Democratic Governor of California Gavin Newsom will face off against Florida Governor and Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis in a Thursday evening debate hosted by Fox News.
The 90-minute debate, entitled “DeSantis vs. Newsom: The Great Red vs. Blue State Debate,” will be hosted by Fox News host Sean Hannity beginning at 9 p.m. EST Thursday live from Alpharetta, Georgia.
Hannity will then host a live reaction segment with a panel of guests from 10:30 to 11 p.m.
Fox describes the upcoming debate as “a high-profile general election-style debate putting two relatively young and very well-known governors of large states who have a knack for grabbing national attention.”
The network says the debate will cover a variety of issues in each state, “including the economy, the border, immigration, crime, and inflation.”
“The contrast of California’s failures to Florida’s success demonstrates that Ron DeSantis is right: decline is merely a choice,” DeSantis spokesperson Andrew Romeo wrote on X ahead of the debate. “Ron DeSantis rejects that choice and, as president, will reverse America’s decline.”
“Whether Newsom or Biden is the Democrat nominee in ’24, they both offer the same failed and dangerous ideology for America that helped get us in this mess,” Romeo wrote. “We look forward to putting Ron DeSantis’ record of success up against it.”
Although Newsom has spoken about eventually running for president, he has endorsed Biden and has encouraged his fellow Democrats to do the same.
Newsom spokesperson Nathan Click told Fox News to expect the Democratic governor “to defend the president and use the opportunity to take on the misinformation machine at its headwaters.”
“Newsom has long believed that Democrats have to go on offense in enemy territory, and that’s exactly what he intends to do,” Click said.
