Given that Gavin Newsom is, other than President Joe Biden and perhaps former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the most visible Democrat, and the governor whose state is regarded by many on the right as faring the worst, he’s a target for conservative mockery and attacks. Such is what happened, quite hilariously, during his January of 2023 inauguration speech.
In a video of the speech that emerged, a man who had disguised himself as a Democrat by wearing a pink hat and pink mask suddenly unfurled and raised a “Ron DeSantis for President 2024” sign during Newsom’s inauguration speech, something that must have been uncomfortable for the California governor.
Louder with Crowder, joking about the incident, framed it as the man having gone on an undercover mission, jokingly saying: “The best part is that he went deep undercover to sneak in with a pink hat, SCHMOID mask and all.”
Continuing, a bit more seriously, Louder with Crowder commented on how a fight between Newsom and DeSantis is a perfect fight between the two competing American ideologies, as DeSantis has managed his state in one way and Newsom managed his in a very different way.
Making that point, it said, “Newsom vs. DeSantis? There isn’t a more-perfect debate between the two competing ideologies in America. BOTH represent states where those two ideologies have been put into action and he can see clear results to compare. America can be more like Florida. Or America can be more like California.”
Given the massive exodus out of California and the massive inflows of people into Ron DeSantis’s Florida, it seems clear which state many in America are choosing when they have a choice between the American states and the resources with which to move.
Reporting on Newsom’s inauguration speech and the contrast he attempted to make between California and red states, the Sacramento Bee reported that Newsom mainly focused on the idea that California is a state that focuses on “freedom” and that he is staunchly holding the line against reactionaries who “want to take the nation backward.”
Making the claim about freedom and California standing up for freedom in his state, Newsom reportedly claimed, “More than any people, in any place, California has bridged the historical expanse between freedom for some, and freedom for all.” He added, “Freedom is our essence, our brand name – the abiding idea that right here anyone from anywhere can accomplish anything.”
Before the speech, Newsom walked a mile from the Capitol Mall toward the statehouse, alongside union workers and civil rights activists, of course, after beginning the celebration at the Tower Bridge in Sacramento. That one-mile walk was apparently intended as a “counterpoint” to the January 6, 2021 protest and riot in DC.
Making the “Ron DeSantis for President 2024” banner the one man was waving all the funnier is that Newsom, during his speech, made attacking DeSantis one of his key points, claiming that California is a progressive bastion and sanctuary that stands in stark contrast to Ron DeSantis’s very conservative state of Florida.
Watch the incident here:
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