California Gov. Gavin Newsom Brutally Criticizes Ron DeSantis: 'He's Attacking Minorities'

California Governor Gavin Newsom tore apart Ron DeSantis and his presidential campaign agenda. The 56-year-old appeared on NBC's Late Night with Seth Meyers on Thursday, December 14, 2023, and spoke candidly about his honest opinion about the Florida Governor and accused the politician of "scapegoating."

The host questioned Newsom about his recent debate with DeSantis on Fox News and how things went. He casually said he wasn't running for president and "apparently DeSantis still is." To this, the audience in the studio laughed. Meyers further pressed him about his opening statement and whether he always knew where the Florida governor would land in the polls.

Newsom said, "No, I didn't." However, he added, "I have developed a lot of animus towards him because of his animus towards all of you." The California governor accused DeSantis, "This guy is out there scapegoating vulnerable communities. He's attacking minorities; he's attacking women."

He ripped apart the Florida Gov., "And I don't like it, and I wanted to push back against it. And I felt like the [Republican] party was a little timid on all this. I mean, he's out there talking about anti-woke," adding, "For me, it's anti-woke; what he really means is anti-Black."

"He's out there censoring historic facts; he's rewriting history," alleged Newsom. "He's eliminated AP African-American studies," emphasizing DeSantis' statement, "[He said] slavery was somehow some workforce development program, and he doubled down on that."

The Democrat said, "It's a very serious moment. I just felt it was important to blowback against that, against that narrative, and hold these guys accountable on a network where they don't hear from guys like me, ever." Meyers affirmed, "They certainly don't," praising, "well said," while the audience cheered on for the governor. 

Newsom took the bold step of confronting the Florida governor, and it was challenging enough to do it before the Fox News host, Sean Hannity, in an unfriendly setting. However, the 56-year-old insisted such discussions are the need of the hour. As Meyers perfectly put it, "You went into it, and everybody knew it was going to be a two-on-one situation."

The host asked Newsom, "[But] was there a dirty pool? And as we heard, some rules were broken, and maybe the teleprompter was tilted towards one direction." The California Gov. responded, "It's Fox; what else do you expect? It's in a red state. You have Hannity, who has been platforming DeSantis 40 or 50 times."

However, he said, "We're living in two different worlds, these sort of micro-cults. And people are in this filter bubble, only listening to one thing all the time. And that's why I started going on Fox. And that's why I thought it was important to have a 90-minute live debate, at least so I can assert and push back." He also urged, "I think we need to assert ourselves."

DeSantis and Newsom's debate came to an abrupt end when it crossed the 90-minute mark. When moderator Hannity asked if they'd continue the discussion, the California governor said he could talk all night. So, the Fox News commentator said he'd extend the debate to a full two hours. However, after the commercial, it was informed the participants couldn't stay longer, CBS News reported.