Last Night, Sean Hannity and Fox News hosted a debate between Florida Governor and Republican Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis and Democrat California Governor Gavin Newsom. The night was filled with both politicians talking over each other, but still provided some healthy discussion on key issues surrounding the red/blue state divide.
There were several viral clips circulating on social media. One of which was when Governor DeSantis talked about one of his constituents who had moved from California during the Covid-19 pandemic. “I was talking to a fella who had made the move from California to Florida, DeSantis said. “He was telling me that Florida’s much better governed, safer, better budget, lower taxes… Then he paused and said ‘by the way, I’m Gavin Newsom’s father-in-law.’”
Governor DeSantis also brought a couple of physical graphics to the debate stage. The first was a page from the children’s book “Gender Queer,” which showed blacked out gay, sexual cartoon pictures. He held up the page and said, “This is a book that’s in some of the schools in California called ‘Genderqueer.’ This is pornography. It’s cartoons. It’s aimed at children. And it’s wrong. This should not be in schools.”
The second graphic, which was also disturbing in its own way, was a map of San Francisco with some interesting plots. “This is an app where they plot the human feces that are found on the streets of San Francisco,” DeSantis said holding up the map. He later added, “That is what has happened in one of the previous greatest cities this country has ever had.”
Newsom also attacked DeSantis on several issues, including the 6 week abortion ban that the Florida Governor recently signed into law. “So extreme is your ban, that criminalizes women and ciminalizes doctors, that even Donald Trump said it was too extreme.”
After going back and forth over a variety of topics, the debate came to a bizarre end. At the end of the alloted time for the debate, both participants agreed to continue the discussion beyond the time previously planned. The host Sean Hannity said that they would cut to a commercial break, then continue the debate. When the break was over, however, Hannity said that both participants had to leave for “other commitments.” According to NBC News, the real reason that the debate did not continue was because Governor Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, came on stage and ended the debate. One source quoted her as saying, “We’re done.”
You can find more clips from the debate posted by DeSantis here and by Newsom here.