Florida’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Charlie Crist, told Fox News’ America’s Newsroom on Tuesday that “we all know” that his Republican opponent, Gov. Ron DeSantis, will be “running for president” in 2024.

During their debate the night before, Crist asked DeSantis: “Why don’t you look at the eyes of the people of Florida you will serve all four years? Will you serve a full four-year term?”

Instead of directly answering the question, DeSantis replied: “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.”

Crist, who served as Florida’s governor from 2007 to 2011, told Fox News that the Republican governor “couldn’t answer the question, and he wasn’t going to be honest with the people of Florida.”

“He’s running for president. I think we all know that. He wouldn’t admit it last night, but that’s what’s happening,” he continued.

“And when you do that and you’re traveling all over the country in the way that he is, raising money and doing other things to try to promote that ’24 race, you don’t pay attention to our property taxes, our property insurance, that are going up.”

DeSantis, seen as a champion of conservative values, is continuing to poll well among Republican voters ahead of a potential White House run.

According to an ABC News/Ipsos poll published over the weekend, DeSantis is leading former President Donald Trump in a new survey asking GOP voters who they trust to guide the Republican party into the future. More than 70 percent of registered Republicans believe that DeSantis should have a great or good deal of influence over the direction of the party, while 64 percent of respondents said the same of Trump.

Meanwhile, during a rally in Robstown, Texas, on Saturday, Trump said that he would “probably” have to run for the nation’s highest office again in 2024.

“I ran twice. I won twice. I did much better the second time than I did before,” the former president told his supporters, adding that he was able to garner “millions more votes in 2020 than 2016” and “more votes than any sitting president in the history of our country by far.”

“And now in order to make our country successful, safe, and glorious again, I will probably have to do it again,” he continued.

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Washington state-based Finance and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek, and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn.

Image: Reuters