Gavin Newsom trolls DeSantis over flailing 2024 bid in hostile Fox News debate | EUROtoday

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During a fierce debate hosted by Fox News on Thursday evening, California governor Gavin Newsom took a shot at opponent Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s 2024 presidential marketing campaign, telling viewers that “neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024.”

According to a 538 common of Republican presidential polls, Donald Trump has 60 per cent help from GOP voters, practically six instances that of his nearest rival, Mr DeSantis, whose help has declined precipitiously for the reason that starting of the yr.

The Fox debate, framed by host Sean Hannity because the “Great Red vs Blue State debate,” at instances felt like a quasi-presidential debate.

Mr DeSantis hammered the California chief as virtually a 3rd member of the Biden White House, whereas Mr Newsom painted the Florida governor as a secret reasonable corrupted by the Trumpian “fringe” of the GOP.

“What California represents is the Biden-Harris agenda on steroids,” the Florida Republican mentioned at one level. “They would love nothing more than to get four more years to take the California model national.”

Mr DeSantis criticised California for top fuel costs, greater high tax charges than Florida, and for aggressively shutting down public establishments like colleges through the starting of the pandemic.

He additionally alleged that the Democratic agenda relating to the US-Mexico border has allowed fentanyl to unfold throughout the US.

“This is the vision of Biden-Harris-Newsom,” Mr DeSantis mentioned. “Open borders. Americans will continue to suffer.”

Mr Newsom, in the meantime, tore into the Florida chief for his controversial 2022 ploy to spherical up border-crossers and ship them to liberal jurisdictions in California and Massachusetts beneath deceptive pretenses.

“You are trolling folks and trying to find migrants to play political games so you can get some news and attention so you can out-Trump Trump,” Mr Newson mentioned. “By the way, how is that going for you, Ron? You are down 41 points in your own home state.”

The Florida governor blamed California sanctuary cities, which forbid state sources from getting used for federal immigration enforcement, for permitting migrants to stay within the state who’ve since dedicated crimes, accusing California of “thumbing their nose at federal immigration law.”

“The minute they have to deal with the consequences,” Mr DeSantis mentioned, oh man, hell breaks lose.”

Mr Newsom, in the meantime, defended each his and the Biden administration’s document on the economic system.

“The Biden administration in the last three years has been masterclass in job creation,” Governor Newsom mentioned, pointing to robust job progress within the US, regardless of inflation hitting a four-decade excessive final yr.

The California governor additionally mentioned Mr DeSantis fell beneath the sway of maximum parts of his get together when it got here to responding to Covid, abandoning preliminary lockdowns.

“He did all of that until he decided to fall prey to the fringe inside of his party,” Mr Newsom mentioned. “As a consequence of that, Ron, tens of thousands of people lost their lives.”