Roy Says Trump is ‘Afraid’ of Debate Stage

Texas Rep. Chip Roy (R) has made it clear that he does not support President Donald Trump (R) in his pursuit of the White House. The Texas lawmaker has already endorsed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R), offering glaring reviews on his work in Florida. During an interview on CNN’s “The Source,” Rep. Roy did not hold back in criticizing the former president, accusing President Trump of being ‘afraid’ of the debate stage.

President Trump has not attended a Republican presidential debate during his pursuit of the Republican nomination. Some argues that he doesn’t need to debate while others argue that he should be on the debate with the rest of the candidates.

One who believes the latter is Rep. Roy, who is hopeful that Governor DeSantis will become the nominee in the 2024.

“I was just at multiple events with Ron DeSantis, where he’s shaking their hands and looking them in the eye, while Donald Trump hangs out in his basement in Florida, afraid to actually debate,” Rep. Roy said, referencing President Trump’s own attacks against then-candidate Vice President Joe Biden (D).

“What’s he afraid of? You know, look, I’m happy to debate him if he wants to anywhere. I’m just a little old congressman. Why won’t he debate Ron DeSantis or any of the other candidates? I think he should,” Rep. Roy further expressed.

Heading into the race, Governor DeSantis was once seen as an alternative to President Trump’s candidacy. However, President Trump has remained the frontrunner, and political pundits have commented that Governor DeSantis has not performed as well as he should have by now to captivate Republican voters enough to catapult him to the nomination.

Moreover, polling also shows that President Trump is ahead of President Biden, which is reported to have struck a nerve with Biden campaign officials.

Roy slammed President Trump for failing to “actually fully secure the border.”

“If we’d gotten the policies in place, if he had worked with conservatives to get bills passed in 2018, ’19, we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in right now, where Joe Biden is leaving Texas fully exposed to have people running over our Border Patrol agents and our [Department of Public Safety],” Rep. Roy further commented.