When Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom nearly continued their Fox News debate past the allotted 90 minutes, it was the California governor’s wife who threw in the towel – at least that’s what the Florida governor is saying now.
As the red-state, blue-state debate was wrapping up last Tuesday night, host Sean Hannity mentioned that he had more questions – and more time left over. That’s when Newsom suggested, “Let’s just do an extended hour, I’m happy to do it.”
So before they went to break, Hannity teased that the show would go on: “They have agreed to stay … We’ll continue on the other side.”
But when they returned, the governors were gone – and Hannity said both had to leave for “other commitments.” In the days that followed, NBC News reported that it was Siebel Newsom who told producers, “We’re done,” citing anonymous sources.
Speaking Monday on “The Clay & Buck Show,” DeSantis said he was more than happy to continue – and confirmed that Siebel Newsom put a stop to it.
“You’re saying Gavin Newsom’s wife basically like, it was like Rocky,” cohost Clay Travis said. “She threw the towel in and said, ‘Hey, we got to get – we’re out. We’re done with this. Like, what was that experience?”
“Yeah, we were standing at the podiums,” DeSantis replied.”He said, ‘You guys want to go?’ I’m like, ‘That’s fine.’ And and I guess we had already gone over the allotted 90 minutes. But it was fun. And that was pretty shortly after I did the San Francisco poop map and showed that to everybody. And so that obviously was not a good moment for him.”
That’s when Newsom’s wife stepped in, DeSantis said.
“And so then we go to commercial break and then there was a woman that came out and she said, ‘Hard stop, hard stop. It’s over. It’s over,’” he recalled. “I didn’t necessarily know who it was at the time. But then come to find out that, you know, that it was his wife, that they didn’t want to continue with the debate. So I was 100% willing to continue with the debate. They didn’t want to do it.”
Spokespersons for both Newsom and Siebel Newsom did not immediately return messages left Monday by TheWrap.
Listen to the entire exchange in the clip over at “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show.”
