Charlie Crist declares he's 'on the battlefield of love,' while DeSantis 'is on the battlefield of hate'

Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist says he's running on a 'battlefield of love' against Ron DeSantis.

Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist, Fla., declared he’s "on the battlefield of love" Wednesday after he clinched the Democratic Party's nomination in Florida's gubernatorial election. 

Crist was not misquoting Pat Benatar’s 1983 hit "Love Is a Battlefield," but rather taking a shot at incumbent Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, R., who he will face in the general election for governor of the Sunshine State later this year. During an appearance on MSNBC’s "Morning Joe," Crist was asked how he plans to "fight" the popular Republican on cultural issues such as critical race theory and the Parental Rights in Education bill. 

"He is on the battlefield of hate, I am on the battlefield of love," Crist said. "There is faith, hope and love and the greatest of these is love. It’s in Corinthians, in the Bible, I’m going to beat him because I’m running on love and love always wins." 

CHARLIE CRIST WINS DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION FOR GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA, WILL TAKE ON DESANTIS IN NOVEMBER

Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., declared he’s "on the battlefield of love" during an MSNBC appearance.  (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Crist, a former Republican who became an independent and later a Democrat in 2012, once served as Florida's governor while still a member of the GOP. He is known for his massive flip-flops on a host of issues throughout his lengthy political career. A former social conservative who fiercely opposed Barack Obama, he became one of his strongest advocates, and Crist fawned over President Biden on Wednesday as "the best I've ever met."

He said Wednesday on MSNBC if DeSantis "wants to run on hate, and culture wars, and