DeSantis, Newsom clash in testy Fox News debate: Recap

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) took a shot at California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), describing him as a “liberal bully” after Newsom criticized DeSantis pressured the Special Olympics to back off a vaccine mandate.

“I love the rant on freedom. I mean, here’s a guy who’s criminalizing teachers, criminalizing doctors, criminalizing librarians and criminalizing women that seek their reproductive care. You’re making it harder to vote, you’re banning books,” Newsom said.

“I mean, spare me this notion of freedom. Ask the folks at Disney about freedom and free enterprise, Ask the folks at the Special Olympics that you threatened to fine with $27 million,” he continued.

The Special Olympics backed off of a vaccine requirement last year amid the threat by the state of a $27 million fine.

“That’s being a liberal bully,” DeSantis said, later adding “they wanted to marginalize the athletes” as he sought to defend himself.

Newsom directed the insult back at DeSantis, calling him a “bully,” too.

“I’m used to [a] bully. You’re nothing but a bully,” Newsom said.

-Caroline Vakil

As Thursday’s debate was closing, DeSantis held up a blotted map of San Francisco that he said showed how many incidents of human feces had been reported in the West Coast city.

“But they cleaned it up when a communist dictator came to town,” DeSantis quipped.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) got into a tangle over LGBTQ rights and education during their debate.

Moderator Sean Hannity brought up the “Don’t Say Gay” bill passed under DeSantis’ watch and parental input on what their kids should be taught in school, to which DeSantis responded “the role of the school is to educate kids, not indoctrinate kids.”

“[I]t’s to do the basics,” DeSantis said. “And what we’ve said in Florida is, it’s inappropriate to tell a kindergartener that their gender is a choice. It’s inappropriate to tell a second grader that they may have been born in the wrong body.”

“I don’t like the way you demean people, I don’t like the way you demean the LGBTQ community,” Newsom said later in response to DeSantis. “I don’t like the way you demean and humiliate people you disagree with, Ron.”

“I… find this fundamentally offensive, and this is a core value that distinguishes the values of my state and frankly, the vast majority of Americans against the weaponization of education,” Newsom continued.

–Tara Suter

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) took a jab at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) over signing a six-week abortion ban, reminding DeSantis that even former President Trump called it “too extreme.”

“I think this is important and it bears repeating: Ron DeSantis signed the most extreme, anti-abortion bills in America. He signed a bill banning any exceptions for rape and incest, and then he said it didn’t go far enough and decided to sign a six-week ban before women even know they’re pregnant, Ron. Before women can even access a doctor’s appointment,” Newsom said.

“So extreme is your ban that criminalizes women and criminalizes doctor that even Donald Trump said it was too extreme,” he continued.

Florida’s six-week ban is on hold as the Florida Supreme Court weighs a 15-week limit on the medical procedure. Trump criticized DeSantis’s six-week ban during an interview in September, calling it a “terrible thing.”

-Caroline Vakil

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) defended Los Angeles as one of the “great American cities” after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) targeted the city’s top prosecutor.

“We had two radical left Soros district attorneys like your buddy [Los Angeles District Attorney George] Gascón in LA, — one in Tampa one in Orlando. They were endangering the public, and I removed them from their posts,” DeSantis said.

“Gavin Newsom has not lifted a finger to rein in Gascón in LA. That city has collapsed,” he added.

Gascón, a progressive prosecutor, survived two recall attempts, including most recently in the summer of 2022 as several progressive district attorneys faced backlash in response to rising concerns over public safety.

“I mean, you’re running for president of the United States. You’re talking down the great state of California, talking down one of the great American cities — Los Angeles. That’s insulting,” Newsom shot back.

-Caroline Vakil

Newsom clapped back at DeSantis for how the Florida Governor pronounced Vice President Kamala Harris’ name.

“It’s Madame Vice President to you,” Newsom jabbed at DeSantis during the highly-contentious debate, defending Harris.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) hit Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) over recent flights of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. and California the Sunshine State was behind.

“Your immigration policy can best be described as a governor from the state of Florida, going into another state, the state of Texas, 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,” Newsom told DeSantis. “I met with those migrants that you lied to, under false pretense. That kind of gamesmanship, using human beings as pawns, I think is disqualifying.”

–Tara Suter

Newsom called out DeSantis for lagging behind former president Trump in the 2024 GOP primary race.

“You’re behind by 40 points,” Newsom jabbed at the Florida Governor, who is trying to mount a serious challenge to Trump for the nomination next year, but has so far failed to break through.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) got into a tangle over migration during their debate.

Moderator Sean Hannity asked a question about migration out of California, to which DeSantis said Newsom’s policies like COVID-19 restrictions have driven people out of the Golden State.

“He’s the first governor to ever lose population,” DeSantis said. “They actually at one point, ran out of U-Hauls in the state of California, because so many people were leaving.”

