- California Governor Gavin Newsom went after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ COVID-19 record, saying he was responsible for ‘tens of thousands’ of deaths
- “If I had your policies — the equivalent of ten 9/11 attacks,” Newsom told DeSantis during Thursday night’s debate, moderated by Fox’s Sean Hannity.
- DeSantis went after Newsom over killing businesses and the ‘generational impact’ of keeping kids out of school
California Governor Gavin Newsom said Thursday evening that “ten 9/11s” of Californians would have died from COVID-19 if he had followed the same policies as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
The two participated in a debate on Georgia’s Red State vs. Blue State, moderated by Fox News’ Sean Hannity, with COVID-19 playing a supporting role.
At the top of the debate, DeSantis hammered Newsom for going to the French Laundry restaurant while other Californians were stuck at home, while Newsom hit back by saying DeSantis had followed Dr. Anthony Fauci’s recommendations until the Republican Party changed its tune.
Newsom noted that DeSantis closed beaches, bars and restaurants, promoted vaccines and wore a mask.
“He did all that until he decided to fall prey to the fringes of his party,” Newsom said. “And as a result, Ron, tens of thousands of people died. The equivalent – if I had your policy – the equivalent of ten 9/11 attacks.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom (pictured) said Thursday evening that “ten 9/11s” of Californians would have died from COVID-19 if he had followed the same policies as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (left) hit back, shaming Newsom for “ruining livelihoods.” We reopened the state very quickly. We have saved hundreds of thousands of jobs. We have saved thousands of companies’
A report from the Los Angeles Times Before the debate, it emerged that significantly more Floridians died per capita than Californians during the pandemic.
Of the four most populous states, California lost 2,560 people per million residents, while Florida lost 4,044 people per million, according to the Times analysis of data from John Hopkins University.
But DeSantis argued that the death rates in the two states were “essentially the same.”
‘Why is that important now?’ he mused. “Gavin Newsom has caused enormous damage to people in California. He destroyed livelihoods. We reopened the state very quickly. We have saved hundreds of thousands of jobs. We have saved thousands of companies. We had our children at school. He had the kids locked out of school because of the teachers unions.”
DeSantis said keeping children out of school had a “generational impact” and accused California of having one of the lowest literacy rates in the country.
“So you have to apologize for not getting your kids to school. Why didn’t you do the kids like we did in the summer of 2020?’ DeSantis asked.
Newsom fired back, saying the “only person who should apologize is Ron DeSantis.”
Crowds of people took over Ocean Drive in Miami Beach during spring break in March 2021, just as COVID-19 vaccines were first being rolled out. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis began reopening the state in May 2020, without forcing residents to wear masks
“For the tens of thousands of lives who died needlessly because he played to the fringes of his party,” the California governor said.
During the pandemic, which began during former President Donald Trump’s term in office, the Republican leader initially supported social distancing policies, including the temporary closure of businesses and schools to stop the spread of the contagious disease.
But as the months passed, Trump began pushing Republican leaders to open their states, with DeSantis starting the process in May 2020, two months after the pandemic emerged.
