Politics

‘Freedom Is Under Attack In Your State’: Gov. Newsom Launches Ad Going After DeSantis’ Florida

Governor Gavin Newsom [Screenshot/Twitter/GavinNewsom]

[Screenshot/Twitter/GavinNewsom]

Kevin Garcia-Galindo Contributor
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Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom aired a TV ad Monday targeting Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida leadership on Fox News.

“It’s Independence Day. So let’s talk about what’s going on in America. Freedom is under attack in your state” Newsom said. “Your Republican leaders, they’re banning books, making it harder to vote, restricting speech in classrooms, even criminalizing women and doctors.” 

Newsom paid Fox News $105,000 to premiere the ad during their Independence Day programming, according to CNN. 

“I urge all of you living in Florida to join the fight or join us in California. Where we still believe in freedom. Freedom of speech. Freedom to choose. Freedom from hate. And the freedom to love. Don’t let them take your freedom,” Newsom continued.

Newsom gave CNN an exclusive early look at the ad and a 20-minute phone interview, in which he called DeSantis a bully, a fraud, an authoritarian, a fake conservative and “DeSantos,” according to CNN. 

During the interview, Newsom assured CNN that this was not an early ad to launch a presidential campaign in 2024 or 2028. (‘Sub-Zero Interest’: Gavin Newsom Says He Doesn’t Want To Run For President, Backs Kamala Harris Instead)

DeSantis declined CNN’s request for an interview, but his campaign spokesman Dave Abrams told CNN that “Gavin Newsom might as well light a pile of cash on fire.”

“Pass the popcorn for his desperate attempt to win back the California refugees who fled the hellhole he created in his state to come to Florida,” Abrams said, according to CNN.

“Things have changed, rules of engagement have to change,” Newsom told CNN. “You’ve got to take the fight to them.”