NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida escalated his feud with California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday, daring the West Coast Democrat to 鈥渟top pussyfooting around鈥 and launch a primary challenge against President Joe Biden.
DeSantis, who late last month, took on Newsom during a news conference in Florida in which he was asked about Newsom's recent comments to Fox News agreeing to a hypothetical debate with DeSantis hosted by Sean Hannity.
"He鈥檚 got huge problems in his state 鈥- I mean, like, huge problems in his state," DeSantis said. "Yet with all those problems, he has a real serious fixation on the state of Florida. I think it鈥檚 just bizarre.鈥
DeSantis then turned to the Democrats' 2024 primary election, in which Biden is facing only token opposition.
鈥淵ou know what? Stop pussyfooting around,鈥 DeSantis said. 鈥淎re you gonna throw your hat in the ring and challenge Joe? Are you going to get in and do it? Or are you just gonna sit on the sidelines and chirp?鈥
DeSantis鈥 jab comes as he shies away from confrontation with his chief rival in the GOP's White House primary, former President . Newsom has previously said he would not challenge Biden in 2024 but has taken steps to boost his national profile in recent months.
While several of Trump's Republican rivals about his , DeSantis has largely avoided the subject. The governor made only a brief mention of the charges in a weekend speech to the North Carolina GOP during which he focused his censure on the Justice Department and the Biden administration.
DeSantis has been much more willing to lean into fights against Democrats and the media.
For example, a pro-DeSantis super political action committee released a video Thursday titled 鈥淧unching Back鈥 that highlights DeSantis' frequent confrontations with the media.
A Newsom spokesperson did not respond directly to DeSantis' latest comments, but did note that Newsom attended Disneyland's Pride night this week with company CEO Bob Iger. Disney DeSantis, alleging the governor undertook a 鈥渢argeted campaign of government retaliation鈥 after the company opposed a Florida law that critics call 鈥 .鈥
Ace Smith, a senior Newsom adviser, responded to DeSantis' new broadside on Twitter: 鈥淵our whining is very unpresidential!"
