California Governor Gavin Newsom talked politics and traded a few blows in a Monday night interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity.
Already governor of the nation’s most populous state, Newsom’s national profile has been rising since his re-election in 2022, according to AP News. When he formed a new political action committee, rumors that he might challenge incumbent Democratic President Joe Biden in the upcoming election emerged.
Yet in a recent interview with Hannity of Fox News, Newsom vocally supported Biden’s campaign and attested that the president is cognitively fit to perform the duties of office.
Moreover, as The Dallas Express reported, a recent poll cast doubt over Newsom’s likelihood of attracting votes in a presidential run, considering that those within his own state — seven out of 10 Californians — aren’t favorable to seeing him as a president.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer running as a Democrat for the 2024 presidential election, was interviewed by Hannity last month, as The Dallas Express reported.
Before the June 12 interview with Hannity, Newsom had not appeared on Fox News since 2010.
Lately, he has adopted a more confrontational style and has criticized his fellow Democrats for being “too timid,” according to AP News.
“We need more of these kinds of conversations, and we need to not just accuse each other of misleading the American people, but I think confront each other in the context of providing opportunities to address some of the facts that are often omitted in terms of the conversations and topics we choose to pick up,” Newsom told Hannity.
One of the areas where Newsom and his host clashed was on California’s income taxes — the highest in the country, with the top level sitting at 13.3%.
Hannity charged that this has contributed to California seeing a record-breaking drop in residents. As covered by The Dallas Express, Texas has been the primary recipient of both people and businesses from California these past few years.
“I’ve never been a profligate Democrat. I’ve balanced budgets. We make the hard choices. I’m a business guy,” Newsom explained.
The interview also touched on the recent clash between Newsom and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over the issue of unlawful migrants.
As covered by The Dallas Express earlier this month, DeSantis had flown 36 unlawful migrants from Florida to Sacramento via two private planes, to which Newsom responded with accusations of the governor breaking the law and using coercion to conduct the operation.
“You are an open sanctuary state! Why don’t you embrace them?” Hannity asked Newsom during the interview.
“We embrace everybody here,” Newsom responded. “I sat down with these migrants. I talked to every single one of them. They were lied to, they were misled.”
He also told Hannity that he would be willing to engage in a debate with DeSantis moderated by the host.
An area where Hannity and Newsom did not appear to clash was with regard to former President Donald Trump’s recent indictment.
“It was sad — and I say that as an American,” Newsom told Hannity.
Trump faces a 37-count federal indictment centering on his alleged mishandling of classified documents and appeared in federal court in Miami this week, as The Dallas Express reported.
Noting that he and the former president engaged well with one another during the COVID-19 pandemic, Newsom praised Trump’s handling of the crisis.
“He was incredible — he played no politics during COVID with California — none whatsoever. It’s a fact,” Newsom told Hannity.
Emphasizing the importance of open dialogue, Newsom added, “I didn’t have a closed fist, I had an open hand.”
