California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) says he is more concerned about a Fox News host than former President Donald Trump.
Newsom made the comments during the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin.
“I worry about Trump. I worry about Trumpism,” Newsom said.
He added, “I worry more about Tucker Carlson. I worry about Ron DeSantis.”
Calling DeSantis a bully, Newsom continued, “He threatened the Special Olympics with $27 million in fines. Who does that?”
According to Newsom, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) “is light years ahead in policy than DeSantis, but DeSantis has weaponized it to the next level.”
Newsom explained he worries about the former president because he has “proven that democracy is now partisan.”
Watch Newsom’s comments below:
.@GavinNewsom on concerns over Trump and his chances in 2024: "I worry about Trump. I worry about Trumpism. I worry more about Tucker Carlson. I worry about Ron DeSantis. He's a bully."
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) September 24, 2022
Newsom asks that people focus on what's happening at the state level, too. #TribFest22 pic.twitter.com/VVV4AnmKxe
Additionally, during the event, Newsom slammed DeSantis for sending migrants to Martha’s Vineyard.
“The one thing that he did is he broke with precedent, any precedent of decency and honor, his lack of character on display,” Newsom said.
He continued, “He comes into another state-your state, to try to find pawns in a political game, rounds them up, sends them to an island, and then fundraises off it. What does that say about his character, and the character of the Republican Party that celebrated that act of cruelty and dehumanization?”
The governor “called it out because I find it offensive and disgraceful, and I find it increasingly normalized now within the Republican Party.”
He claimed it is “certainly well established here with Greg Abbott, who was apparently getting more attention on this topic than Ron DeSantis, and he wanted in, and I mean that, and that’s what’s happened to the Republican Party in this country.”
DeSantis is up for reelection in 2022 and will face off against his opponent Democrat Charlie Crist.
FiveThirtyEight polling shows DeSantis in the lead over Crist by 5.6 percentage points, as of Sept. 23.