Republican U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida strongly encouraged California Gov. Gavin Newsom to run for president in 2024, predicting he would lose “very badly.”
“I want him to run for president. I’m excited,” Donalds told “Florida’s Voice” editor-in-chief Brendon Leslie.
The congressman then looked right at the camera and said, “Gavin, hey listen man, trust me — you should run for president. You know why? ‘Cause you will lose very, very badly. And the people of California — they need a break.”
WATCH: U.S. Rep. @ByronDonalds sends message to California Gov. @GavinNewsom
“Gavin, hey listen man, trust me – you should run for president. You know why? ‘Cause you will lose very, very badly. And the people of California – they need a break.” pic.twitter.com/lS7jiUtsAX
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) October 20, 2022
Over the summer, Newsom ran ads in Florida encouraging its residents to move to California to enjoy the state’s more expansive abortion laws and recognition of LGBT rights.
“I urge all you living in Florida to join the fight”
This appears to be the ad Newsom is running on Fox News in Florida this weekend.
pic.twitter.com/P0IcpkVU7T— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) July 3, 2022
Florida limits abortions to the first 15 weeks of the pregnancy (just shy of four months), with exceptions to save the life of the mother or if the unborn child has a fatal abnormality.
Of course, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made headlines in the spring when he signed the Parental Rights in Education bill into law, which critics derided as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
HB 1557 prohibits classroom instruction regarding “sexual orientation or gender identity” in kindergarten through third grade “or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards” for those in higher grades.
According to Planned Parenthood, California allows abortions up to approximately six months into the pregnancy — generally considered the age of viability outside the womb for the unborn child — for any reason, and to protect the health of the mother thereafter.
Further, California education law requires, “All instruction and materials in grades K–12 must be inclusive of LGBTQ students. Instruction shall affirmatively recognize that people have different sexual orientations and, when discussing or providing examples of relationships and couples, must be inclusive of same-sex relationships.”
And, “Instruction must also teach students about gender, gender expression, gender identity and explore the harm of negative gender stereotypes.”
Last month, Donalds told “Outkick” host Tomi Lahren, “Ron DeSantis is America’s governor and Gavin Newsom is America’s dumpster fire. I mean he has run the worst state in the country, by far.”
“There’s never been a governor in the history of the United States who has had more people leave their state than Gavin Newsom,” he added.
During that interview, he once again begged Newsom to run for president, “because he is awful at his job.”
Donalds is right regarding people fleeing California.
The Los Angeles Times reported that San Francisco and LA ranked first and second in the country of cities people are leaving.
Overall more than 360,000 Californians left the state in 2021, according to CNBC.
Meanwhile, Florida has been the top state people are moving to.
The mass influx began long before the pandemic, thanks to low taxes and a good business climate, but accelerated in recent years, The James Madison Institute found.
From April 2020 to April 2021, almost 330,000 people moved into the Sunshine State.
The unemployment rate in Florida was 2.7 percent in August, below the national average, while in California it’s 4.1 percent, above the national average.
So yes, Gavin Newsom please run for president. You’ll probably carry California, New York and Illinois, maybe a few more states, but otherwise, it will be a clean sweep for the GOP!
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.