Ron DeSantis tears into Gavin Newsom for having so many residents – including his father-in-law – leave California they ‘ran out of U-Hauls’: Democrat hits back saying NEITHER will be a presidential nominee in 2024

The claws were out early in the showdown between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, as the two state leaders took personal blows and battled to outsize each other.

DeSantis criticized his California counterpart, pointing out his hypocrisy during Covid-19 when he went to the fine dining restaurant The French Laundry and sent his children to in-person private schools while its residents were still under quarantine.

He said California was running out of UHauls because so many people were moving to red states, including Florida. He said the new Florida residents include the father of Newsom’s wife.

Newsom didn’t back down in a one-on-one debate in Alpharetta, Georgia, on Thursday night, taking a dig at DeSantis by saying the two would not be presidential candidates in 2024.

“You almost have to try to screw up California,” DeSantis said during a brash opening speech explaining why his state is better. “That’s what Gavin Newsom has done since he became governor.”

“He imposed restrictions on his people while simultaneously freeing himself from those restrictions and going to the French Laundry while his people suffered,” the Florida governor said. “He led the country in closing schools, keeping children out of school while his own children attended private school in person.”

Newsom has repeatedly said he has no plans to run for president in 2024 and has been serving as President Joe Biden’s surrogate since he launched his re-election campaign this year.

On the other hand, DeSantis is in a hotly contested primary election in which he trails former President Donald Trump by a wide margin.

“I give Gavin credit – he at least acknowledged in his first answer that he supports Biden and Harris,” DeSantis said at Thursday’s debate. “He thinks Biden and Harris did a great job. He thinks the economy is working because of their policies towards Americans, but that’s not true.

The governor added: “California is the Biden-Harris program on steroids.”

He noted that Newsom is the first California leader to see the state losing population rather than gaining.

“They actually ran out of U-Hauls in the state of California at one point because so many people were leaving,” DeSantis said at the start of a debate filled with a lot of tension and crosstalk.

Newsom acknowledged, “There are deep divisions tonight, and I look forward to engaging.”

“But in conclusion, there is one thing that unites us: none of us will be our party’s candidate in 2024,” he said.

Governors took the stage Thursday night to prove once and for all which of their states is better and which of their governing styles is better suited to their residents.

The highly anticipated match was expected to be hot – and it did not disappoint from the start.

After the debate, DeSantis said at a news conference that he decided to hold the debate because it was a “good exposure” for him as Trump absorbs most of the media attention in the GOP primaries.

“One of the reasons I did this is because Sean is a friend,” DeSantis said of the Fox host, adding that he was initially hesitant to participate because Newsom is not an official candidate in the 2024 election.

“But then I thought about it,” he explained at a post-debate press conference. “I am running in a race in which one candidate is receiving disproportionate amounts of media coverage. And so I have to be able to get my message across.”

“So to have 90 minutes on national television where I can go and box someone on the far left is good advertising for me,” he said.

The two men spent months at each other’s throats on air and finally got the chance to meet face to face.

Tensions between DeSantis and Newsom come to a head in Alpharetta, Georgia, where Fox News host Sean Hannity asks the two to share why their approach to governing is best.

The battle of governors not only offers the ultimate showdown between red and blue, but it could also be a harbinger of a future presidential race—if not this cycle, then later.

Some are also looking for alternatives to President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, who are likely to rematch in 2024.

DeSantis is currently in the 2024 GOP presidential race, consistently ranking second in polls but trailing far behind Trump. He had already competed in three Republican presidential primary debates against his GOP rivals without Trump before his battle with Newsom.

Meanwhile, Newsom is not in the 2024 race and insists he has no plans to enter the race, but is instead serving as a surrogate for Biden.

“As Democrats ramp up their efforts to replace the historically unpopular and failed Joe Biden as their nominee, Ron DeSantis’ showdown with Gavin Newsom becomes even more timely,” DeSantis campaign manager James Utmyer said in a statement provided to DailyMail.com.

He added: “Newsom’s presidency will accelerate America’s decline, and November 30 will be the first chance to show a national audience how dangerous his radical ideology will be for the country.”

“Ron DeSantis will take this responsibility seriously and looks forward to sharing the stark contrast between his vision for revitalizing our nation and Newsom’s plan to fail.”

Newsom spokesman Nathan Click told DailyMail.com the day before the debate that the California governor was participating because he “has long believed that Democrats must go on the offensive in enemy territory, and that is exactly what he intends to do.”

Hannity helped set the terms of the debate, which included at least one candidate choosing not to have a studio audience.

The Fox News host told DailyMail.com in an interview on Tuesday: “I took a crazy stand and dealt with it personally. I thought it was too important.

Newsom initially challenged DeSantis to a debate in September 2022. At the time, DeSantis had not yet entered the 2024 Republican presidential primary.

In a June interview with Hannity, liberal Newsom again said he would debate with conservative DeSantis, with the Fox host serving as moderator.

DeSantis officially agreed in August, telling Hannity during an interview: “I’m game. Let’s do that. Just tell me when and where.

“We were shocked when he agreed,” Click told DailyMail.com.

“Newsom has been challenging DeSantis (sic) to a debate for months, and the fact that he finally agreed as his campaign was collapsing shows how bad DeSantis (sic) needs to divert attention from the disaster of his candidacy,” he added.