“He’s in a death spiral,” Newsom mentioned.
The California governor happy the White House with frequent defenses of President Joe Biden, “Bidenomics,” and by correcting DeSantis’ pronunciation of Kamala Harris.
Why did they comply with a Fox News-sponsored “debate” hosted by Hannity? Both contributors are starved for nationwide consideration, and their respective suns have been blocked out by the getting older leaders of their events, 81-year-old Biden and Trump, 77. The excessive starvation for battle from the subsequent era of politicians was on show Thursday night time between DeSantis, 45, and Newsom, 56.
The 2024 Republican debates have been so devoid of spectacle, and, frankly, so lame, that the unlikely trio of DeSantis, Newsom and Hannity rushed to make their very own leisure. The 90-minute showdown, with the purple state and blue state governors continuously speaking over one another, included a shock prop from DeSantis: a color-coded map of San Francisco coated in brown splotches representing human feces.
The Hannity Factor
Benefiting from the one-on-one sq. off, DeSantis bought his photographs in on Newsom — with Hannity’s assist. The host took a layup from DeSantis to counsel that college districts in California had been educating college students about the best way to masturbate. Hannity additionally teed up a query on training and LGBTQ+ rights beneath the banner of “parental rights.” He premised a query about Biden along with his personal opinion that the president is experiencing “cognitive decline.”
Hannity repeatedly pressed Newsom over whether or not he supported abortion at any level in a being pregnant however didn’t equally lean on DeSantis about how his signing a six-week abortion ban into regulation in Florida was out of step with public opinion.
There was a transparent incentive for Hannity himself to show his relevance and endurance at Fox after the departure of ratings-king Tucker Carlson. Hannity’s capacity to host two excessive profile governors — and persuade Newsom to look on Fox — was an plain win. Within the primary two minutes of the published, he talked about being the longest tenured cable TV host.
But Hannity struggled to corral the main governors on the debate stage, repeatedly begging them to not make him a “hall monitor.” They largely ignored his pleas as they interrupted one another and appeared to take pleasure in doing so.
The obsequiousness most likely undermined DeSantis’ total case — giving viewers the sense that the Florida governor couldn’t fend for himself and wanted an additional hand from the host. “Hannity basically tried to be a human life preserver for a drowning Ron DeSantis,” Newsom adviser Sean Clegg mentioned of the host’s method.
DeSantis in his consolation zone
The format with Newsom gave DeSantis a gap that he hasn’t had over the last three GOP presidential debates. At Thursday’s debate, DeSantis was capable of mock his opponent with out competing for consideration from a number of rivals onstage.
He appeared to have extra management over the dialog, elaborating about particular insurance policies he backed as governor of Florida — which may assist him entice the eye of massive donors. He questioned Biden’s capacity to run for a second time period given his superior age and theorized about why Newsom had requested for the trade within the first place.
“Why won’t you just admit that you’re running?” DeSantis requested.
DeSantis performed the debate fairly straight. He repeated a number of instances that Newsom was being “slick” and “slippery,” casually dismissed total solutions as lies and mentioned Californians had been leaving the state “in droves” — an efficient assault significantly with the appropriate. “He went on a binge of putting out a lot of left-wing platitudes,” DeSantis mentioned of Newsom at one level.
DeSantis stumbled with extra informal viewers as his solutions veered into a digital-heavy path, together with dropping bombs on Newsom over his French Laundry dinner with no rationalization and making an attempt to tie him to the district legal professional of Los Angeles, who shouldn’t be a family identify.
But if voters didn’t like DeSantis earlier than the made-for-TV conflict with Newsom, it’s laborious to see how he modified any minds Thursday night time.
Newsom fought on tradition
Newsom was much more emotive than DeSantis when delivering sure responses, particularly concerning the mass taking pictures at Marjory Stoneman Douglas in Parkland, Fla., that claimed the lives of 17 folks in 2018. He put DeSantis on the spot over loosening gun legal guidelines throughout his time period, eliciting an odd response from the Florida governor who delved into a criticism about retail theft in California. It was the flip aspect of getting the ground with solely a Democrat — no Republican would have leveled comparable fees within the GOP debates.
Newsom additionally expressed dismay about DeSantis’ insurance policies concerning LGBTQ+ rights — considered one of his best exchanges of the night time. It got here after DeSantis held up a web page from the guide “Gender Queer” that depicted oral intercourse — a guide Desantis claimed is in California public colleges however has been faraway from some Florida districts. In response, Newsom criticized Florida for eradicating books from college libraries that include themes about gender id and sexual orientation.
“I don’t like the way you demean the LGBTQ community,” Newsom mentioned. “I don’t like how you humiliate people you disagree with. I find this primarily offensive.”
Hannity’s help for DeSantis impacted on Newsom however didn’t rattle him. He additionally accused DeSantis of pursuing culture-war fights as a result of he was making an attempt to compete with Trump to win the 2024 GOP nomination for president. He continuously drew consideration to DeSantis’ failure to catch on within the race and requested him at one level when he was going to drop out to permit rival Republican Nikki Haley an opportunity to catch Trump. The exchanges helped Newsom convey the California versus Florida debate again to 2024 so he may undermine DeSantis’ electability argument.
“You are trolling folks and trying to play political games so you can out-Trump Trump,” Newsom mentioned. “How is that going for you, Ron? You are down 41 points in your own home state.”
