California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday donated $100,000 to the gubernatorial campaign of Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., the Democratic nominee running against Gov. Ron DeSantis.
"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?" Newsom wrote in a tweet.
He later said at a press conference: "I like Charlie Crist and I don't like bullies. We want to ask what my way is in life. And I don't like bullies. I don't like people that demean people. I don't like people that talk down to people. I didn't like what DeSantis said about [Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Chief Medical Adviser to the President Dr. Anthony] Fauci the other day."
Newsom previously released an ad on TV stations in Florida criticizing DeSantis, saying that freedom "is under attack in your state."
He adds in the clip, "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."
DeSantis hit back at a press conference, saying that "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."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.