Ron DeSantis dares Gavin Newsom to take on Joe Biden in 2024
- Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis asks: ‘Are you gonna throw your hat in the ring and challenge Joe?’
- Gavin Newsom, a rising star in the Democratic Party, has repeatedly said he has no interest in running for president
Republican Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida escalated his feud with California Governor Gavin Newsom, daring the West Coast Democrat to “stop pussyfooting around” and launch a primary challenge against US President Joe Biden.
DeSantis, who announced his presidential campaign late last month, took on Newsom during a news conference in Florida in which he was asked about Newsom’s recent comments to Fox News agreeing to a hypothetical debate with DeSantis hosted by Sean Hannity.
“He’s got huge problems in his state – I mean, like, huge problems in his state,” DeSantis said on Thursday. “Yet with all those problems, he has a real serious fixation on the state of Florida. I think it’s just bizarre.”
DeSantis then turned to the Democrats’ 2024 primary election, in which 80-year-old Biden is facing only token opposition.
“You know what? Stop pussyfooting around,” DeSantis said. “Are you gonna throw your hat in the ring and challenge Joe? Are you going to get in and do it? Or are you just gonna sit on the sidelines and chirp?”
DeSantis’ jab comes as he shies away from confrontation with his chief rival in the Republican Party’s White House primary, former president Donald Trump.
Newsom, a rising star in the Democratic Party, has repeatedly said he has no interest in running for president, saying he completely supports Biden’s re-election campaign. In April, Newsom raised money for Biden during a fundraiser in Washington shortly after the president announced his re-election campaign.
But 55-year-old Newsom has continued to raise his national profile, fuelling more speculation that he is laying the groundwork for a presidential campaign beyond 2024.
After coasting to re-election as governor in 2022, Newsom took the millions of dollars left over in his campaign account to start a new political action committee.
Newsom said he plans to use the money to support Democrats running for office in Republican-dominated states like Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi. Last week, Newsom said the committee would campaign for a 28th amendment to the US Constitution to harden federal gun laws.
A Newsom spokesperson did not respond directly to DeSantis’ latest comments, but did note that Newsom attended Disneyland’s Pride night this week with company CEO Bob Iger.
Disney has sued DeSantis, alleging the governor undertook a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” after the company opposed a Florida law that critics call “Don’t Say Gay”.
Ace Smith, a senior Newsom adviser, responded to DeSantis’ new broadside on Twitter: “Your whining is very unpresidential!”
Tensions have long been high between the two high-profile men, but reached a climax this month when the DeSantis administration relocated migrants from Texas to Sacramento, the state capital where Newsom governs.
DeSantis accused California of encouraging illegal immigration through establishing sanctuary cities, while Newsom called DeSantis a “small, pathetic man” and threatened to consider kidnapping charges.
DeSantis’ latest comments about Newsom were specifically in response to an interview the California governor did with Hannity that aired on Monday.
During that interview Newsom insisted Biden is physically fit for a second term as president while refusing to say whether supporters have urged him to run against Biden on the 2024 ballot.
Asked if he believes Biden is “cognitively strong enough to be president”, Newsom said yes, adding that he talks with the president “all the time” and has travelled with him aboard Air Force One.
‘You never answered my question directly,” Hannity responded. “How many times does your phone ping a day, people saying you need to get in this race because they agree with me that he’s not up to the job.”
Newsom stammered somewhat before responding: “I’m not answering”.
Recent US polls have shown lukewarm support for another Biden run. Biden, the oldest US president in history, who would be 86 at the end of a second term.
Trump turned 77 this week. DeSantis is 44.
Additional reporting by Business Insider
