California Governor Gavin Newsom's wife, Jennifer Siebel, reportedly requested to end Thursday's debate with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
During the debate, hosted and moderated by Fox News' Sean Hannity, Newsom's team claimed Hannity created an unfair 2-on-1 dynamic throughout the night.
Sean Clegg, an advisor to the California governor, said Newsom "won" despite the debate being "rigged."
According to a report from Politico, a DeSantis aide said Newsom's wife requested to end the debate on behalf of her husband after the Fox News host invited the governors to continue their debate past the allotted 90-minute time slot. A second source also confirmed the claim to the outlet.
Another source, unaffiliated with either party, also confirmed Siebel Newsom requested to end the debate saying, "We're done," per NBC News.
DeSantis spokesperson Andrew Romeo said the move from Siebel Newsom was "embarrassing."
“Gavin Newsom got beat so badly last night his wife literally had to throw in the towel for him," he said.
The California governor said he was open to continue the debate in a post to X shortly after the debate.
Another aide to Newsom similarly said both camps wanted to wrap up the debate after it's allotted time. “Ron didn’t want to do the debate anymore, either. Everyone shook hands and left,” said the Newsom aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, per Politico. DeSantis' team countered Newsom's team's claims and said the Florida governor would have continued the debate for several more hours. During the debate, DeSantis displayed explicit exhibits including an almost 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.
Newsom staffers reportedly claimed Hannity had assured no multimedia props would be allowed on stage besides a pen and pad of paper. DeSantis' team countered Newsom's staffers claims and said that wasn't their understanding of the debate rules.
“He carried around porn and poop in his suit jacket,” one Newsom aide said of DeSantis' exhibits.
According to a Fox News spokesperson, the word "props" was not discussed prior to the debate and clarified neither campaign was permitted to use "multimedia production," per Politico. Newsom staffers also criticized the Fox News host for showing graphics of crime and other issues in California during the debate.
The outlet spokesperson clarified Hannity had referred to the use of "full screens" in regard to using multimedia during the debate.
