Friday’s CBS Mornings did its best to all but ignore Thursday night’s fiery debate on the Fox News Channel between Governors Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and Gavin Newsom (D-CA) by stashing it in the Eye Opener (which we at NewsBusters don’t formally account as most of it’s teases for segments), but the others stepped up to the plate with full stories on ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today.
They took different approaches, however, as ABC used three-time bestselling Trump author Jonathan Karl to trash Trump’s lead 2024 GOP primary opponent while NBC’s Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker largely treated it like a substantive debate.
Karl began with the platitudes, boasting “it was billed as the red state versus blue state debate” and “preview[ing] perhaps of some of the issues, if not the candidates, we could see debated in next year's general election campaign.”
The professionalism ended there as Karl quickly dismissed the entire event and channeled both Newsom and DeSantis’s opponents, which made sense given how financially lucrative Trump has been for him in terms of book sales.
“At the start of the debate, California Governor Gavin Newsom, who isn’t running for president, taunted Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is running, but trailing badly with a reminder that neither of them would likely be on the ballot next fall,” Karl hyped going into a Newsom soundbite telling DeSantis that “neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024.”
Karl briefly touched on the fact that each candidate represented their party’s message on the economy, but went back to trashing DeSantis, who took on his employer’s parent company, Disney. The ABC correspondent also implied he viewed DeSantis as a third-place candidate behind Trump and Nikki Haley (click “expand”):
KARL: For DeSantis, it was a chance to try to inject some energy into a campaign that badly needs it, as Newsom gleefully pointed out.
NEWSOM: You're trolling folks and trying to find migrants to play games, trying to get some news and attention, so you can out-Trump, Trump. And, by the way, how's that going for you, Ron? You're down 41 points in your own home state.
KARL: Less than a year ago, DeSantis was leading Donald Trump in polls of Republican voters, but he has been losing ground for months, now trailing Nikki Haley.
HALEY: No one will outwork me in this race.
KARL: And this has been a big week for Haley. She won the endorsement of perhaps the most well-funded conservative grassroots organization in the U.S., Americans for Prosperity. But the reality is that Donald Trump, who has refused to debate anybody in this race, still has a commanding lead over both Haley and DeSantis, at least for now, although, George, that lead is smaller in Iowa and New Hampshire, which vote first.
Karl and Stephanopoulos weren’t done as they then spent 41 seconds talking about....Trump (and, specifically, the reinstatement of a limited gag order in his civil fraud trial).
In contrast, NBC chose to be adults. Co-host Hoda Kotb conceded it was “a highly unusual debate,” but nonetheless covered “everything from the economy to crime, [and] immigration.”
Welker followed and said it served as a “fiery face-off” and “battle between two men with deep political ambitions and eyes on the White House.”
“There were fireworks from the start when DeSantis sharply criticized Newsom for visited a fancy French restaurant at the height of the COVID pandemic,” she added going into a soundbite about DeSantis invoking French Laundry and then countered with Newsom blasting DeSantis on flying illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard.
“DeSantis firing back, accusing Newsom of being soft on border security,” she later said.
Welker’s one miss was on abortion as she made it only about DeSantis’s position and ignored Newsom admitting he doesn’t believe there should be any reason or time limitation for when a woman can kill her child.
After touching on DeSantis hitting Newsom over Biden’s age, Kotb was back live: “What was the point of that debate in the first place?”
Welker offered only a mild dismissal, calling it a “great question” since DeSantis has struggled to stand out”, but framed the positives for both DeSantis and Newsom:
[W]ith the Iowa caucuses over a month away now and his opponent Nikki Haley surging, a one-on-one debate presented him a real opportunity to potentially reinvigorate his campaign, taking on one of the most high-profile democratic governors and showing GOP voters what kind of a general election candidate he would be. This served as a chance for Newsom to assert himself on the national stage beyond California and establish himself as one of President Biden's main surrogates, despite all of the buzz about a potential run. But make no mistake: he's already getting plenty of buzz for the future[.]
To see the relevant transcripts from December 1, click here (for ABC) and here (for NBC).
