Newsom says he’d agree to a debate against DeSantis moderated by Hannity
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said he would agree to a debate with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) moderated by Fox News host Sean Hannity.
“I’m all in. Count on it,” Newsom told Hannity during a sit-down interview on Fox News that aired Monday.
“You would do a two-hour debate with Ron DeSantis?” Hannity asked.
“Make it three,” Newsom responded. “I would do it one day’s notice with no notes. I look forward to that.”
Tensions between the two governors have grown after a dozen migrants from the Texas border were flown to Sacramento, Calif. The Florida Division of Emergency Management confirmed last week that the state was behind recent migrant flights to California.
“From left-leaning mayors in El Paso, Texas, and Denver, Colorado, the relocation of those illegally crossing the United States border is not new,” division of emergency management spokesperson Alecia Collins said in a statement to The Hill last week. “But suddenly, when Florida sends illegal aliens to a sanctuary city, it’s false imprisonment and kidnapping.”
Sixteen South American migrants who entered the country through Texas were dropped off outside the Roman Catholic church in Sacramento earlier this month after boarding a private plane. California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) said he met with the migrants and that there was “no prior arrangement or care in place” for them. He also said the migrants were carrying documentation from Florida.
Newsom and Bonta have questioned whether the flight to Sacramento was legal, suggesting that it could be “state-sanctioned” kidnapping.
Hannity pushed back on Newsom, saying that the migrants had signed a waiver. Newsom noted he saw the waiver, but it did not make any sense to him.
The California governor went on to point out that Florida was not a border state, but DeSantis is desperate “to get in on the action.”
“Trump is going to clean his clock,” Newsom said, referring to the Republican presidential primary.
Newsom’s comments were part of a wide-ranging sit-down interview with Hannity. Speculation has swirled around whether the California governor will run for president in the future; Newsom told Hannity that he would not challenge Biden in the Democratic primary this cycle and heaped praise on the president.
“I’m rooting for our president, and I have great confidence [in him],” Newsom said.