Florida gubernatorial candidate Paul Renner (R) doubled down on his call for Fox News to host a governor's debate to get Congressman and lead opponent Byron Donalds on stage and in front of the cameras ahead of the Aug. 18 primary in an exclusive interview with The Floridian.
"Look, if Byron thinks he's the right guy, he'll be the right guy the day after the debate, as much as he is the day before the debate if that's what voters conclude," Renner said. "They won't, and I think he knows that. I get the political reasons, but if you're a leader, even if your advisors are telling you, hey, you know, we think you're ahead you shouldn't stumble in a debate - if you're a true leader, like a DeSantis leader, I can never see Ron DeSantis saying, I'm too far ahead, I'm not going to debate, and go in there and mix it up with them and smoke them."
Renner initially sent a letter to Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy asking for one or more gubernatorial debates last month. That request hasn't been met, which Renner called "disappointing" for now.
"Candidly, we haven't heard back from them. That's disappointing, considering Byron's been on," Renner said. "If you go through critical mentions at least, he's either been on or been mentioned over 300 times I think just since he got in the race. And so that's not fair and balanced, and they should do the right thing and host the debate."
Renner noted Fox News hosted a debate between then gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis and Adam Putnam prior to the Republican primary in 2018 as part of his argument. DeSantis would go on to defeat Putnam by 20 points and defeat Democrat Andrew Gillum in the general election.
Renner, who has built himself as a successor to the governor, is looking to repeat some of that magic.
Gov. DeSantis, whom Renner served under as House Speaker, has also called for a debate. However, according to the Republican Party of Florida, there will be no such full debate, leaving Renner looking for other options.
Renner is in a Republican primary with Rep. Donalds, Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, and businessman James Fisbhack. Notably, Renner, Collins and Fishback participated in a gubernatorial debate without Donalds moderated by conservative personality Patrick Bet-David earlier this month.
