{"id":353439,"date":"2026-05-03T13:47:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T18:47:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/gavin-newsom-bragged-about-taking-on-desantis-on-bill-maher-desantiss-account-of-that-night-tells-a-very-different-story"},"modified":"2026-05-03T13:47:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T18:47:58","slug":"gavin-newsom-bragged-about-taking-on-desantis-on-bill-maher-desantiss-account-of-that-night-tells-a-very-different-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/gavin-newsom-bragged-about-taking-on-desantis-on-bill-maher-desantiss-account-of-that-night-tells-a-very-different-story","title":{"rendered":"Gavin Newsom Bragged About ‘Taking On’ DeSantis on Invoice Maher. DeSantis’s Account of That Night time Tells a Very Totally different Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Gavin Newsom<\/strong><\/a> leaned into Bill Maher<\/strong><\/a>\u2018s chair on Friday night with the confidence of a man who believes his own highlight reel.<\/p>\n

He was there to sell a memoir called Young Man in a Hurry<\/em> and, without quite saying it, a presidential campaign. Maher had already called him \u201cofficially the frontrunner\u201d for the 2028 Democratic nomination. The lights were right. The audience was warm. And when the conversation turned to whether Democrats have the stomach to fight, Newsom reached for the story he clearly considers his finest moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason I started to take on DeSantis,\u201d he told Maher, \u201cis I didn\u2019t feel my party was doing enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

He built the whole thing out from there. Republicans were on a \u201cbanning binge.\u201d His party was frozen with \u201ctimidity.\u201d And so Newsom stepped into the arena. He went to the red states. He ran the ads. He showed up on Fox News and debated Ron DeSantis on the man\u2019s home turf.<\/p>\n

It was a tidy origin story for a presidential frontrunner \u2014 the Democrat who showed up when nobody else would.<\/p>\n

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The amount of lying Gavin Newsom does to Bill Maher is staggering, but my favorite part is that he says he \u201ctook on Ron DeSantis,\u201d by which I guess he means he was humiliated in their debate when DeSantis showed what\u2019s happened to San Francisco on Newsom\u2019s watch pic.twitter.com\/yew26wwOrp<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ian Miller (@ianmSC) May 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Except Ron DeSantis has been telling a very different story about that night. And his version comes with receipts.<\/p>\n

\u2018Shut It Down\u2019<\/h2>\n

Six weeks before Newsom sat down with Maher, DeSantis appeared on Sean Hannity\u2019s podcast and walked through what happened after the cameras cut to commercial on that November 2023 debate stage in Alpharetta, Georgia.<\/p>\n

The debate had run past its scheduled 90 minutes. Both governors agreed to keep going. Newsom, on the live broadcast, told Hannity, \u201cLet\u2019s just do an extended hour. I\u2019m happy to do it.\u201d Hannity teased the continuation to millions of viewers. They went to break.<\/p>\n

Then, according to DeSantis, it all fell apart.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe got the hook from, I think, his wife and some of his staff,\u201d DeSantis said. Hannity filled in the rest: \u201cThey ran out into the studio. \u2018You\u2019re done.’\u201d<\/p>\n

DeSantis said he was just sitting there. \u201cI didn\u2019t know what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

DeSantis recently told the story about Newsom getting \u201cthe hook\u201d from his wife and staffers, ending their debate.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how well it was going for Gavin, who is now bragging about it. https:\/\/t.co\/sq8KrNc53K<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/ugmCcIspZ7<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) May 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

When Hannity came back on the air, both governors had vanished. The host told viewers they had \u201cother commitments.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Part Newsom Doesn\u2019t Bring Up<\/h2>\n

What makes DeSantis\u2019s account difficult to dismiss is that it didn\u2019t start with DeSantis. NBC News reported the backstage confrontation in real time in December 2023, citing five sources \u2014 four from DeSantis\u2019s camp and one person unaffiliated with either campaign. According to those sources, Newsom\u2019s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, entered the debate room during commercial breaks on at least two occasions to raise objections. After both governors agreed on live television to extend the debate, she walked to the stage and shut it down. The unaffiliated source confirmed she said, \u201cWe\u2019re done.\u201d<\/p>\n

CBS News and Politico independently reported the same account.<\/p>\n

DeSantis\u2019s communications director Andrew Romeo didn\u2019t mince words at the time: \u201cGavin Newsom got beat so badly last night his wife literally had to throw in the towel for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the detail that apparently triggered it all. DeSantis told Hannity that during the first commercial break, he walked backstage to use the restroom and heard Newsom\u2019s staffers \u201chissing\u201d at him as he passed. The reason? Moments earlier, DeSantis had mentioned Newsom\u2019s father-in-law on air, claiming the man told him personally that he left California for Florida because it was better governed.
\"aide\"\"Andrew
A Newsom aide pushed back on the narrative, telling reporters the decision to end the debate was mutual. Both campaigns, the aide said, had complained to Fox producers when Hannity tried to extend past the agreed time. Newsom himself told reporters afterward, \u201cI think everybody started panicking on both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n

But that explanation has to compete with what Newsom said on the live broadcast minutes before his team ended it: \u201cLet\u2019s just do an extended hour. I\u2019m happy to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Fighter Who Got Pulled From the Fight<\/h2>\n

Newsom is building something. The memoir is on shelves. The podcast launched last year. He\u2019s polling as the Democratic frontrunner. And the story he keeps telling is that he\u2019s the one who will show up.<\/p>\n

On Friday, sitting across from Maher, he described the DeSantis debate as the night he proved it \u2014 the night he stepped forward while his party stood still.<\/p>\n

Five sources, the moderator, and the man standing at the other podium say that night ended with Newsom\u2019s wife walking onto a stage during a commercial break and telling everyone it was over.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s running on the night he got the hook.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n