During a televised debate on Fox News between Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis and California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, the latter addressed questions about President Joe Biden’s advanced age. Biden’s critics relentlessly accuse him of falling short of the appropriate mental/physical capacity for the job, though they often gloss over any potentially similar concerns with likely general election opponent Donald Trump, who’s barely younger.
And as for Newsom, he has faced accusations of essentially running a shadow campaign for president, something DeSantis suggested Thursday. The California governor, in turn, pointed instead to results secured under Biden’s leadership, like the stream of positive economic news, sticking with the president. “I will take Joe Biden at 100 versus Ron DeSantis any day of the week at any age,” Newsom remarked, adding: “By the way, results matter. Inflation now is down to 3.2 percent. Wages are up to 4.4 percent. The economy is booming. 5.2 percent GDP growth in the last quarter. Those are facts you don’t hear on Fox News.”
The GDP numbers he cited were, in fact, an adjustment upwards from that federal department’s previous estimates of annualized GDP growth in the third quarter of this year, meaning the already economically uplifting news got even better. And another metric, this time the inflation numbers produced at the federal Commerce Department, recently showed October inflation at zero — meaning no overall price increases when aggregated together — compared to the preceding month. Inflation compared to a year prior, meaning the rate at which overall prices grew across the year ending in October, also sunk to the lowest level (three percent) in months.
The Fox debate, hosted by Fox’s Sean Hannity, was not oriented around any particular campaign, since Newsom isn’t running for anything. DeSantis, who is running for the GOP presidential nomination, continues to face dismal poll numbers and doesn’t seem to have a clear path to success.
DeSantis: Biden is in cognitive decline.
Newsom: I will take Joe Biden at a 100 versus Ron Desantis any day of the week at any age. pic.twitter.com/OCgja1GlvW
— Acyn (@Acyn) December 1, 2023
