Newsom-DeSantis Debate Reaction Proves To Be All Over The Map

The long awaited “Great Red vs. Blue State Debate” between California Governor Gavin Newsom and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Thursday night brought a varied reaction from media outlets and political figures, with both praise and jeers being directed towards both Governors afterwards.

As the Globe reported Thursday night and early Friday, the Sean Hannity-moderated debate held in Georgia and aired on Fox News was one based heavily on facts, visuals, and well-documented statistics. Of particular note was when Governor DeSantis surprised Governor Newsom with an app map showing where human feces is found throughout the the city of San Francisco.

“This is a map of San Francisco,” said DeSantis. “There’s a lot of plots on that. You may be asking, what is that plotting? Well, this is an app where they plot the human feces that are found on the streets of San Francisco.”

“And you see how almost the whole thing is covered. Because that is what has happened in one of the previous greatest cities this country’s ever had. Human feces is now a fact of life, except when a communist dictator comes to town. Then they cleaned up the streets.”

Newsom: Ron has literally the worst mental health system in America. Forgive me outside of Mississippi and Texas..

DeSantis: *hold up feces map* pic.twitter.com/mVmAHY5LsX

— Acyn (@Acyn) December 1, 2023

Both Governors also fired back at each other using not only heavy research, but also recent, negative news stories and incidents in each others states. In addition to the feces issue in San Francisco, DeSantis targeted incidents such as the I-10 freeway fire in Los Angeles, while Newsom went after DeSantis on signing restrictive sexual orientation and abortion measures.

“Gavin Newsom, at one point, he tried to say that California was the Freedom State. I just kind of laughed, like, you’re locking people down during the coronavirus, you’re doing all this,” added DeSantis. “And then I thought about it — you know, California does have freedoms that some people, that other states don’t.

“You have the freedom to defecate in public in California, you have the freedom to pitch a tent on Sunset Boulevard. You have the freedom to create a homeless encampment under a freeway and even light it on fire. You have the freedom to have an open air drug market and use drugs. You have the freedom if you’re an legal alien to get all these taxpayer benefits. They’re not the freedoms our Founding Fathers envision, but they have contributed to the destruction of the quality of life in California. And the results speak for themselves. People are leaving the state because politicians there have failed in addressing the homeless population.

“In California you had Disney closed inexplicably for over a year. You were a lock-down Governor.”

Newsom, in response, retorted saying “I mean, here’s a guy who is criminalizing teachers criminalizing doctors, criminalizing librarians and criminalizing women that seek their reproductive care. You’re making it harder to vote, you’re banning books. I mean, spare me this notion of freedom. I think it’s an interesting campaign strategy for Ron DeSantis to be bashing a state of 40 million Americans when California simply has no peers.

“Let’s talk about your record on COVID. You pass an emergency declaration before the state of California did. You closed down your beaches, your bars, your restaurants. It’s a fact. You had quarantines — you had quarantines, you had checkpoints all over the state of Florida. By the way, I didn’t say that. Donald Trump laid you out on this. He followed science. He followed Fauci.”

Reaction and debate winners

On Thursday night and Friday, reactions poured in online. Who won or lost, or more often stated in articles and tweets, who did a better job, varied wildly. Outlets like The Guardian said the Newsom did a better job and showed why DeSantis would never be President. Similarly, the Washington Post had an article on Friday saying that DeSantis finally got to debate his COVID record with someone in a debate, with it not going well. The LA Times pretty much declared Newsom the winner since he didn’t have much to lose and even pointed to one quote from the debate in particular that did it for them.

“There is one thing that we have in common,” quoted the Times of Newsom in the debate. “Neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024.”

Conversely, other outlets pegged DeSantis as the overall winner. Fox News, for example, noted that DeSantis “destroyed” Newsom in the debate. USA Today said the DeSantis did a better job of showing why his state was doing better. And some surprise support for DeSantis overnight came from survivors and parental survivors of the 2018 Parkland school Shooting, who threw their support behind DeSantis over his stance on firearms.

“My daughter died in the Parkland mass shooting,” said Andrew Pollack, whose child was killed in the shooting. “Ron DeSantis was not even Governor when it happened, but I’m sure as hell glad he became Governor shortly after. Governor DeSantis fired the incompetent people responsible, he didn’t demonize lawful gun owners. Newsom is trash!”

My daughter died in the Parkland mass shooting.

Ron DeSantis was not even Governor when it happened, but I’m sure as hell glad he became Governor shortly after.

Governor DeSantis fired the incompetent people responsible, he didn’t demonize lawful gun owners.

Newsom is trash!

— Andrew Pollack (@AndrewPollackFL) December 1, 2023

Other outlets simply had neither candidate doing well in particular. The New York Times fact-checked throughout the debate and found many statements by both Governors to be misleading or false. The San Francisco Chronicle said that “unhinged male rage” was the winner on Thursday. NPR put it more bluntly and said that the debate likely would not change anyone’s minds on the candidates.

But the most common thought of the night wasn’t who won or lost, but how the debate was only a preview of what the 2028 election could be. NBC, Time, and most other larger news outlets noted this in their coverage.

Analysts told the Globe on Friday that the debate being a preview of debates in 2028 was on point, but that the debate was ultimately a victory for both for one reason: attention.

“Newsom really wants to stay relevant in the next five years, especially between 2026 and 2028, and DeSantis needed a big media boost going into the upcoming caucuses and primaries,” said Dean Campbell, a debate coach and advisor in Washington, to the Globe. “Neither disappointed.”

“Newsom and DeSantis did that at times, but they kept letting other things get in the way. DeSantis was being too spontaneous, like bringing out pieces of paper and things like that, and kept going after California at every turn. In presidential debates, he needs to be more fair and nuanced. Trump and other Republicans know this about bashing other states. Criticize of course, but also offer solutions and praise things you like about the state in question. You still want the people to be behind you, as well as, you know, get the state in the primary and fundraise in those areas. Democratic candidates do the same in Texas and other red states.

“As for Newsom, he needs to do better with facts. DeSantis was pulling them out all night. Newsom had some, but he really needed more to bring it home. His team did a good job in predicting where the questioning would go, but didn’t follow through with counters. You can’t quip your way out of everything. You get out of a jam, by giving facts and, most importantly, sourcing them. Like “Well Governor, that isn’t true. According to the State Department this year…” and go from there. Some of it is memorization, but if you are giving a lot of speeches, you should build it up.

“Both Governors have a lot to learn from this debate. But both also know how to debate each other more effectively now. Newsom can better counter curveballs in the future now, especially from big-name Republicans whom he really never got to debate much in California. And DeSantis got a valuable offbeat debate which can prepare him better to debate Trump next year. But they also both one in getting attention. That’s something you can’t take away from them.”