For someone who always has something to say, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) was quiet when confronted with the question of whether or not he'd agree to serve out his full term if elected again as Florida's governor.
The co-hosts of "The View" noticed that he seemed different in the debate than when he speaks out at rallies or attacked reporters.
Republican Alyssa Farah Griffin said that there's a lot of bad to say about DeSantis, but he kept schools open during the COVID crisis. Whoopi Goldberg disagreed that it was a good thing, since Florida saw such a large number of deaths. The accurate 2020 data on the COVID deaths in the state is still questioned because DeSantis misrepresented the data throughout the pandemic.
"We've seen the stats now about how much it's put our kids behind, losing nearly a year of education," said Griffin.
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"Ron, I wouldn't pat yourself on the back about your response to COVID. We've lost 82,000 of our fellow Floridians. If you look at the Thanksgiving table, one of those empty seats is probably one of those people for many families watching tonight." said former Gov. Charlie Crist.
"Children are alive now because we kept them out of the schools," said Whoopi Goldberg.
"But there was a way to do it right," claimed Griffin.
"If there had been a way to do it right, the guy that you were with over there would have done it right," Goldberg snapped back.
"We pitched a lot of ideas that he didn't take," said Griffin.
"I know you did but the people that did it right save those kids' lives," Goldberg replied. "Yeah, it's going to be a little harder to pull them up where they are. But they're here and that's the difference."
But it was the other hosts who noted DeSantis seemed stiff.
"You know this guy DeSantis has a charisma of this cup," joked Joy Behar. "I think when Crist says are you going to run in 2024 he [DeSantis] looks like he's having a stroke. He can't 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 boring and he lies as much as Trump."
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Sunny Hostin agreed, saying that she was shocked at how "robotic" DeSantis appeared on the debate stage.
"When you see him in those carefully crafted conferences he looks so fired up when he talks about sending immigrants to Martha's Vineyard and talking about sending kids back to school during COVID and when he's doing that," said Hostin. "I was surprised that he was so wooden. I think no answer is the answer and the fact that he didn't respond to the 2024 question. He's definitely running."
Sara Haines said it wasn't just that he didn't answer the question, "he literally looked like a deer in headlights."
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