DeSantis to join GOP primary debate ‘regardless’ of Trump

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has confirmed that he will join his fellow candidates onstage at the first Republican presidential primary debate next month “regardless” of whether the front-runner, former President Donald Trump, shows up.

“I’ll be there regardless. I hope everybody who’s eligible comes,” DeSantis, 44, told “Fox News Tonight” Thursday, despite past indications from his super PAC that he might skip the proceedings if Trump declined to debate.

“I think it’s an important part of the process, and I look forward to being able to be on the stage and introducing our candidacy and our vision and our leadership to a wide audience,” he added.

At least five GOP candidates have met the fundraising qualifications for the Aug. 23 showdown in Milwaukee, Wis., which Fox News will broadcast and host.

The Republican National Committee, which is also sponsoring the debate, is making each candidate sign a pledge to not participate in non-party-sanctioned debates and to support the party’s eventual nominee.

Trump has declined to say whether he would sign the pledge, noting that his support for any GOP nominee would “depend on who the nominee was.”

DeSantis, who is in second place behind the former president, said in a May interview that he was “look[ing] forward to participating” in the first RNC debate, but his super PAC, Never Back Down, told RealClearPolitics in June that the Florida governor could yield the stage to other candidates if Trump doesn’t participate.

A Nevada poll published Friday indicates that DeSantis leads President Biden in the swing state as part of a hypothetical 2024 presidential matchup.

The Public Opinion Strategies survey found 44% of registered voters prefer DeSantis, while 43% prefer Biden. In a head-to-head matchup, the same voters preferred Biden to Trump by a three-point margin, 45% to 42%.

However, a majority of respondents said both Trump and DeSantis could beat Biden, with the former president enjoying a slightly higher share (55%) of voters’ support than the Florida governor (52%).

The poll, which was conducted July 5-6, surveyed 500 registered Silver State voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.38%.

More than three-quarters of voters polled listed poor economic conditions as their primary concern, while roughly half said crime had gotten worse in their area.

A majority of the same voters also registered strong support for Ukraine’s war against Russia — an issue that has split the GOP primary field.

Trump, DeSantis, former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy confirmed earlier this week that their campaigns have met the fundraising criteria set by the RNC to qualify for the debate — 40,000 unique donors, 200 of which must be unique to at least 20 states or territories.

The Republican candidates also have to register at least 1% support in three independent national polls or two national polls and one independent poll from two of the four early voting states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

Just seven GOP presidential hopefuls in the RealClearPolitics polling average have met that criteria: Trump, DeSantis, Haley, Scott, Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Vice President Mike Pence. Christie and Pence have not said whether they met the RNC’s donor requirement.

Pence, Haley and Scott have agreed to sign the RNC’s pledge, whereas Christie, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and former Texas GOP Rep. Will Hurd have said they would not.

The pledge will be the last step required of candidates who have already met donor and polling requirements, a source with knowledge of the RNC’s criteria told The Post.

“Anybody who wants to seek the nomination of our party should pledge to support the voters,” RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said last month on Fox News. “If you go through this process and you take time on the debate stage and you’re going to be there, the number one pledge should be, beat Biden.”