Bad blood: Red, blue governors trade barbs

ALPHARETTA, Georgia — The leaders of two of the largest states in the United States went head-to-head on Thursday in a prime-time debate offering contrasting views of how the deeply-polarized nation should be run — and a preview of how the 2028 White House race might look.

Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his Democratic California counterpart Gavin Newsom have been hammering each other for years over their vastly differing outlooks, but the at times bad-tempered debate marked their first in-person clash.

The pair represent almost 1 in 5 people in the US — California is the largest US state and Florida is the third-largest — and debate host Fox News had billed the showdown as a clash between liberal blue and conservative red US.

The 45-year-old Florida governor, once seen as the most viable alternative to scandal-plagued Donald Trump for the Republican Party's presidential nomination, is desperate to revive a flagging White House bid going into election year.

Newsom, 56, is not running, but speculation about a presidential campaign in 2028 has grown as commentators have been impressed with his appearances on the stump for President Joe Biden.

Urging the audience to choose "freedom over failure", DeSantis said Newsom was "joined at the hip" with Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris, adding sarcastically that they had "done a great job".

Newsom has spent much of the election cycle needling DeSantis over gun control, abortion restrictions and other "culture war" issues such as the teaching of gender and sexuality in classrooms.

He accused his opponent, who has been criticized over book bans in Florida libraries, of "using education as a sword for your cultural purge".

He also blasted DeSantis for doing "nothing meaningful" on gun safety after the 2018 mass shooting that killed 14 students and three staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

DeSantis fired back at Newsom on immigration, public health restrictions and crime, arguing that "leftist policies" had damaged Californian cities like San Francisco and sparked an exodus.

Key battleground

The 90-minute DeSantis vs. Newsom: The Great Red vs. Blue State Debate took place in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, once a Republican bastion that has moved leftward to become a key battleground.

DeSantis appeared more aggressive and yet conversely more at ease than he has in his Republican primary debates, where he has been described as subdued and awkward.

Newsom seemed more comfortable defending Biden's economic record in the early exchanges than his own policies at home, celebrating nationwide job growth and investment in research and development.

There has been bad blood between the pair for months over DeSantis flying undocumented migrants to California, and Newsom's fierce criticism of Florida's six-week abortion ban, which the Democrat called the "most extreme" in the country.

Agencies via Xinhua