DeSantis and Newsom call each other bullies during heated debate
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Two high profile U.S. governors — Republican Ron DeSantis of Florida and Democrat Gavin Newsom of California — engaged in a heated 90-minute debate Thursday night, bringing months of tension to the stage.
DeSantis and Newsom fought hard to prove their state’s records, forcing the moderator, Fox News host Sean Hannity, who promised to be unbiased, to step in.
“Let each other breathe,” the conservative talk show host said at one point.
During the debate, the Florida governor, who is running in the presidential election in 2024, repeatedly called Newsom a liar and a “slippery politician,” while making a compelling case for using Florida as an example for national policies.
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DeSantis accused Newsom of running a “shadow campaign” for the presidential election for 2024. The Florida governor participates in this debate as roughly six weeks remain until the Iowa caucuses, the first contest in the Republican nominating calendar.
Newsom passionately defended the Biden administration’s record on the pandemic, the crisis at the southern border and reproductive rights during the debate show titled “DeSantis vs. Newsom: The Great Red vs. Blue State Debate.” He also took many digs at DeSantis for not being the front-runner in the Republican primary polls.
This debate took place in Georgia, a neutral ground.
Why are Americans leaving blue states for red states?
Newsom won the coin toss and decided that DeSantis should answer the first question. Hannity asked DeSantis why “Americans were leaving blue states in droves in favor of red states.” He cited California losing nearly 750,000 residents in 2021 and 2022.
“I think California has more natural advantages than any state in the country,” DeSantis said, adding, “He’s the first governor to ever lose population.” The Florida governor blamed Newsom’s “leftist ideology” as the reason behind this migration trend.
Newsom began his response by praising the Biden-Harris administration for standing up for civil and social rights.
“Sean, there are profound differences tonight ... but there’s one thing that we have in common is neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024,” the California governor said.
DeSantis insisted that Florida has emerged as a safer, better, budgeted state with low taxes and a good quality of life, before adding that Newsom’s in-laws, too, have left California.
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Taxes
Hannity compared California’s high income tax rates for top earners and 7.25% sales tax to the nonexistent income tax and 1% sales tax in Florida
In his response, Newsom said Florida employed a regressive tax rate, which puts the burden on low-income workers instead of millionaires and billionaires, like in California.
“Well, let’s talk about working people,” DeSantis quipped back. “They pay more in your state,” pointing to the towering cost of a gallon of gas as an example.
“I think the thing about California, they have one of the highest inequality rates because yeah, they’ve got Silicon Valley billionaires, they’ve got a lot of very wealthy people, they’ve got a lot of people that are on government assistance, but they’ve hollowed out their middle class,” DeSantis concluded.
Unemployment rate
Florida’s unemployment rate hovers at 2.8% compared to California’s 4.8%, stated Hannity before allowing DeSantis to respond first.
“They taxed too much. They regulate too much. They have a political agenda. It’s not a good climate for business. They’ve lost a lot of companies. A lot of companies have moved to Texas ... because they’re not doing a good job looking out for folks and not creating a good business environment,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis mentioned allowing Disney theme parks to remain open in Florida during the pandemic, allowing the Mickey Mouse company to make profits and save jobs, before Newsom cut him off and said the Florida governor had declared an emergency, closing down beaches, bars and restaurants, during COVID-19 before California did.
“You followed (Dr. Anthony Fauci), you followed science,” Newsom said, “By the way, I didn’t say that Donald Trump laid you out on this data, right?”
DeSantis categorized the Golden State governor’s remarks as lies.
COVID-19 response
On the topic of COVID-19, Hannity opened with the fact that although the two governors had contrasting approaches to the pandemic, the death rates were “almost identical.”
The moderator gave them a chance to explain. DeSantis, taking a more aggressive tone, said the difference was Newsom “did huge damage to people in California,” whereas Florida managed to save thousands of businesses, and allow children to go back to school.
“California has one of the lowest literacy rates in the country,” the GOP presidential candidate said. “So, you should apologize for not getting your kids in school.”
Meanwhile, Newsom held DeSantis responsible for deaths that could have been avoided.
Border crisis
The crisis at the southern border under the Biden administration has gained national attention. Newsom denied the administration was hiding the realities at the border and pointed fingers at Republicans, who opt for politicking instead of legislating.
He said DeSantis lacked credibility to talk on immigration and criticized him for “lying to migrants, promising them jobs and housing, sending them to an island, Martha’s Vineyard, and then sending them to a parking lot in Sacramento, California.”
The Florida governor pushed back, saying Newsom was using the Biden administration’s talking points about the border being secure.
“He’s also lying to you about what it’s going to take to solve this problem,” DeSantis added, noting that California is a sanctuary state.
Newsom said he supports border security but thinks the asylum system is broken, while acknowledging that he is a border state governor, unlike DeSantis.
The California governor also took the chance to make a jab at DeSantis for trailing Trump in the polls in his own state of Florida.
Newsom fully stood behind the latest funding request from the White House, which includes $14 billion for Border Patrol agents, customs officials and security technology.
Crime and gun control
DeSantis accused California laws of putting the “interests of criminals over public safety.”
He mentioned the degraded quality of life in San Francisco, before noting that Newsom was mayor of that city. DeSantis said Newsom took the “San Francisco model” and turned it into a “template for California’s collapse.”
On gun control, although California had the most restrictive gun laws, it accounted for 21 mass shootings, while nine occurred in Florida, Hannity said.
DeSantis accused California of making it harder for law-abiding citizens to defend themselves. Newsom, in his retort, criticized Florida for its high murder rate.
“California probably does lead in terms of common-sense gun safety,” Newsom added.
Abortion
When asked whether Newsom supported any restrictions on abortion, especially late in the pregnancy, he said the decision should remain between the woman and her doctor. He attacked Florida’s six-week ban which doesn’t have exceptions for rape.
Hannity kept pressing the California governor, asking him if abortion should be illegal if the pregnancy is in its seventh, eighth or ninth month, but Newsom stayed firm with his initial statement.
DeSantis said that was “really extreme to take your tax dollars into” abortion up until birth.
The debate over freedom
In closing, DeSantis focused on Newsom’s point of California standing for freedom.
“California does have freedoms that some people don’t. ... You have the freedom to defecate in public in California. You have the freedom to pitch a tent on Sunset Boulevard. You have the freedom to create a homeless encampment under a freeway and even light it on fire. You have the freedom to have an open air drug market,” he said.
Newsom said he loved the “rant on freedom” from someone who is criminalizing teachers, doctors, librarians and women.
His statements led the two to enter a heated back and forth, calling each other a bully as they talked over each other.
Hannity offered to extend the debate, which the governors initially agreed on before backing out.
