CNN Primetime host Abby Phillip assembled a group of nominal and former Republicans on Monday’s show to discuss the state of the Republican primary and the news that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and California Gov. Gavin Newsom have agreed to debate each other on November 30. That the nation’s foremost conservative and liberal governors will debate each other is hilarious to CNN and speaks badly of DeSantis.
Phillip simply asked, “Ron DeSantis is going to debate Gavin Newsom. Why?”
Amid laughter from the panel, Sophia Nelson, formerly of the Lincoln Project, could be heard exclaiming, “Yeah, ew.”
The DeSantis-Newsom debate isn’t exactly groundbreaking. Sens. Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders once debated each other on CNN.
Yet, the anti-debate sentiment was just getting started. Co-host of The View, Ana Navarro looked to the ceiling as if the debate was some sort of divine punishment, “Yeah, why? Because he is desperate to change the narrative. He is desperate to make himself relevant. Ron DeSantis at this point is yesterday's news. He is a failed challenger to Donald Trump. He is a failed candidate. At this point, he's got to figure out how to save some dignity and some face, right? He's got to go back to Florida and be governor, God help us all. I'm from Florida.”
Navarro was eager to pronounce DeSantis’s candidacy dead several months before Iowa, “For the next three years. And he's hoping to maybe take on Rick Scott for the Senate, figure out what his political career is and he has flamed out so badly with all of the money, with all of the press, with all of the structure, with all of the -- you know, staff. He's flamed out so badly that he's got to figure out how to change it, how to save some things.”
Phillip then jumped back in to add, “It's an interesting signal to send to the vote-- to the voters.”
Shermichael Singleton, who left the party in 2020, was also quick to pronounce not just DeSantis’s campaign over, but his career, “It is. I mean, I would say, Ana, I think DeSantis has ruined any opportunity he could have had to run in 2028.”
Navarro, of course, agreed, “From your mouth to God's ears, because what he has done in Florida should frankly not make him eligible.”
Singleton then went on to claim DeSantis has a tough time connecting with voters, but before he could talk about DeSantis’s actual policies, Navarro interrupted to add, “Mickey Mouse and my drag queen friends persevered and his candidacy is dead on arrival.”
Whether DeSantis's presidential campaign ends with success or not, the fact is he won re-election by almost 20 points by taking on various liberal culture war issues from gender ideology to sexual orientation lessons for elementary students. At the same time, Phillip brought the segment to an end, but not before Nelson chimed in, “They did survive.”
Back in the real world, Disney has essentially admitted defeat and a debate over governing visions will be much more interesting and useful than debates over personalities or the groupthink that occurs on most CNN panels.
Here is a transcript for the September 25 show:
CNN Primetime
9/25/2023
10:36 PM ET
ABBY PHILLIP: Ron DeSantis is going to debate Gavin Newsom. Why?
SOPHIA NELSON: Yeah, ew.
ANA NAVARRO: Yeah, why? Because he is desperate to change the narrative. He is desperate to make himself relevant. Ron DeSantis at this point is yesterday's news. He is a failed challenger to Donald Trump. He is a failed candidate. At this point, he's got to figure out how to save some dignity and some face, right? He's got to go back to Florida and be governor, God help us all. I'm from Florida.
PHILLIP: Florida resident right here.
NAVARRO: For the next three years. And he's hoping to maybe take on Rick Scott for the Senate, figure out what his political career is and he has flamed out so badly with all of the money, with all of the press, with all of the structure, with all of the -- you know, staff. He's flamed out so badly that he's got to figure out how to change it, how to save some things.
PHILLIP: It's an interesting signal to send to the vote-- to the voters.
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON: It is. I mean, I would say, Ana, I think DeSantis has ruined any opportunity he could have had to run in 2028.
NAVARRO: From your mouth to God's ears, because what he has done in Florida should frankly not make him eligible.
SINGLETON: I would have waited. I think there are some significant weaknesses with Ron DeSantis and his ability or his inability to connect with voters. They have tried, I know, for a fact, to work on those things and improve by working with different experts in that regard. It hasn't worked. It just hasn't worked, Abby. Some of the positions aren't very –
NAVARRO: Mickey Mouse and my drag queen friends persevered and his candidacy is dead on arrival.
PHILLIP: We're going to end it on Mickey Mouse and the drag queen friends. We have to end it there, everyone.
SOPHIA NELSON: They did survive.
