Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Wednesday that he would be open to debating California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom live.
“Absolutely. I’m down for it. Let’s do it. Just tell me when and where. We’ll do it,” DeSantis told Hannity.
The idea came about in June, when Hannity interviewed Newsom and asked if he would be open to discussing it with DeSantis.
“Totally. Count on it,” Newsom said at the time.
“Would you do a two-hour debate with Ron DeSantis?” Hannity asked. “Make it three,” Newsom said.
On Wednesday, Hannity framed the idea as a “policy-based debate” between the leader of a red state and the leader of a blue state.
“I brought up the idea of a policy-based debate, you know, red vs. blue state, red state vs. blue state, between Gavin Newsom and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis,” the host said moments before DeSantis joined.
No date has yet been set for the debate, but a Newsom spokesman said he proposed Nov. 8 or 10 for the event.
“Governor Newsom has been challenging DeSantis to debate for months and sent him a formal debate offer last week: November 8 or 10: DeSantis should contribute or shut up. Everything else is just games,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
The letter offering a formal debate included several rules, including that the debate would be live, moderated by Hannity, lasting 90 minutes, and that both governors would refrain from using notes. Newsom also offered Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina as potential locations.
DeSantis and Newsom have frequently disagreed on a number of issues including guns, abortion, education and immigration. In June, Newsom told NBC News that he planned to launch an investigation into the migrant planes flying to California, which were orchestrated by the DeSantis administration.
After DeSantis accepted the invitation Wednesday, he told Hannity that the debate was about much more than blue states versus red states.
“This is the debate about the future of our country. Because there are people like Joe Biden, they would love to see the ‘Californi-cation’ of America… And I think if we go in that direction, it’s going to accelerate the decline of America,” DeSantis said.
“We can no longer see America in decline,” he added.