Newsom later retorted that Floridians have left California than Californians have left for Florida in the last two years. Hannity also pressed Newsom on not directly answering the question on migration out of California.

“You have yet to address the issue, but I asked you twice, you don’t want to answer it,” Hannity told Newsom.

–Tara Suter

Newsom attacked DeSantis almost instantly over his stances on various hot-button social and healthcare issues.

The California governor at one point early in the debate said people died from the coronavirus in Florida because DeSantis caved “to the fringe” of the GOP

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sought to tie California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to the Biden-Harris administration, calling policy under the California Democrat “Biden-Harris agenda on steroids.”

“I’ll give Gavin credit — he did at least admit in his first answer, he’s joined at the hip with Biden and Harris. He thinks Biden and Harris have done a great job. He thinks the economy is working because of their policies for Americans, and they are not, and so what California represents is the Biden-Harris agenda on steroids,” DeSantis said.

“They would love nothing more than to get four more years to be able to take the California model nationally — that would be disastrous for working people,” he continued.

-Caroline Vakil

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) took a jab at 2024 GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis during a debate hosted by Fox News on Thursday, vowing that neither man would be their party’s presidential pick next fall.

“There are profound differences tonight, and I look forward to engaging, but there’s one thing in closing that we have in common, is neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024,” Newsom said.

Newsom has been widely floated as a White House hopeful, though he has swatted away questions around potential presidential ambitions and said he’s rallying behind President Biden in 2024.

DeSantis, meanwhile, has trailed former President Trump in the GOP primary, and faces a formidable challenge from former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

-Caroline Vakil

Moderator Sean Hannity said at the top of the debate he plans to deliver “fact based questions” and provide both Newsom and DeSantis equal time

The debate between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has kicked off.

The event is moderated by Fox News host Sean Hannity, who stressed that he would serve as a referee — not a participant — in the unique match-up between red-state and blue-state governors.

“Tonight I will be monitoring this debate, I will not be part of the debate,” Hannity said.

—Brandon Conradis

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) slammed Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif) in a virtual press conference ahead of their debate Thursday.

“For the first time in history, you’ve had a net loss of population in California under Newsom’s administration,” DeSantis said in a clip of the press conference posted to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “That had never happened before, because it’s a very beautiful state. They’ve got a lot of great advantages.”

“And that had been a state that people would aspire to move to,” DeSantis continued. “Now it’s a state that people are moving from. And I never saw people move from California to Florida when I was growing up. When I became governor, this started to be something that was more frequent. I’ve been to Iowa and have met people that have fled California to Iowa. So, you have seen, this exodus is real, the numbers don’t lie and it’s because of mismanagement and poor governance.”

–Tara Suter

Gov. Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) took a swing at fellow Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) ahead of his debate in Georgia with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) Thursday.

“Until two months ago, California banned state-funded travel to Georgia,” Kemp posted to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter Thursday.

“We’re glad Governor Newsom can get a firsthand look tonight in Alpharetta, Georgia at why Americans and businesses alike are fleeing California for states led by Republican governors!” Kemp continued.

DeSantis has argued that people are “fleeing” California due to Newsom’s administration in the past.

–Tara Suter

A Trump spokesperson said Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) is “so desperate for attention” that he’s debating a “Grade A loser” like Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) Thursday.

“Ron DeSanctimonious is acting more like a thirsty, third-rate OnlyFans wannabe model than an actual presidential candidate,” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement.

Newsom first challenged the Sunshine State governor to a debate back in September of last year. Thursday’s debate comes as DeSantis trails Trump for the GOP presidential nomination by a large margin.

— Tara Suter

Thursday’s event could be an opportunity for Govs. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) and Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) to give a boost to their respective political careers. 

Read here for more on what to watch for in the long-awaited DeSantis-Newsom debate.

The event will be held at 9 p.m. EST Thursday live from Alpharetta, Ga., but will not feature an audience in attendance.

The debate will air live on Fox News Channel and simulcast on Fox News Radio. The event will also be streamed on FoxNews.com, but a valid cable subscription will be required to access the feed.

Fox has said the debate will span 90 minutes and be hosted by prime-time pundit Sean Hannity, who hosts a weeknight show on the network in the 9 p.m. hour. Hannity will then provide live reaction with a panel of guests from 10:30-11 p.m.

Read more here.

— Dominick Mastrangelo

The most unusual debate of the 2024 election cycle so far is set for Thursday, when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) takes on California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Fox News.

Adding to the spectacle, the moderator for the 90-minute clash will be Sean Hannity.

The debate will have none of the formality of the three GOP primary debates so far. But there are real stakes for each man.

For DeSantis, it is a rare opportunity to command center stage without anyone else stealing his thunder.

Newsom, for his part, is clearly positioning himself as a national figure within the Democratic Party. 

Read more here.

— Niall Stanage