Fox Host Sean Hannity called out Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom for dodging questions about California’s mass exodus from the state during a debate Thursday on Fox News.
Newsom and Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appeared on “Hannity” to debate red and blue state policies. Hannity began by asking the two governors their thoughts on why Californians have fled the state. (RELATED: Gavin Newsom Is Raising Cash Off Debate With Ron DeSantis)
Hannity cited graphs from the U.S. Census Bureau which depicted State-To-State Migration Flows from 2021 – 2022. However, Newsom was unable to answer the question directly and in a second attempt tried shifting over to crime policies before Hannity called out the California governor.
“Governor, wait a minute,” Hannity stated.
“He said a lot of things that were factually untrue, including that 50-year crime low which his own law enforcement team said he should not be using,” Newsom responded.
“You have yet to address the issue — I asked you twice, you don’t wanna answer it,” Hannity pushed back.
“But the issue of why the migration out of red states — I’m sorry out of blue states into red states.”
Newsom cut off the Fox host by claiming that they “just established more Floridians coming to California in the last two years.” Hannity, however, stopped the California governor’s claims by bringing up the state’s “overall net loss.”(RELATED: ‘He Is A Bad Debater’: Fox Business Panel Predicts DeSantis Could Be ‘Finished’ After Newsom Debate)
“It’s a fact,” the California governor stated.
“You didn’t establish it, you just asserted it,” DeSantis jumped in. “No, it’s not a fact.”
Hannity interrupted the back-and-forth between the two governors, deciding to move on to the next question instead.
Democrat-led states, including California, saw a mass migration of people leaving for red states like Texas and Florida starting in 2019 to 2020, according to IRS migration data analyzed by Wirepoints. California lost roughly 332,000 residents with a loss of $29.1 billion in revenue.
Florida was a top destination for many fleeing blue states, bringing in 699,000 new residents, with $57.9 billion in revenue. Although the red state did see some loss, Florida’s tax base was $230 billion higher during 2020 after 21 years of resident in-migration.