Ron DeSantis won’t debate Gavin Newsom, but urges him to stop ‘pussyfooting’ around about 2024 run

Gov. Ron DeSantis is not willing to debate California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Fox News, but is offering advice nonetheless.

DeSantis told reporters in Fort Pierce that Newsom should “stop pussyfooting around” and challenge the incumbent President, fellow Democrat Joe Biden.

“What I would tell him is, you know what? Stop pussyfooting around. Are you going to throw your hat in the ring and challenge Joe? Are you going to get in and do it, or are you just going to sit on the sidelines and chirp? So why don’t you throw your hat in the ring and then we’ll go ahead and talk about what’s happening,” DeSantis said.

The Governor, of course, has already stopped “pussyfooting around” and has launched his presidential campaign that sees him out of state more often than he’s in Florida in many weeks of late. His comments were responsive to a challenge issued by Newsom during an interview with Sean Hannity that aired Monday.

Newsom claimed he would do a three-hour debate with DeSantis with the Fox News perennial hosting, on “one day’s notice with no notes.”

During the same interview, Newsom said DeSantis’ run for President was doomed, predicting former President Donald Trump would “clean his clock.”

Newsom’s prediction that Trump would thump DeSantis came during a spirited exchange with the Fox News Channel host about migrant flights Florida sent to Sacramento from Texas, which Newsom claims were a “stunt,” “embarrassing” and “pathetic.”

DeSantis has fought for more than a year with Gov. Newsom, a bicoastal battle between two Governors who have not faced significant tests in their own states of late. By POLITICO’s reckoning, Newsom and DeSantis are “sworn enemies that need each other.” And there may be something to that, as these most recent comments illustrate.

The post Ron DeSantis won’t debate Gavin Newsom, but urges him to stop ‘pussyfooting’ around about 2024 run appeared first on Florida Politics – Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..

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