by Alexis Simendinger & Kristina Karisch
As December dawns, war has resumed in Gaza, the House is expected to oust a New York GOP congressman accused of fraud, while former President Trump, also accused of fraud in New York, is back under a gag order after losing his argument against it in court. Nearly 7,000 miles away, wealthy nations surprised many at a U.N. climate summit Thursday when leaders unveiled a new fund to help poorer countries that struggle with the brunt of a warming planet.
🎤 But first, we’re wondering what audiences learned during the prime-time Fox News debate between the Democratic governor of California and Florida’s Republican governor, a presidential candidate who’s trailing behind his party’s front-runner.
During the fiery 90-minute event moderated by Sean Hannity and branded as “The Great Red vs. Blue State Debate,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and California Gov. Gavin Newsom jousted over how each handled issues including COVID-19, crime and abortion, at times getting personal. The whole affair presented an almost alternate-reality experience between a pair of politicians who are not competing for the same office — or in Newsom’s case, running for anything at all (The New York Times).
We have one thing in common: Neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024,” Newsom said early in the debate.
For DeSantis, the debate was a chance to hold the spotlight without other candidates for the Republican presidential nomination on the stage. The Florida governor was initially seen as a threat to Trump but trails the former president and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in polls.
“How’s that going for you, Ron?” Newsom asked DeSantis about Trump’s polling lead in Florida. “You’re down 41 points in your own state.”
For the California governor, whose White House ambitions will remain tempered until at least 2028, the evening was a chance to bring his smooth persona and quick wit to a national — and conservative — audience. Though Newsom often found himself on defense (including with the conservative moderator), he rebuffed attacks, defended the president, who is seeking reelection, and poked at DeSantis’s trajectory in the Republican contest.
“Is Joe Biden paying you tonight?” the host asked Newsom. “I thought this was state versus state.”
DeSantis labeled Newsom a “liberal bully” and mocked what he calls Newsom’s “shadow campaign” for the Democratic presidential nomination. All in all, the debate was unlikely to change the political landscape, write The Hill’s Dominick Mastrangelo and Caroline Vakil.
3 Things to Know Today
- The U.S. stock market just posted one of its best Novembers in decades (up 8.9 percent), defying skeptics and fueling hopes for more gains to come.
- Montana cannot ban short-video app TikTok, at least for now, a judge ruled Thursday, saying a state law “likely” violates the First Amendment.
- Want a $61,000 Tesla Cybertruck? They’re available. Tesla plans to sell two higher-end versions priced at nearly $100,000. How far can a driver roam on a single charge? 340 miles.
The potent politics of ObamaCare live on: Biden’s reelection campaign, jumping on what Democrats see as a Trump blunder harmful to his White House bid, is reaching out to Latino voters to alert them that the former president would again attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, if elected. The bet is that tens of millions of people who say they have favorable views of the law enacted in 2010 are paying attention. Nervous Republicans who put health care behind them now worry Trump committed an unforced error.
The Biden campaign on Thursday used email to skewer presidentialHaley for not repudiating Trump’s social media musing that he’s “seriously looking at alternatives” to the ACA. “Whether it’s Trump, Haley, or another MAGA minion, Republicans are coming for Americans’ health care — but President Biden won’t let that happen,” a campaign spokesperson said in a statement.
