The Ron DeSantis campaign underwent its own version of a final exam on Thursday night, and it did not go well for the Florida governor.
Billed as the “Red State vs. Blue State Debate” by Fox News moderator Sean Hannity, DeSantis was thoroughly trounced at various points by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who, unlike DeSantis, is not running for president.
“By the way, how’s that going for you, Ron?” Newsom deadpanned at one point, reminding DeSantis he’s running more than 40 points behind former President Donald Trump in his home state of Florida.
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Newsom often seemed bewildered at just how clumsy the DeSantis performance turned out, and took every opportunity to hammer home his top gripes with the governor. He also went out of his way to defend President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris throughout the nearly two-hour affair.
“I don’t like the way you demean people,” Newsom told DeSantis at another point, specifically calling out the Florida governor’s rhetoric on the LGBT community. DeSantis often responded by talking over Newsom, emulating Trump’s 2016 debate performances by saying “False!” (though Trump opted for “Wrong!”) into the microphone when Newsom attacked his record.
Both Newsom and Hannity grew weary of DeSantis’ constant interjections, with the California governor telling him to “relax,” while Hannity asserted he wasn’t “a potted plant” and asked DeSantis to let Newsom speak on a few occasions.
“Let each other breathe,” a surprisingly Zen version of Hannity said early on in the debate, to no avail.
Beyond the endless crosstalk that ensued, the governors re-litigated their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and even spent almost 10 minutes on the difference between progressive income taxes and flat sales taxes.
They also sparred over their states’ respective crime rates and education policies, with DeSantis making the ill-informed decision to hold up an explicit—though censored—photo he purports was taken from a book his administration helped to ban from school libraries. If Newsom noticed the stunt, he didn’t make it known.
DeSantis also repeatedly returned to the idea that Californians are fleeing the state in droves to Florida—a fact which his counterpart dutifully tried to refute each time.
The Florida governor also made his fair share of awkward faces during the split-screen portions of the debate, a recurring problem for the 2024 hopeful. Newsom, however, managed to showcase his more polished style and appeared in cruise control for much of the evening.
“In the history of American politics,” longtime GOP strategist Stuart Stevens tweeted at the end of the night, “@RonDeSantis will go down as the chump who not only lost every debate in his race, but lost to a guy who isn’t even in the race. That’s talent.”
