More Details Released by Fox News On Upcoming Newsom-DeSantis Debate

More details of the upcoming debate between Governor Gavin Newsom and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis were announced by Fox News on Tuesday, with Governor Newsom’s team also unveiling the first ad attacking DeSantis before the debate on November 30th.

For over a year, a debate between Newsom and DeSantis has long been rumored. Both Governors have had a long history of slighting the other state, from Newsom running ads in Florida praising California, to DeSantis backing sanctuary state flights for migrants to California, to both Governors fighting over companies like Disney placing jobs in their respective states. This growing tension, as well as Newsom and DeSantis being seen as likely Presidential challengers in the next few presidential election cycles, led to both agreeing to an off-election debate earlier in August.

For the next few months, both sides quarreled over the exact terms of the debate, with location, duration, there being an audience, date, and inclusion of opening remarks being some of the sticking points. In late September, Fox News announced a sort of compromise. Both sides agreed to a Sean Hannity-moderated “Red vs. Blue State debate” to be held on November 30th somewhere in Georgia. Most of Newsom’s terms were also agreed to, with the debate to last for 90 minutes with no audience.

Following a few more months of planning, details were finally released on Tuesday. The official title of the debate will be the boxing-esque “DeSantis vs. Newsom: The Great Red vs. Blue State Debate.”

The debate will begin at 9PM EST/6 PM PST on the 30th and will be held in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta in Georgia. In addition to being broadcast on Fox News, the debate can also be heard on Fox News radio.

“Focusing on the major issues impacting the country, the debate will examine the vastly different approaches the two governors have and offer insights into their political philosophies as well as ambitions for the nation,” said the press release from Fox News. “Throughout the debate, Hannity will highlight a variety of issues in each state, including the economy, the border, immigration, crime, and inflation. Presented without an audience, the governors will have equal opportunity to respond and address each issue.”

In addition to the full release of debate details, Governor Newsom also released a new ad campaign going after DeSantis this week, attacking him for signing a six-week abortion ban earlier this year. The Newsom-narrated ad specifically points out how anyone performing or participating in an abortion more than six weeks after pregnancy can receive a felony charge for up to five years in prison.

“That’s not freedom,” says Newsom in the ad. “That’s Ron DeSantis’ Florida.”

New Newsom ads in Florida, DC

The ad, running in Florida and Washington, D.C., was not commented on by DeSantis, with his team simply giving out a statement  saying that “Ron DeSantis is eager to expose to a national audience just how dangerous Newsom’s radical ideology would be for the country.”

Both Newsom and DeSantis have focused more and more on the upcoming debate in recent weeks. While both Governors are either running for or are heavily rumored to run for president in the 2024 and 2028 elections, they have both also recently seen slips in popularity. Nationally, DeSantis went from being within striking distance of former President Donald Trump in polls at the beginning of the year for the Republican nomination to a distant second, falling from 35% in January to 13% in mid-November. Meanwhile, Newsom has nosedived in approval ratings in California, going from a 63% approval rating in May 2020 to a new low of only 44% earlier this month.

With both Governors seeing new lows in approval and popularity, the upcoming debate with guaranteed nationwide exposure and a news cycle life likely to last for at least several days afterwards may turn out to be a boon to both.

“That’s exactly why both are putting so much effort into this,” Dean Campbell, a debate coach and advisor in Washington, told the Globe. “It was talked about for over a year, but as soon as DeSantis began sinking in the polls and Newsom’s approval started going down, both got serious about it.

“We see this with debates all the time. One side is resistant to them until momentum suddenly starts going the other way. For DeSantis, this can be a shot in the arm his campaign needs a few months before the primaries and caucuses begin. It will be hard to keep up with Trump’s support, but thrashing Newsom on a national stage would help. As for Newsom, him dominating DeSantis in the debate would surely win back support from lost supporters in California.

“That being said, there is so much this debate can do. DeSantis will need a miracle to catch up to Trump right now outside of him being legally barred from running. And Newsom is not going to win back a lot of people even if he does well in the debate. A lot of people don’t like him, and his smarminess is really starting to connect. He won’t win over anyone on the right, moderates are liking him less and less, and as we saw in recent polls, even younger people, traditionally a more solid Democratic leaning group, is finding him intolerable.

“This is really coming down to ideologies and the pros and cons to both states being unveiled in debate form. There’s no love-loss between them, but honestly, if they can find some common ground in the debate, like, say, disliking Texas or agreeing on certain laws, maybe we can have a rare positive point or two of the night. But besides that, with a lot on the line for a very unusual off-season debate, it will likely be a dogfight.”

The debate is to be held on November 30th on Fox News, airing at 6 PM PST.