Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom Hold Headed Debate

Facts

• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a current contender in the US Republican presidential primary race, took on Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a supporter of Pres. Joe Biden, on Thursday in a 90-minute debate of what could be a potential preview of the 2028 presidential race.¹
• The political clash, which took place in Alpharetta, Ga., was hosted by Fox News host Sean Hannity and aired on the cable network. Hannity opened the event by questioning Newsom over his state's high taxes, with DeSantis building upon the moderator's inquiries by challenging how California is governed. Though Newsom isn't running for president, he focused on the 2024 election by defending Biden's policies.²
• While DeSantis emphasized California's declining population, arguing that you 'almost have to try to mess California up, yet that’s what Gavin Newsom has done,' Newsom accused his counterpart of weaponizing grievance and 'false separateness.' In a dig referring to DeSantis' current status in the GOP primary, he also claimed that 'neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024.'³
• DeSantis also took a personal dig at his Newsom, telling a story about how a man approached him and said that 'Florida is much better governed, safer, better budget, lower taxes,' and that he was 'really happy with the quality of life.' DeSantis continued, saying the man then 'paused, and he said, ‘You know, by the way, I’m Gavin Newsom’s father-in-law,'' who bought a $3.3M home in Naples, Fla. in 2020.⁴
• Newsom took the time to defend Biden's record on immigration, healthcare, and the economy, referring to recent declines in inflation and increases in both wages and economic growth, facts, he said, 'you don't hear on Fox News.' The California governor also mentioned that DeSantis took hundreds of millions of dollars from a law Biden signed to promote the domestic semiconductor industry.²
• The debate between a current and potentially future presidential hopeful became particularly heated over the issue of COVID. While DeSantis pointed how how Newsom attended a dinner party at an expensive restaurant during lockdowns — calling him one of 'the liberal elites' — Newsom noted that DeSantis had originally embraced COVID policy before falling into 'the fringe of his party.'³

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²The New York Times, ³The Wall Street Journal and ⁴New York Post.

Narratives

• Republican narrative, as provided by Townhall. DeSantis only needed a few moments to show how Gavin Newsom has destroyed his state. Among the countless Californians fleeing their disastrous life out West was none other than Newsom's father-in-law, a testament to how bad things have become under the liberal regime. It's not hard to debate a governor whose streets are unsanitary and whose family members want to live in a red state.
• Democratic narrative, as provided by Huffington Post. While he could have easily done so when facing such a far-right, fringe politician like DeSantis, Newsom wasn't there to defend his own record. Newsom's goal was to defend his party's success at the national level in comparison to the dangerous, failing campaign of DeSantis. Newsom was spot on when he said he'd take a 100-year-old Joe Biden over Florida's leader any day.
• Cynical narrative, as provided by Roll Call. The timing of the DeSantis vs. Newsome debate is interesting because Trump and Biden are both incredibly unpopular and contingency plans are lacking in the party establishments of the Democrats and the GOP alike. If either Trump or Biden collapses at the top of their tickets, there could be cascading election effects on the Senate, Congress, and beyond. This debate may have been a wake-up call to both parties to be less unserious about a Plan B.

Predictions