WASHINGTON — California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida Gov. Ron De Santis have been trolling each other recently on the pandemic, abortion, LGBTQ rights and more.
But Newsom said that what pushed him to air an anti-GOP ad in Florida over the Fourth of July was DeSantis’ treatment of the Special Olympics. The state threatened to fine the organization $27.5 million if it didn’t drop its COVID-19 vaccine mandate before the 2022 USA Games in Orlando last month. Special Olympics officials complied.
“He did something that tipped me very directly, and that was going after the Special Olympics. I had an emotional response to that,” Newsom told The Bee, his voice catching momentarily. “That led to the consideration of doing something a little bit more expressive and that was the determination on the ad.”
Newsom spoke Friday to The Bee in the U.S. Capitol, where he has been meeting with federal lawmakers this week on issues such as wildfires, gun violence and education.
The timing of the visit, just a month after the ad starting airing on Fox News in Florida, again prompted speculation that he will run for the White House.
Again, Newsom said, that’s “nonsensical.”
“Nonsensical in this respect that I’ll be meeting with the vice president in a moment: my old friend, colleague, Californian, the vice president of the United States,” Newsom said Friday before having lunch with Vice President Kamala Harris. “It’s a non starter.”
In the Florida ad, Newsom says “freedom is under attack in your state” in reference to bans on books, voting restrictions and limitations on abortion.
What propelled it to screen, Newsom said, was DeSantis’ push to eliminate the Special Olympics’ coronavirus vaccine mandate for their competition in Florida last month.
Shortly before the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games were to begin, the Florida Department of Health threatened the organization with a $27.5 million fine unless it dropped its vaccine mandate. DeSantis has barred private organizations from requiring proof of vaccination or enforcing vaccine mandates.
The Special Olympics dropped the mandate, and Florida did not fine the organization.
DeSantis said that the decision was a victory for the athletes.
Newsom has been a staunch defender of the Special Olympics since he headed the leadership committee for its World Games in Los Angeles in 2015. His mother worked with an organization that helped families adopt children with disabilities, making the fight personal.
“Ron DeSantis’ values on full display: Bullying. The. Special. Olympics.” Newsom wrote on Twitter in response.
Newsom himself has dyslexia, a reading disability, which has shaped his work on education and led him to publish a children’s book.
DeSantis, who is said to be considering a presidential run in 2024, blasted Newsom’s ad, saying “California is driving people away with their terrible governance.” He claimed major cities have been “destroyed with drugs and crime and homelessness,” decried remote learning policies and criticized Newsom’s infamous unmasked 2020 dinner at the French Laundry.
Asked if he would consider more advertisements outside California in the near future, Newsom said “I’d be lying if I suggested otherwise.”
“But that’s not to suggest that I have anything specific in mind,” he said.
Last month’s advertisement came after DeSantis signed laws that prohibit public school teachers from instructing younger students on sexual orientation or gender identity; increase criminal penalties for people who hand in ballots for non-family members; tighten voter identification requirements, establish an office to investigate election fraud claims and impose a temporarily-blocked 15-week abortion ban.
Florida’s Health Department barred certain books from school use, saying they contained information about prohibited topics such as critical race theory.
Newsom, in response, has pushed advertisements, legislation and social media campaigns to “call out Republican lies.”
In California, legislators prepared for an uptick in nationwide abortion prohibitions after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the precedent that protected the procedure federally, with legislation to bolster access to Californians and those who come from out of state. Newsom previously declared California a “reproductive freedom state.”
Next week, Newsom said, he will advance a law to limit distribution of assault weapons and ghost guns by allowing citizens the right to take legal action against manufacturers, distributors and importers. It is modeled after Texas abortion law enacted in September 2021 that allows citizens to sue providers who offer abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy.
He recently signed a similar law that will let people sue gun manufacturers if they are hurt by their products.
The governor said the Washington trip, commonplace for high-ranking state officials, came at a good time as he was accepting an award for California from the Education Commission of the States. In his remarks, Newsom addressed Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill among other legislation passed by Republican-led states asking, “What the hell’s going on in this country?”
Newsom met with top White House officials, senators, members of the House of Representatives, the First Lady, vice president and cabinet officials. He showed The Bee a list of 25 issues he addressed with California federal lawmakers on Friday.
A main priority is wildfires, Newsom said.
In a separate meeting with Sens. Alex Padilla and Dianne Feinstein, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks and other White House officials on Thursday, Newsom said he and the Democratic senators discussed new technology and strategies to combat fires, such as securing at least six more planes to drop fire suppressants.
“I joke with folks, ‘probably the last time you’ll see me for some time,’ because we enter August, September, October, and we’re going to be inundated and challenged,” he said.
Members of California’s House delegation told The Bee that they talked about state issues, among them the budget surplus, positive actions taken in the state and investments in schools.
“We dealt with a wide variety of issues,” said Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Los Angeles. “I was impressed with how Gavin seemed to be an expert on every one of them.”
———
(McClatchy D.C.’s Alex Roarty contributed to this story.)
———
