Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) might be Patient Zero for a new condition: DeSantis Derangement Syndrome. Newsom is in many ways the Bizarro DeSantis — governing a state with an enviable climate and incredible natural beauty. And just as DeSantis is fighting many of his state’s political wars from the right side of the aisle, Newsom hits from the opposite side.
While Newsom has aimed his arrows at other red states — with billboards hyping the “freedom” of California as well as the state’s abortion tourism industry — he particularly loves to go after DeSantis and Florida. He even bought ad time on television in the Sunshine State encouraging Floridians to move West to experience life the Newsom way.
At a press conference after signing a bill into law, DeSantis took on Newsom directly and brutally. He began by detailing the plight of the Tarnished Golden State. He pointed out that Newsom has “huge problems in his state. I mean, like, huge problems in his state. We all know that. I mean, you see it in San Francisco, you see it in L.A. You see it in the people fleeing.”
DeSantis went on to remind his audience that California’s slow bleed-out hasn’t always been the case.
“California, from its inception, gained population every single year until [Newsom] became governor,” he said. “California was probably the height of opportunity for middle-class Americans for many, many decades. In this country… people were drawn to there, and yet he’s the first governor that’s overseen a massive exodus out of California.”
Related: Gavin Newsom Runs Ads in Florida Trying to Get Folks to Move to California for More Freedom
The governor also specifically pointed out that many of those Californians are coming to Florida, saying, “And you know, you can kind of understand if somebody comes from Minnesota and moves to Naples — better winters, all this stuff, but if you’re leaving Southern California to move to Jacksonville, which is a great place, you’re not doing it because of the weather because they’ve got probably the best weather in the country. You’re doing it because the place is so mismanaged, and they’ll govern that you just can’t take it anymore.”
DeSantis decided to turn armchair psychiatrist and diagnose Newsom’s obsession with the Sunshine State.
“And yet with all those problems, he has a real serious fixation on the state of Florida,” he continued. “I mean, I think it’s just bizarre that he does that.”
Then, DeSantis challenged Newsom to put his money where his mouth is — no, not on more hair products. He threw down the gauntlet for Bizarro DeSantis to jump into the 2024 election fray.
“But 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.'”
Boom! DeSantis is beginning to prove that he has the same quality that so many people admire in Donald Trump: he fights. But the difference is that DeSantis is more willing to hit the other side than cause internecine GOP battles, and he’s doing it all without the baggage that turns so many people off toward Trump.
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