OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has responded to a debate challenge from California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom as both increasingly become rivals on the national stage ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity Monday evening, DeSantis, a rising star in the GOP and increasingly popular in his home state, declined while taking a jab at the Golden State governor.
“I don’t know if they can reliably keep the power on so you go all the way up there and have a debate and then what ends up happening if they can’t keep the lights on?” DeSantis said mockingly, referencing California’s ongoing issues with power outages.
“So, you know, we’re happy with what we’re doing. You know what I will do though, Sean, my actions speak louder than my words. There are certain people that will preen and do that, I understand, [but] we get things done in Florida,” he said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis is asked whether he would debate Gavin Newsom:
"I don't know if they can reliably keep the power on … My actions speak louder than my words." pic.twitter.com/VT4CSVw9jH
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) September 20, 2022
The Daily Wire noted:
Newsom, who has repeatedly sought to elevate himself on the national political stage by attacking DeSantis, wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland last week in which he made the dubious claim that DeSantis — who is a lawyer — potentially engaged in “kidnapping” by having the illegal immigrants transported out of Florida.
Newsom claimed without evidence that the migrants were sent with “the intent” to “humiliate[d] and dehumanize[d].” In fact, MSNBC reported Friday afternoon that the illegal immigrants were “not angry with Ron DeSantis” and that they are “actually thanking him for having brought them to Martha’s Vineyard.”
On Friday, DeSantis responded to the allegations by insinuating that Newsom uses an inordinate amount of hair gel that is “interfering with his brain function.”
Newsom countered with a debate challenge by retweeting a post from disgraced CBS News anchor Dan Rather.
“Hey @GovRonDeSantis, clearly you’re struggling, distracted, and busy playing politics with people’s lives,” Newsom wrote. “Since you have only one overriding need — attention — let’s take this up & debate. I’ll bring my hair gel. You bring your hairspray. Name the time before Election Day.”
Separately, according to sources who spoke to TheWrap, Newsom is “undeniably, unequivocally” contemplating running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2024 if President Joe Biden decides to call it a career after serving just one term.
“After this midterm election is over, he absolutely is going to announce that he is running for the presidency once Biden announces that he is not running,” a top California fundraiser with close ties to the Newsom and his family told TheWrap. “No ifs, and, or buts. He will run if Biden does not.”
Newsom is popular in California, but it’s not clear he has the political firepower to rise to national prominence and capture the nomination, especially since most people likely anticipate that the nomination would fall to Vice President Kamala Harris.
Whispers that Biden will not run again have turned into rumors and then outright predictions by party insiders over the past year especially, as questions about his mental fitness have grown.
For instance, just last month, New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who serves as the chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, told The New York Times that Biden would not campaign again for the job in a comment she intended to be off the record.
She was asked by The Times Editorial Board “should Biden run again and responded by saying ‘Off the record, he’s not running again.'”
The Times responded, “Not off the record. On the record.”
“On the record?” Maloney said. “No, he should not run again.”
In a “60 Minutes” interview that aired on Sunday, Biden himself cast doubts about running again.
“Sir, are you committed to running again or are there certain conditions that have to be right?” interviewer Scott Pelley asked.
“Look, if I were to say to you, I’m running again, all of a sudden, a whole range of things come into play that I have – requirements I have to change and move and do,” Biden responded, noting that election laws are playing into his reply.
“And it’s much too early to make that kind of decision,” he added.
