California Gov. Gavin Newsom discussed his late-November debate with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with comedian and late-night talk show host Seth Meyers.
Newsom appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Wednesday and said he had developed a contentious relationship with cross-country rival DeSantis.
Meyers asked if Newsom had "higher expectations" for DeSantis' polling as he faces off against former President Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination.
"I'll be honest with ya ... I'm dead serious about this, I've developed a lot of animus towards [DeSantis] because of his animus towards all of you," Newsom said, gesturing towards the audience.
Newsom claimed DeSantis was "scapegoating vulnerable communities," "attacking minorities," and "attacking women."
"I don't like it," Newsom said. "I wanted to push back against it."
The California governor appeared to indicate the Democratic Party had been "timid" on DeSantis.
"He's out there talking about anti-woke," Newsom continued, "for me it's not anti-woke, what he really means is anti-black."
Newsom referenced educational legislation in Florida, claiming DeSantis was "rewriting history."
"He eliminated African American studies," Newsom continued before taking aim at the Florida curriculum which noted emancipated slaves had developed skills to incorporate in their life post-slavery. "He said slavery was somehow some workforce development program."
The California governor said it was a "serious moment" for him and felt it was important to push back on DeSantis and "hold these guys accountable on" Fox News, who hosted last month's debate.
The DeSantis war room responded to Newsom's Wednesday comments by insisting "Americans know that DeSantis has succeeded where Newsom has failed," per a statement published by The Daily Wire.
"When Democrats have nothing substantive to say, they default to accusations of ‘racism,'” the statement added. “No wonder why Newsom’s wife had to throw the towel in for him during the Hannity debate."
Following the debate, NBC News and POLITICO issued reports indicating Newsom's wife, Jennifer Siebel, allegedly requested to end the debate with DeSantis.
"We're done," Newsom's wife said according to the reports. During the debate, DeSantis displayed explicit exhibits including an almost a completely brown map of San Francisco showing locations where fecal matter had been found in public. DeSantis also showed an image from Maia Kobabe’s graphic novel Gender Queer: A Memoir which depicts two children engaging in simulated oral sex.
According to a Fox News spokesperson, the word “props” was not discussed prior to the debate and neither campaign was permitted to use “multimedia production,” per POLITICO. Newsom staffers also criticized Fox News host Sean Hannity, who hosted the debate, for showing graphics of crime and other issues in California during the debate.
