ST. PETERSBURG, Fla — The political saga continues to heat up between Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
On Thursday, Newsom pledged $100,000 in support of DeSantis’ Democratic gubernatorial opponent, U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist.
Newsom tweeted: “Time to make Ron DeSantis a one-term governor. I’m pledging $100k right now to @CharlieCrist. Who will join me in helping Charlie become the next Governor of Florida?”
Fox News reported Newsom's reason behind the donation was largely because "I don't like bullies."
He said during a conference on Thursday, in part: "I'm standing up as a human being to use those dollars. I hope others send money, to send a message that if that's the future of the damn Republican Party, this country is in real trouble."
Fierce exchanges between Newsom and DeSantis — two predicted presidential contenders — are not anything new.
The Miami Herald reported that in July, Newsom's reelection campaign ran a 30-second ad on Florida TV stations. In the ad, Newsom stated that freedom "is under attack in your state."
“I urge all of you living in Florida to join the fight, or join us in California, where we still believe in freedom — freedom of speech, freedom to choose, freedom from hate and the freedom to love,” Newsom said in the advertisement.
Although DeSantis has yet to respond to Newsom's latest move, he did have a response for the TV ad.
He said during a press conference, “I can just tell you this, I was born and raised in this state, and until the last few years I rarely if ever saw a California license plate in the state of Florida. You now see a lot of them. I can tell you if you go to California you ain’t seeing very many Florida license plates."