DeSantis and Newsom clash over America’s future in acrimonious TV debate
- Two big-state governors, Republican DeSantis and Democrat Newsom, face off in the ‘Great Red vs Blue State Debate’
- California’s Newsom isn’t running in 2024 but speculation about a presidential campaign in 2028 has been growing
The leaders of two of the largest US states went head-to-head Thursday in a prime-time debate offering contrasting views of how the deeply-polarised nation should be run – and a preview of how the 2028 White House race might look.
Republican Florida governor Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom, his counterpart in Democratic California, have been hammering each other for years over their vastly differing outlooks but the at times bad-tempered debate marked their first in-person clash.
The pair represent almost one in five Americans – California is the largest US state and Florida is third – and debate host Fox News had billed the showdown as a clash between liberal blue and conservative red America.
The 45-year-old Florida governor, once seen as the most viable alternative to scandal-plagued Donald Trump for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, is desperate to revive a flagging White House bid going into election year.
Newsom, 56, isn’t running but speculation about a presidential campaign in 2028 has grown as commentators have been impressed with his appearances on the stump for President Joe Biden.
