DeSantis lands knockout blow just minutes into debate with an assist from Newsom's own father-in-law

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) used Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom's own father-in-law to land a knockout punch in the opening minutes of their Fox News debate.

Citing data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the first question that moderator Sean Hannity asked focused on the droves of people leaving California and the influx of Americans moving to Florida. The data shows that California lost approximately 750,000 people in 2021-2022, while Florida gained approximately 450,000 residents over that same time period.

When Newsom twice refused to address the question — choosing, instead, to attack DeSantis — the Florida governor whipped out a stinging anecdote.

"I've talked to a lot of the people who have moved from California to Florida, and we never used to get people from California to Florida," DeSantis began. "Why would you leave California? It's got the best weather —"

DeSantis continued, despite Newsom repeatedly interrupting him:

So I was talking to a fella who had made the move from California to Florida, and he was telling me that Florida is much better governed, safer, better budget, lower taxes, all this stuff. He's really happy with the quality of life, and then he paused and he said, "You know, by the way, I'm Gavin Newsom's father-in-law." So we do count Gavin's in-laws as some of the people that have fled California and come to the state of Florida.

"People understand quality of life matters. They understand Florida is doing it right," DeSantis explained.

It's true. DeSantis is doing something right in Florida, and it's why he won re-election in a landslide 20-point victory last year.

DeSantis torches Newsom with jaw-dropping line about father-in-lawwww.youtube.com

After the debate — which Newsom's wife reportedly ended when it went into overtime — Newsom's team complained that DeSantis, Hannity, and Fox News broke the rules that all sides agreed to beforehand.

Fox News and DeSantis denied those allegations.

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