DeSantis slams rivals’ ‘basement campaigns’ as New Hampshire GOP debate axed

Republican presidential contender Ron DeSantis has said he is the only candidate “who’s not running a basement campaign” after rival Nikki Haleydropped out of ABC News’ planned New Hampshire debate, forcing the network to cancel the event.

Mr DeSantis took part in a CNN town hall in the Granite State on Tuesday evening, where he hit out at his Republican rivals in the 2024 White House race.

“I’m the only candidate that actually agreed to come to New Hampshire to debate,” he said.

“I’m the only one who’s not running a basement campaign at this point.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Ms Haley posted on X that she would not be taking part in any further GOP debates unless front-runner Donald Trump finally agreed to join her and Mr DeSantis on stage.

“We’ve had five great debates in this campaign. Unfortunately, Donald Trump has ducked all of them,” she wrote.

“He has nowhere left to hide. The next debate I do will either be with Donald Trump or with Joe Biden. I look forward to it.”

The party’s last debate on CNN a week ago was a simple head-to-head between Ms Haley and Mr DeSantis as Mr Trump was the only other candidate who qualified – and he once again declined to take part, opting for a much friendlier hearing on Fox News instead.

Chris Christie, Vivek Ramaswamy and Asa Hutchinson all failed to make the grade and all three have since suspended their campaigns for the presidency.

Ms Haley’s decision left ABC News and partner WMUR with little choice but to cancel their debate planned for Thursday evening, ahead of next week’s New Hampshire primary – rather than leave Mr DeSantis alone on the stage with only the moderators and studio audience to talk to.

“Our intent was to host a debate coming out of the Iowa caucuses, but we always