Newsom blasts reports that Biden opposes DeSantis debate: ‘I got a call from the White House’

California Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed back against reports that President Joe Biden is unhappy with plans for a debate with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, saying he got a reassuring call from the White House.

Newsom mentioned the call Thursday in response to a Sacramento Bee question about a recent NBC News story, which said advisers to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were not thrilled with the idea of a debate.

“I don’t know of the opinions,” Newsom said during an event in West Sacramento. “I got a call from the White House saying, ‘That does not reflect our point of view.’ So, we’ll leave it at that.”

Harris’s team, in particular, seemed miffed by Newsom’s desire to raise his national profile ahead of a potential 2028 presidential run, a contest the vice president may also join.

“It’s disrespectful,” an outside adviser to Harris told NBC News. “Joe Biden is running with Kamala Harris. That’s the Democratic ticket.”

Newsom and DeSantis both told Fox News host Sean Hannity this summer they were interested in debating each other on the cable news channel. The governors have publicly sparred over their states’ different approaches to everything from immigration to reproductive rights to education.

Newsom first proposed a debate last September. But it began to look like more of a reality once Hannity got involved and DeSantis’s 2024 Republican presidential bid began to flounder.

Although both governors seem interested, their camps are said to disagree on the details.

Politico in mid-August reported negotiations had stalled over DeSantis’s insistence on a live audience, which Newsom is staunchly against.

When asked on Thursday whether he still plans to debate DeSantis, Newsom seemed noncommittal, saying, “we’ll see,” and mentioning the “very public submission of debate parameters.”

“We’ll see if it lands,” he said. “If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. If it does, it does.”