California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s team scoffed at rules proposed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ahead of a proposed policy debate between the two big state coastal governors on the opposite ends of the political spectrum.
DeSantis, a Republican who is running for president, said he is “game” to square off with the Democrat last week and his team laid out concept parameters for the verbal bout released Saturday such a two-minute video opener in lieu of traditional opening remarks.
“What a joke,” Newsom spokesperson Nathan Click told Politico about the proposal.
“DeSantis’ counterproposal is littered with crutches to hide his insecurity and ineptitude — swapping opening statements with a hype video, cutting down the time he needs to be on stage, adding cheat notes and a cheering section.”
“Ron should be able to stand on his own two feet. It’s no wonder Trump is kicking his a–,” he continued, a reference to the governor’s failure to gain traction against the embattled former president in the race for the GOP nomination.
The Sunshine State governor called for having a live studio audience split “50-50,” while Newsom wanted an empty room, Politico Playbook reported.
There was one source of common ground – the DeSantis camp reportedly pitched Georgia and Iowa for the location of tête-à-tête, while Newsom also proposed The Peach State, in addition to Nevada, and North Carolina.
They both concur on basic rules such as having moderator Sean Hannity be the only individual asking questions, keeping speaking time divvied up evenly between the two, and having the Fox News personality prevent interruptions.
The only date that the duo overlapped on was Nov. 8.
Hannity, a primetime Fox News veteran, sought to finagle a showdown between the two political titans during his interview with the California governor back in June.
Newsom, who has denied speculation he is seeking to challenge President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination, eagerly agreed and directed some taunts DeSantis’s way.
DeSantis, who maintains a brisk itinerary on the 2024 campaign trail, has long cited the Golden State as an example of liberal policies run amuck.
“I mean in one respect, the debate between California and Florida has already been had, as you suggest. People have been voting on that,” DeSantis told Hannity last week.
“They’ve been voting on it with their feet. They have fled California in record numbers.”
Meanwhile, the California governor has taken aim at the Florida governor’s social policies, traveling to his home state in April to rail against changes DeSantis made at the New College of Florida.
DeSantis sought to root out “wokeism’”and liberal excesses by replacing the board of the small public institution.
The Florida governor recently challenged another Californian to a debate — Vice President Kamala Harris.
DeSantis’s challenge came when he fired back at Harris over her criticism of Florida’s updated African American history curriculum.
He chided her for peddling misinformation about its instruction on slavery. Harris turned down the debate offer.
DeSantis is slated to partake in the Aug. 23 GOP debate and has thrown shade at frontrunner former President Donald Trump for dangling the prospect of skipping it.
