Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis clashed with California Gov. Gavin Newsom over immigration and the border in their debate Thursday night, accusing the Democrat and President Joe Biden of supporting “open borders.”
During the debate, moderated by Fox News host Sean Hannity, Newsom claimed DeSantis as his own while a member of Congress advocated “amnesty” for migrants who entered the country illegally.
“You supported John Boehner’s bill … You supported Obama’s efforts to push for comprehensive reforms,” Newsom said, calling DeSantis “the last guy you want to talk to about the immigration issue.”
DeSantis, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2013 to 2019 before running for governor, called that claim “false” and said he had “killed John Boehner’s bill.”
“It’s déjà vu all over again with this flood of lies.” “This is someone saying that the Biden administration is not lying to the public about the border,” the Republican said. “We know that’s not true. ‘Gavin Newsom is lying to you.’
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (left) clashed with California Gov. Gavin Newsom (right) over immigration and the border during their debate Thursday night
Asked about Newsom’s comments, a Democratic spokesman pointed to an article in the Congressional Quarterly showing that DeSantis initially supported the Boehner immigration measure in 2014, but later withdrew his support and voted no.
The Newsom spokesman also pointed to DeSantis’ 2018 vote in favor of H.R. 4760, saying it would have “allowed DACA recipients to apply for three-year, renewable legal status as nonimmigrants.”
That measure, which was also supported by a majority of Republicans, failed because it received no support votes from Democrats.
At Thursday’s debate, Newsom also criticized DeSantis over his controversial plan last year to fly dozens of migrants from the Texas border to Martha’s Vineyard and then conduct a similar airlift to California.
“Their immigration policy is best described as a governor of the state of Florida going to another state, the state of Texas, lying to migrants, promising them jobs and housing, sending them to an island, Martha’s Vineyard, and then sending them there “A parking lot in Sacramento, California,” Newsom said.
“I met with the immigrants who lied to you under false pretenses.” “This kind of game-playing, using people as pawns, is, in my opinion, disqualifying,” the Democrat added.
“He is the last person on stage tonight to talk about immigration reform,” Newsom concluded.
DeSantis shot back: “Martha’s Vineyard said it was a sanctuary jurisdiction.”
September 2022: A Venezuelan migrant responds to volunteers on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. DeSantis flew 48 migrants from Texas to the island and left them stranded
An aerial view of asylum-seeking migrants waiting in line to be transported to a U.S. Border Patrol processing center in Jacumba Hot Springs, California, on November 30, 2023
An Ecuadorian mother walks with her two daughters, ages four and six, to a makeshift camp where they await processing by U.S. Border Patrol in California on Thursday
He compared the airlift to an infamous incident in which Newsom attended a birthday party at the upscale restaurant French Laundry while imposing strict pandemic restrictions on ordinary Californians.
“These liberal elites like to put burdens on you.” “They don’t want to face the consequences of their actions,” DeSantis said.
“So we have a lot of elites who want open borders, who lecture everyone else about it, and as soon as they have to deal with the consequences, all hell breaks loose and they get angry,” he added.
The debate’s moderator, Fox News, dubbed the 90-minute affair “The Great Debate Between Red States and Blue States.”
The event took place in an audience-less television studio in Georgia, a location chosen for its crucial swing-state impact on national politics.
And it played out in the middle of the presidential primary, as voters in both parties were paying closer attention to their 2024 options ahead of next fall’s general election.
DeSantis, 45, is seeking the GOP nomination for president but is far behind front-runner Donald Trump in the polls, a fact Newsom repeatedly emphasized during the debate.
The debate took place in an audience-less television studio in Georgia, a location chosen for its crucial swing-state impact on national politics
Newsom, California’s 56-year-old term-limited governor, has vowed to one day seek the Democratic nomination for president.
But like the rest of his party’s most ambitious leaders, he declined to challenge Biden for the nomination in 2024.
Instead, he has emerged as a leading Biden defender and official campaign adviser.
He assumed that role Thursday night after DeSantis said he was “joined at the hip with Biden and (Vice President Kamala) Harris.”
Later, Florida’s governor said that at 80, Biden was “in decline” and posed “a danger to the country.”
“I’m proud of the work Biden and Harris have done,” Newsom said, going over unemployment statistics. “I’ll take Joe Biden at 100, not Ron DeSantis, any day of the week, at any age.”