NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 15: Host Sean Hannity as Conor McGregor visits "Hannity" at Fox News ... [+]
Fox News announced Monday that host Sean Hannity would moderate a prime time debate between California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The 90-minute debate will take place at a yet-to-be-determined location in Georgia and air on FNC November 30 at 9 p.m. ET.
“I’m looking forward to providing viewers with an informative debate about the everyday issues and governing philosophies that impact the lives of every American,” Hannity said in a statement.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 14: California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to union workers and ... [+]
Hannity floated the idea of a Newsom-DeSantis debate when he interviewed Newsom back in June, and at the time Hannity told me bringing the two men together would “be killer. That’s pay-per-view stuff. I think I’d have to charge the media to watch it.”
The debate pits a Republican currently running for the White House—and running a distant second to front-runner Donald Trump—against a Democrat who’s often described as a future candidate for president, even though Newsom insists he has no intentions of challenging President Biden in 2024.
TAMPA, FLORIDA - JULY 22: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during the Turning Point USA Student ... [+]
Bringing the two men together could draw significant interest—and ratings. Hannity’s interview with Newsom in June drew 2.9 million viewers and generated a large amount of media coverage, with HuffPost calling the conversation “fiery” and the Sacramento Bee saying it as an entertaining clash that was “beneficial for both Hannity and Newsom.”
Newsom’s willingness to appear on Fox, a network many high profile Democrats refuse to talk to, burnished his credentials as a potential candidate willing to go anywhere to talk about his views on major issues, with the Bee’s Lindsey Holden writing that “it was another opportunity for Newsom to burnish his national brand as a leading liberal voice by going toe-to-toe with the conservative channel’s highest profile host.”
“I have absolutely no animus at all” toward Newsom, Hannity told me in June. “As a matter of fact, on a personal level, I can tell you, he's extraordinarily likable. Fun, funny, and smart. He’s central casting for a politician. Let's put it that way. And I don't mean that in a negative way.”