The California Democrat and Florida Republican agreed to the debate, but hit a stalemate over the network hosting a live studio audience.
, which included a studio audience divided evenly between them, dismissing the idea as a “cheering section.”
The question of whether to involve an audience is a significant one that can tint how TV viewers digest the Fox broadcast. CNN tookwith former President Donald Trump, which included a live studio audience, in part because it could be hard to hear the back-and-forth over the crowd heckling moderator Kaitlan Collins and applauding Trump. Reports after the CNN town hall focused on how a small number of boisterous pro-Trump audience members had an outsized impact on the broadcast.
“I think Newsom is right and smart to hold out on that. It’s clearly not what Fox News would want because they do love these things in front of crowds,” said Rob Stutzman, a Republican strategist who has worked on presidential campaigns and was a top adviser to former California GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. “If I’m on Newsom’s team, I’m absolutely insisting on that. At the end of the day, my guess is Hannity and Fox would rather have the event than not.
“Newsom’s interest in doing it is obvious: It would give him a national stage to lead for Democrat voters. And I bet it would draw a decent audience,” Stutzman added. “But November is an eternity right now to Ron DeSantis. This is a guy that very well may be out of the race by then. So, whatever gets agreed to will long have that caveat that it’s all dependent on DeSantis’ status in the race.”
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Fox Corp. lawyer who oversaw defamation case against Fox News is leaving the companyViet Dihn guided Fox's legal strategy in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation case, which resulted in Rupert Murdoch's company paying a $787.5 million settlement.
Read more »
Douglas Schoen: DeSantis-Newsom debate could give a real boost to both governorsOpinion: Douglas Schoen: DeSantis-Newsom debate could give a real boost to both governors
Read more »
DeSantis appears to shrivel under the pressure of debating NewsomThe GOP presidential hopeful said he'd accept a challenge to debate California Gov. Gavin Newsom. But he wants rules that could hide his biggest weaknesses.
Read more »
Why Gavin Newsom and Ron DeSantis are both itching to debate each otherJoe Biden's aides and Sean Hannity agree on this: They both would like to see Gavin Newsom debate Ron DeSantis.
Read more »
Why Gavin Newsom and Ron DeSantis are both itching to debate each other | CNN PoliticsA potential debate between Gavin Newsom and Ron DeSantis has the two governors with very different interpersonal styles fencing over ground rules and logistics, dates and locations. But both have said they would take part
Read more »
Ron DeSantis gets 'brutal' bad news from GOP strategistIt is the most recent bit of bad news plaguing the Florida governor's presidential campaign.
Read more »