Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom have set a date for their long-awaited debate. As reported by Fox News in a press release, the debate between the governor of Florida and the governor of California will take place on November 30 at 9 p.m. (ET):
Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity will moderate a red vs. blue state debate between Florida Governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis and Democrat California Governor Gavin Newsom on November 30th.
The debate, which will last 90 minutes, will be held in Georgia, at a location that has not yet been determined. It will be the first debate between what seems to be the second clearest option to represent the Republican Party in 2024 and Gavin Newsom, the governor of California who is gaining more and more support from Democrats to run against Joe Biden in the primaries. Sean Hannity, who will moderate the debate, assured that he wants to provide viewers with an "informative debate":
I’m looking forward to providing viewers with an informative debate about the everyday issues and governing philosophies that impact the lives of every American.
The two governors agreed to a debate in August
The debate has been in the works since August. It was then that the long-awaited debate was announced and since then both rivals have been avoiding all kinds of questions about the event. Gavin Newsom, Deadline reported that there had been a complication due to "venue issues." "They wanted thousands of people and make it a performance. I wasn’t interested in that," he said.
DeSantis explained that, for him, this debate is in response to the massive number of people who are fleeing California and heading to Florida and Texas:
I’m game. Let’s get it done. Just tell me when and where. We’ll do it. And here’s the thing, Sean. I mean in one respect, the debate between California and Florida has already been had, as you suggest, people have been voting on that. They’ve been voting on it with their feet. They have fled California in record numbers. Florida has been the number one state for net in-migration.
