Fox Information formally titled it “The Nice Crimson vs. Blue State Debate.” However the faceoff shortly become a full-out political brawl between Gavin Newsom, California’s Democratic governor who is not operating for president; and Ron DeSantis, the Florida Republican governor who’s, and isn’t gaining floor in opposition to former President Donald Trump in voter polls.
The occasion was held in Alpharetta, Georgia, aired on Fox Information, and moderated by Sean Hannity. Our PolitiFact companions examined the 2 state officers’ wide-ranging statements. You’ll be able to learn the full protection right here.
Newsom has relished taunting DeSantis on social media and Fox Information and, earlier this yr, he invited DeSantis to debate — arguing that the red-state insurance policies DeSantis has handed are stripping People of their freedoms. DeSantis counters that he’s the stronger defender of freedom, and has blasted California as “the petri dish for American leftism” and argues that “all the pieces [President Joe] Biden is doing, they might speed up.”
True to the occasion’s billing, the nation’s tradition wars have been entrance and middle on the talk stage. DeSantis portrayed California as a failed state with rampant crime and homelessness led by an “elite” politician too liberal for the remainder of the nation. “They’ve failed due to his leftist ideology,” DeSantis stated.
Newsom shot again, taking part in up California’s immense financial system and describing his state as one with out peer. He expressed his dedication to Biden’s reelection. He additionally known as out DeSantis for his covid-19 insurance policies, saying extra Floridians died of covid because of his extra relaxed public well being guidelines: “Tens of 1000’s of individuals misplaced their lives and for what, Ron?”
Abortion was a transparent flashpoint. Newsom defended California’s robust abortion protections and attacked DeSantis, alleging he “criminalizes” girls and docs. He additionally urged that if DeSantis turned president, he would additional roll again abortion rights nationwide. Newsom, requested by Hannity if he would signal a legislation banning abortion later in being pregnant, argued that such instances are extraordinarily uncommon.
“I belief the mom and her physician to make that call,” he stated.
The 2 additionally sparred over guide bans, parental rights, and insurance policies relating to the LGBTQ+ neighborhood.
DeSantis criticized Newsom on California’s rising homelessness, which he stated contributed to the “destruction of qualify of life” within the state.
Newsom identified that the disaster has been brewing for many years. He famous, although, that beneath his management, billions of {dollars} in taxpayer cash has been directed towards countering homelessness. He additionally boasted in regards to the state’s investments in psychological well being and dependancy applications.
“The distinction is I am the primary governor in California historical past to take this head-on,” Newsom stated, arguing that beneath his insurance policies 68,000 individuals have been moved off the streets and into shelter or housing.
Listed below are the health-related claims PolitiFact examined:
Covid-19 lockdowns
Newsom borrowed a web page from Trump’s playbook by misleadingly portraying DeSantis as a lockdown chief. Newsom’s feedback targeted on DeSantis’ actions within the pandemic’s first few weeks, when practically all governors operated in lockstep. Newsom omits that DeSantis reopened sooner than most governors in spring 2020.
“You handed an emergency declaration earlier than the state of California did,” Newsom stated. “You closed down your seashores, your bars, your eating places. It’s a truth.”
Many native governments closed seashores for a restricted time, however DeSantis didn’t shut them statewide.
DeSantis issued an government order on March 17, 2020, directing Floridians to “restrict their gatherings” at seashores to not more than 10 individuals and to “help seaside closures on the discretion of native authorities.”
He additionally ordered seashores in Broward and Palm Seashore counties to shut for 11 days, following suggestions from native officers and the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention. The governor’s refusal to shut most seashores to spring break crowds drew heavy criticism and litigation.
Newsom was on firmer floor in his declare about closing bars. DeSantis ordered all bars and nightclubs closed for 30 days. Eating places didn’t shut. His March 17 order stated eating places have been restricted to 50% buyer capability and needed to separate seating by 6 ft.
Governors nationwide issued a number of orders in March 2020 in response to the pandemic. DeSantis issued an order March 1 to ascertain covid response protocol and direct a public well being emergency. On March 4, Newsom declared a state of emergency to assist California put together for the pandemic.
Florida’s abortion limits and DeSantis’ abortion survivor story
As Hannity pressed Newsom on whether or not he supported any abortion restrictions, Newsom attacked Florida’s abortion legal guidelines.
“He signed a invoice banning any exceptions for rape and incest,” Newsom stated of DeSantis. “After which he stated it didn’t go far sufficient and determined to signal a six-week ban … that criminalizes girls and criminalizes docs.”
DeSantis signed laws in 2022 that outlawed abortions after 15 weeks of being pregnant. It doesn’t make exceptions for instances of incest, rape or human trafficking however consists of an exception for a mom’s life.
DeSantis signed a stricter invoice in April that bans abortions after six weeks of being pregnant. Whether or not the legislation takes impact hinges on how the Florida Supreme Court docket guidelines in a lawsuit in opposition to the present 15-week ban. The 2023 legislation does comprise exceptions, together with to avoid wasting a pregnant girl’s life or in instances of deadly fetal anomalies. Abortions for pregnancies involving rape, incest, or human trafficking could be allowed till 15 weeks of being pregnant if a lady has documentation reminiscent of a restraining order, police report, or medical document.
The legislation penalizes physicians, however whether or not it additionally criminalizes girls is much less clear, so we have now rated an identical declare Half True. The legislation says that anybody who “actively participates in” an abortion commits a third-degree felony, which opens the door to prosecutors charging girls, however we do not but know whether or not they’ll or how courts would reply to such prices. DeSantis has additionally stated that he would not need girls prosecuted, solely docs.
Defending the legislation, DeSantis repeated an anecdote from the primary GOP presidential debate a couple of Floridian named Penny Hopper. Miriam “Penny” Hopper is an actual particular person, and an anti-abortion activist. A few of the particulars about her start story have been known as into query.
Hopper stated she survived an abortion try in Florida in 1955. Her declare has been featured by anti-abortion teams and used to help what abortion opponents name “born alive” payments in state legislatures, which goal to guard infants who survive abortions, despite the fact that there are federal legal guidelines for that goal.
In interviews, Hopper has stated she had been delivered round 23 weeks of gestation after her mom went to a hospital in Wauchula, Florida, whereas experiencing bleeding. Hopper stated the physician induced labor, and he or she was born at 1 pound, 11 ounces, and that the physician instructed employees to discard her “useless or alive.” She stated her grandmother discovered her the subsequent day on the hospital porch in a bedpan. Then, Hopper stated, a nurse volunteered to take her to a bigger hospital that was about 40 miles away.
{That a} child born at 23 weeks might survive in a single day with out medical consideration in 1955 is medically doubtful, specialists stated. From the Nineteen Fifties via 1980, “new child loss of life was nearly ensured” for infants born at or earlier than 24 weeks of gestation, the American School of Obstetrics and Gynecology says on its web site.
The Washington Submit additionally reported that contemporaneous newspaper accounts provide a distinct situation on the hospital, and stated the employees spent days preserving her alive earlier than arranging a police escort to hurry her to a different hospital.
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