an abortion.

“That’s not compassionate leadership,” Crist said. “That’s not doing the right thing. That’s not even having a heart. That’s callous. It’s barbaric, and it’s wrong, and Florida deserves better.”

DeSantis defended the state Department of Health’s position opposing care for transgender children, saying “you should not mutilate minors. ... And in Florida, we are not going to allow that to happen here.”

Crist said DeSantis was refusing to “respect some other family’s decision about what they want for their children.”

“You don’t have the temperament to be kind and decent to other people who don’t look like you, who don’t act like you, and don’t contribute to you,” Crist said.

Questions about the state’s response to coronavirus pandemic brought up an issue rarely spoken of on the campaign by either side: the more than 82,000 deaths from COVID in the state.

“When you look at the Thanksgiving table, one of those empty seats is probably one of those people for many families watching tonight,” Crist said. “And if we had only had the standard of other states in the United States, 40,000 of those people would still be alive, enough to fill Tropicana Stadium in St. Petersburg. That’s tragic.”

Crist also took an unexpected tack, pointing out that the only governor between the two of them to shut down the state was DeSantis himself in April 2020.

DeSantis cited the calls by Crist and other Democratic Congress members for further lockdowns in July 2020, when Florida was the epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S.

“If that had happened in this state, it would have destroyed the state of Florida,” DeSantis said. “Our hospitality and tourism industry, which is thriving, would have gone into disrepair, it would have thrown millions of Floridians into turmoil. ... I lifted you up, I protected your rights. I made sure you can earn a living; I made sure you could operate your businesses. And I worked like heck to make sure we had all our kids in school five days a week.”

Crist fired back that DeSantis was actually “the most anti-business governor I’ve ever seen,” citing DeSantis’ policies including dissolving Walt Disney World’s self-governing district because its CEO criticized the so-called “don’t say gay” law.

“I’m not the governor who attacked Walt Disney World,” Crist said. “... I’m not the governor who would attack the cruise industry because they just wanted to make sure that their customers weren’t sick before they got on the boat. That’s you.”

DeSantis praised the “don’t say gay” law, officially called the Parental Rights in Education law, as well as his ban on critical race theory in schools.

The law “prevents 6-, 7-, 8-year-olds from having sexuality, gender ideology injected into their curriculum. You’re the one that’s waging the culture war,” DeSantis said. “I’m simply defending parents and students.”

“You love dividing our state,” Crist retorted. “Whether it’s blacks against whites, whether it’s gay against straight, whether it’s young versus old.”

Inside the theater, each side repeatedly applauded and cheered its candidate, sometimes drowning out parts of the answers. The moderator repeatedly asked people to stop, but the audience ignored her.

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