DeSantis-Newsom Rivalry Heads to Prime-Time Showdown With ‘Hannity’ Debate

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who have been trading fire for nearly two years, will tangle once again this week — but this time in person.

DeSantis, who is running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, and Newsom — who’s been accused of running a shadow campaign for the White House will face off Thursday in a debate moderated by Fox News’ prime-time opinion host Sean Hannity.

The showdown, titled “DeSantis vs. Newsom: The Great Red vs. Blue State Debate,” will take in Alpharetta, Georgia — a one-time red state that’s become a top general election battleground between the two major political parties.

“He caters to a very far left slice of the electorate. I think that will be on display when we have the debate,” DeSantis said as he spoke with Fox News Digital earlier this week during a campaign stop in New Hampshire, the state that holds the first primary and second overall contest in the GOP presidential nominating calendar.

Newsom, in an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity” earlier this autumn, pointed towards DeSantis and emphasized that “I don’t like people who demonize other people or go after vulnerable communities. I also don’t like liars.”

Both governors have outsized national profiles, run the nation’s first and third most populous states, and overwhelmingly won gubernatorial re-elections last year, when their rivalry really heated up.

In 2022, Newsom went up with an ad on Florida airwaves that targeted DeSantis, “Freedom, it’s under attack in your state. Republican leaders, they’re banning books, making it harder to vote, restricting speech in classrooms, even criminalizing women and doctors,” Newsom argued in his spot.

DeSantis, who became a hero to conservatives nationwide for his pushback against coronavirus pandemic restrictions, earlier this year called San Francisco — the city Newsom served two terms as mayor — a “dumpster fire.”

The governors — who’ve long battled on social media over their very different COVID policies — this year have traded fire over the move by DeSantis to fly undocumented migrants from to California. The Florida governor has made border security a top issue in recent years and has repeatedly highlighted his efforts on the 2024 Republican presidential campaign trail.

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