'The View' hosts slam Gov. DeSantis' debate performance: 'He looks like he's having a stroke'
Gov. DeSantis and Charlie Crist discussed immigration, COVID-19 and more during their debate
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The View" hosts criticized Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., for his debate performance on Tuesday and co-host Joy Behar said it looked like he was "having a stroke" after his opponent Charlie Crist asked him about 2024 presidential ambitions.
"You know this guy DeSantis has the charisma of this cup, I think when Crist says are you going run in 2024, he looks like he’s having a stroke, he can’t even answer that simple question, this is where I say Trump has a better shot, certainly with the Republican Party and the Republican base, than he does. Because Trump as annoying as he is and as hateful as he is, he has that kind of negative charisma that’s what we’ve come to see in the past few years and DeSantis doesn’t, he’s just boring and he lies as much as Trump, so if they're going to lie, at least entertain us with it," Behar said.
Co-host Sunny Hostin said DeSantis' performance was "robotic."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"When you see him in those carefully crafted conferences, he looks so fired up when he's talking about sending immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard and when he's talking about sending kids back to school during COVID and when he’s doing that, so I was surprised that he was so wooden, but I think no answer is an answer and the fact that he didn’t respond to 2024 question means he's definitely running against Trump," Hostin said.
"The View" host Joy Behar slams Gov. Ron DeSantis for his debate performance. (Screenshot/ABC/TheView)
New polling from Telemundo/LX showed that DeSantis was leading Crist among registered Hispanic voters by seven points.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Co-host Sara Haines said the enthusiasm coming from the audience during the debate was not one-sided and noted voter turnout in states like Georgia.
"They were so enthusiastic and that comes to my next point we are getting historical voter turnout, so all the talk of the different states that are maybe limiting access and dissuade voters, they have lost this one, because right now we’re seeing Florida had the most ballots with more than 1 million pre-election ballots cast. Georgia had more than 800,000, nearly 7.3 million ballots have been across 39 states," she said.
Hostin added that in Florida, Democrats were outpacing Republicans in voting.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Democratic Congressman Charlie Crist participate in a live audience debate hosted by local CBS affiliate WEPC on October 24, 2022. (Screenshot/WFLA)
Crist and DeSantis went back and forth over immigration, COVID-19, Hurricane Ian as well as gender transition surgeries for minors. Crist likened restrictions keeping minors from undergoing these procedures to preventing women from having abortions.
"This reminds me of your position on a woman's right to choose. You think you know better than any physician, any doctor, or any woman in a position to make decisions about their own personal health. You want to be the judge. You want to decide about what people should do with their own physical being, with the betterment of their health, with whether or not they want to make sure that they can practice their right to choose as a woman. That's just not right. I don't believe in that," Crist said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist during the Florida debate Fort Pierce, Florida, US, on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Crist also questioned DeSantis over potentially running for president in 2024.
"I know that Charlie is itching to talk about 2024 and Joe Biden. But I just want to make things very, very clear: The only worn-out old donkey I’m looking to put out to pasture is Charlie Crist," DeSantis said.