Video of DeSantis Freezing as Crist Grills Him on 2024 Run Viewed 3M Times

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis seemed to be caught off guard when his Democrat opponent Charlie Crist questioned him about his future political plans at their Monday night debate.

Rumors that DeSantis is eying a run for president in 2024 have run rampant in the leadup to the November midterms, and the Florida Republican has yet to squash the speculation. Crist, the state's former Republican governor who has since switched his party affiliation to Democrat, capitalized on the presidential rumors at the debate, grilling DeSantis about his intentions.

A video of Crist asking DeSantis if he could commit to a full four-year term if reelected as governor and DeSantis' inability to answer has since been viewed on social media more than 3.6 million times.

"Ron, you talk about Joe Biden a lot. I understand. You think you're going to be running against him. I can see how you might get confused," Crist said. "But you're running for governor. And I have a question for you. Why don't you look in the audience of the people of the state of Florida and say to them if you're reelected, you will serve a full four-year term as governor. Yes or no?"

Crist's question was met with applause and cheering from the audience, and DeSantis froze, seemingly unable to answer.

"It's not a tough question," Crist continued. "It's a fair question, and he won't tell you."

The candidates did not agree to ask each other questions on stage, CNN reported, which could have contributed to DeSantis' pause.

The exchange began when DeSantis compared Crist's policies to Biden's. The president has plans to travel to Florida next week to join Crist in a reception to boost votes in the week leading up to the midterm elections.

After Crist's time expired, DeSantis did speak about his future plans, though not in a way that proved he would run for president.

"I know that Charlie's interested in talking about 2024, in Joe Biden," DeSantis said. "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."

The two went on to argue about abortion policy, transgender health care, critical race theory, and immigration policy and argued over DeSantis' response to Hurricane Ian, among other topics.

DeSantis is currently more than 8 points ahead of Crist, according to a recent FiveThirtyEight poll. The governor's campaign funds of more than $100 million far outnumber Crist's, which totaled only $11 million in June, Ballotpedia reported.

His massive war chest has further added to the rumor he's gearing up for a presidential run. Former President Donald Trump's hesitancy to endorse DeSantis, who often embodies Trump's rhetoric and style, also fueled the rumors as the former president considers a 2024 presidential run for the same party.

Newsweek reached out to the DeSantis campaign for comment.