“Gavin Newsom is Doing More Than Just Crushing Ron DeSantis”

California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom marked the July Fourth holiday by unveiling a campaign ad set to air on Fox News in which he speaks about freedom, amid images of skyrocketing fireworks and the Statue of Liberty, with strains of “America the Beautiful” softly strumming on the guitar.

But if you think Newsom is serving up Independence Day platitudes in an effort to attract the support of Fox News’ audience, then you don’t know Newsom.

This new 2022 re-election commercial is about just one thing: crushing Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. And Newsom does it in a way that other Democrats should emulate – by highlighting the threat that today’s extremist GOP poses to our freedoms.

The 54-year-old governor opens the ad declaring, “It’s Independence Day – so let’s talk about what’s going on in America.” He then adds ominously to Fox News’ viewers in Florida, “Freedom is under attack in your state.”

We then see images of DeSantis shaking the hand of Donald Trump, as the screen fills with quotes from news reports appearing to back up Newsom’s claim that “Republican leaders are banning books, making it harder to vote, restricting speech in classrooms and even criminalizing women and doctors.”

And as the visuals turn to picturesque vistas of California beaches and vineyards, the governor declares, “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 closes his appeal with the words, “Don’t let them take your freedom.”

Boom! That’s the message Democrats should embrace. Today’s Republican party is an extremist movement that is literally coming for our freedoms. DeSantis – who many political observers expect will run for president in 2024 – is one of the leaders of the GOP’s efforts across a number of states to ban everything from academic freedom to reproductive rights.

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