The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, and the governor of California, Gavin Newsomfaced off in a roughly two-hour debate Thursday that was full of contrasts over their leadership in two of the country’s largest states.
“There are profound differences tonight,” Newsom said in his opening remarks to Fox News host Sean Hannity, who moderated the race. “And I hope to participate [en ellos]. But, in closing, there is one thing we have in common… none of us will be our party’s candidate in 2024.”
It was a claim that DeSantis, who weighed in and rebuffed Newsom throughout the night, did not answer.
The discussion, titled “The Great Red State vs. Blue State Debate” by Fox News, included exchanges on taxes, education, abortion, energy, immigration, Covid and crime policy, with both DeSantis and Newsom warning that his opponent’s models would be disastrous for the country if they were applied at the national level.
DeSantis opened the debate by stating that Newsom was seeking the national spotlight as part of a shadow 2024 presidential bid, based on the belief that Biden, 81, ultimately will not seek a second term.
“Why don’t you admit it? You’re running,” DeSantis said.
But Newsom defended Biden, defending the president’s record on the economy, immigration and more, in front of Fox’s right-wing audience.
“Fourteen million jobs, 10 times more than the last three Republican presidents combined,” Newsom said as he began to reel off a list of economic achievements after DeSantis called him a proponent of “Bidenomics.”
DeSantis criticized Biden’s handling of the US-Mexico border. “This is a guy who says the Biden administration is not lying to the public about the border,” he said of Newsom. “They are lying to you.”
Meanwhile, Newsom noted that DeSantis sent buses of migrants from the Texas border to Martha’s Vineyard. He said DeSantis did it “so he could one-up Trump.”
“So how are you doing, Ron? By the way, you’re losing 41 points in your own state,” Newsom said.
Later, Newsom mocked DeSantis for mispronouncing Vice President Kamala Harris’ name. “What a shame,” Newsom said, repeating the correct pronunciation of the vice president’s name. “For you, she is Madam Vice President.”
DeSantis faced attacks for changing his positions
Newsom also launched a series of attacks that appeared to have come from any of DeSantis’ top opponents, accusing the governor of Florida of changing his position on issues such as immigration and environmental protection when he began considering a presidential run.
Those attacks, clearly designed to hurt DeSantis in front of an audience of likely Republican presidential primary voters, were among the most memorable moments of the debate.
The most notable might have been the issue of pandemic policies. DeSantis called Newsom a “lockdown governor,” criticizing his decisions during the era of the coronavirus pandemic and pointing out that the California governor’s children attended a private school that had received a waiver to open for in-person education while public schools were closed.
Newsom responded that DeSantis had “followed the science,” closing bars and restaurants and following the advice of former top infectious disease official Anthony Fauci, and “promoted vaccines.”
“You approved an emergency declaration before the state of California. They closed their beaches, their bars, their restaurants,” Newsom said. “Donald Trump denounced him for this.”
“He did all that until he decided to fall prey to the margins of his party. And as a result of that, Ron, tens of thousands of people lost their lives,” Newsom said.
Thursday night at least offered the Florida governor a chance to remind Republican viewers why they had come to like him ahead of the 2024 campaign and why the pro-DeSantis super PAC is called “Never Back Down.” when he repeatedly used Newsom as a Biden surrogate and called the California governor “shrewd.”
“He wants you to believe him despite his own lying eyes,” DeSantis said.
For Newsom, who is not a presidential candidate, the job was easier. “Joe Biden will be our candidate in a matter of weeks. And in a matter of weeks, Sean, he (referring to DeSantis) will endorse Donald Trump as the Republican Party candidate,” Newsom said.
DeSantis, for his part, attacked Newsom for increase spending on education without improving student gradesand by the situation of insecurity that exists in some of the state’s cities, such as San Francisco.
In fact, at one point in the debate, the conservative brought out a map in which, he said, all incidents related to human feces recorded in the Californian city were recorded.
However, some of the most tense moments occurred when discussing the issue of abortion or sexual rights, with Newsom accusing the Floridian of wanting to approve a national ban starting at six weeks of pregnancy or of “humiliating” the LGTBQ community.
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