A spokesperson for Donald Trump compared Ron DeSantis to an OnlyFans model in a bizarre statement issued before the Florida governor took the debate stage to take on California's Gavin Newsom.
Thursday's event, which aired on Fox News, was a hard-to-explain 90-minute clash that pitted a struggling Republican presidential candidate against a Democratic rival who may or may not want the presidency in four years.
Steven Cheung from the Trump campaign seized his opportunity and released a 'spolier' about how the debate would go.
“Ron will wave his arms and bob his head wildly, making him look more like a San Francisco crackhead than the governor of Florida. This is not a prediction. It's a spoiler,” Cheung said.
“Ron DeSanctimonious is acting more like a thirsty, third-rate OnlyFans wannabe model than an actual presidential candidate,” Cheung continued.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (left) and California Governor Gavin Newsom (right) met Thursday evening in Alpharetta, Georgia, hosted by Fox News and moderated by Sean Hannity (center).
Former President Donald Trump leads Florida Governor Ron DeSantis nationally by about 48 points. In Florida, Trump leads DeSantis by 41 points, according to a November poll from Florida Atlantic University
“Instead of actually campaigning and trying to turn around his dismal poll numbers, DeSanctus is now so desperate for attention that he's debating a Class A loser like Gavin Newsom,” he added.
On Thursday, the governors of major states were eager to represent their parties on the national stage as they battled over the economy, pandemic restrictions and President Joe Biden's leadership in a showdown laced with fiery policy disputes and personal insults.
“This is a slick, slick politician whose state is failing,” DeSantis said of Newsom.
The California Democrat defended his state, but also wanted to shift the discussion to DeSantis' stagnant presidential bid in 2024.
'How are things going for you, Ron? You're down 41 points in your own home state,” said Newsom, who is supporting Biden for president. “Neither of us will be nominated for a party in 2024.”
The host, Fox News Channel, billed the event, hosted by Sean Hannity, as “The Great Red vs. Blue State Debate'.
Yet it was held in a television studio without an audience in Georgia, a location chosen for its key swing-state implications for national politics.
California Governor Gavin Newsom predicted that President Joe Biden (pictured) would be the Democratic nominee “within a few weeks,” while saying former President Donald Trump would be the Republican nominee in the same period.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said during his debate with California Governor Gavin Newsom that President Joe Biden was “in decline” and a “danger” to the country, while accusing Newsom of running a “shadow campaign” for to carry the president.
And it played out in the heart of the presidential primary season, with voters in both parties paying more attention to their 2024 options heading into next fall's general election.
As leaders of two of the three most populous states, DeSantis and Newsom have spent much of the past year studying each other's policy choices and leadership styles from a distance.
But Thursday night they got their first chance to challenge each other on the same national stage.
The two contestants, who stood alone on stage on stages, accused each other of lying repeatedly and talked over each other the entire time. And while they largely focused on policy differences, the debate was also deeply personal at times.
DeSantis called Newsom “a liberal bully.” Of DeSantis, Newsom said, “I don't like the way you demean and demean people you disagree with.”
Hannity struggled to control the action. Time and again he encouraged the men to give each other 'breathing space'.
DeSantis, a 45-year-old Republican governor elected last fall to his second and final term, is seizing momentum in a 2024 campaign plagued by missteps in his bid to defeat former President Donald Trump, who remains the overwhelming frontrunner in the battle is. GOP primary.
Newsom, the 56-year-old Democratic governor of California, has positioned himself to one day win the presidency, but like the rest of his party's most ambitious leaders, he declined to challenge Biden for the 2024 Democratic nomination.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said he was all in for President Joe Biden's re-election campaign, even going so far as to tell Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, “I would take Joe Biden out of 100 against Ron DeSantis, every day of the week and at every age'
Instead, he has emerged as a leading defender of Biden and a formal campaign adviser.
He embraced that role Thursday night after DeSantis said he was “joined at the hip with Biden and (Vice President Kamala) Harris.” Later, Florida's governor said Biden, at 81, is “in decline” and represents “a danger to the country.”
“I'm proud of the work Biden and Harris have done,” Newsom said as he scrolled through unemployment statistics. “I'll take Joe Biden at 100 over Ron DeSantis any day of the week and at any age.”
Throughout the event, the Biden campaign aired video clips of Newsom's appearance.
And then Newsom made a fundraising appeal on Biden's behalf. DeSantis' team also released a steady stream of its own highlights, much like a traditional presidential debate.