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DeSantis Continues to Call Out Democratic Failures in California, This Time From San Francisco

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  June 21, 2023 7:30 AM

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) embarked on a trip to California this week as he once more addresses problems of what Democrats have done to the state. A feud of sorts has been going on between DeSantis and Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D-CA) handling of California, and it's only continued to pick up now that DeSantis is officially running for president.

On Tuesday night, DeSantis shared a video message detailing the horrors he had experienced while in San Francisco, which he called a "once great city," lamenting how it was "not vibrant anymore" and "has really collapsed." 

DeSantis shared what have unfortunately become common occurrences in the city, such as how they "saw people defecating on the street... using heroin... smoking crack cocaine." He later added that he "had seen so many businesses boarded up" and that he has "seen so much riff-raff just running around." 

San Francisco has been in the news as of late due to retailers and hotels giving up on the city, as Townhall has covered at length. Such retailers included AT&T closing its flagship store in the city and the Westfield mall, with Hilton San Francisco Union Square and Parc 55 having stopped their mortgage payments. 

As a way to lead into how Florida has seen an influx of tourists and new residents--including from California--DeSantis also added how the city "has really collapsed because of leftist policies, these policies have caused people to flee this area." He would later point out "no wonder why we've had so many people move from San Francisco to Florida over the last few years."

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California saw a loss in population for the first time in its history, though Newsom tried to downplay the matter in a Fox News interview, since other states also saw such a loss. Florida, meanwhile, saw a record amount of visitors in 2022, in addition to being the fastest-growing state in 2022, according to Census Bureau estimates. 

Leftists have further ruined San Francisco, DeSantis also argued, as "they don't prosecute criminals like they do in most parts of the country," adding "and the wreckage has really really been sad to see." 

He framed the issues mentioned as being about a sense of who is leading. After listing off several of the problems with the city, DeSantis pointed argued that "it just shows you these policies matter" and that "leadership matters." In San Francisco's case, "they are doing it wrong here." 

To conclude his video message, DeSantis declared "we gotta stop this madness" and "we need to restore sanity to this country" as a way to bring it back to a national issue as he runs for president. 

This Tuesday night video message comes after DeSantis had released a campaign ad on Monday, as Guy covered. The ad, also about California, referenced Newsom calling for a debate between the two governors. Unlike DeSantis, Newsom is not actually running for president, as he maintains he is supporting President Joe Biden for reelection.

DeSantis and Biden both traveled to California to campaign. Newsom not only doubled down in supporting the president for reelection in words, as he did in interviews with Fox News and the Associated Press, he hosted a fundraiser for Biden on Tuesday.