Ron DeSantis tears into Donald Trump comparing himself to service members’ ‘bravery’ by debating Hillary Clinton after Access Hollywood tape incident

• DeSantis said it was ‘offensive’ that Trump compared himself to U.S. troops when discussing his 2016 win after Access Hollywood tape was revealed 
• Florida governor joined CNN’s Jake Tapper for a town hall on Tuesday evening 
• Comes with just five weeks until the Iowa caucuses  

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said it was ‘offensive’ for Donald Trump to compared himself to members of the U.S. Military in reference to his decision to debate Hillary Clinton in 2015 after the Access Hollywood tape was released.

In some of his full-throated criticism of the ex-president, DeSantis again tore into Trump for refusing to take the 2020 Republican presidential primary race seriously – specifically by refusing to debate.

‘It’s a different Donald Trump than ’15 and ’16,’ DeSantis told CNN host Jake Tapper during a town hall in Des Moines, Iowa on Tuesday evening.

‘You know, back then he was colorful, but it was really America first – about the policies,’ he continued. ‘Now it’s all about him.’

‘And when he’s doing this and says that debating Hillary Clinton after Access Hollywood was like an example of bravery that some general told him was more significant than soldiers who fight and die in war, that is offensive, and that is wrong.’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said it was ‘offensive’ that Donald Trump compared himself to U.S. troops when discussing his win over Hillary Clinton in 2016 even after the Access Hollywood tape was revealed

DeSantis joined CNN host Jake Tapper for a town hall in Des Moines, Iowa on Tuesday evening where he answered questions from the anchor and the live in-studio audience 

Seemingly out of the blue, Trump decided to rehash Saturday night the notorious and vulgar Access Hollywood tape, which has not been in headlines for years, and where the then-candidate was heard saying he could use his celebrity status to ‘grab’ women ‘by the p****.’

Trump is by far the frontrunner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary – even with refusing to debate his competitors so far in the four separate showdowns since August.

Speaking live to an intimate in-studio audience at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, DeSantis made the case for why he should be the next U.S. president.

Part of his reasoning is that the person who gets the nomination should ‘earn it,’ which he claims Trump is not doing.

‘Debating is the bare minimum that a political candidate should do,’ DeSantis lamented on Tuesday night. ‘And I would note, Donald Trump has refused to debate throughout this campaign.’

‘He doesn’t think he owes it to the audience, he doesn’t think he owes it to Granite Staters to show up and debate and answer questions,’ he said in reference to New Hampshire, which holds the second primary contest after Iowa.

‘He doesn’t think he should come and have to answer questions from voters,’ DeSantis continued. ‘Lots of times, he’ll come in, do his speech and leave. He’s not going to visit all 99 counties. Nobody is entitled to this nomination. You’ve got to earn this nomination. And part of the way you do it is you show up, you answer people’s questions, you shake their hands and you show them that you care about the future of their communities.’

CNN, along with hosting the town hall with DeSantis and competitor Vivek Ramaswamy on Wednesday, is also hosting two Republican presidential primary debates, both in Iowa and New Hampshire before the respective primary caucuses and elections in the early contest states.

Trump will likely not show up to any debate in the primary elections, claiming that it is not worth his time since he is far above the rest of the field.

The ex-president did speak at the New York Young Republican Club’s annual gala on Saturday.

Donald Trump said Saturday that a general, who he did not name, felt he was more ‘brave’ then soldiers on the battlefield for debating Hillary Clinton in 2015 (pictured) after the Access Hollywood ‘grab her by the p****’ tape came to light

He bragged about his ability to win in 2016 despite the release of the tape and said he was advised by nearly everyone to drop out of the 2016 race after the video surfaced.

He claimed that a general, who he did not name, told him the ‘locker room talk’ explanation was the ‘bravest thing I’ve ever seen’ – even more so than seeing Americans die on the battlefield.

In the tape, Trump said: ‘You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.’

‘Grab ’em by the p****. You can do anything,’ he is heard saying in the tape.

The reupping of the lewd remarks comes shortly after he doubled-down telling Fox News Sean Hannity during an Iowa town hall last week that he will act like a ‘dictator’ if he is reelected – but only on ‘day one.’

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