California Gov. Newsom believes Florida Gov. DeSantis 'regrets running for President'

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. - On Monday, FOX News announced that Sean Hannity would host a debate between California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on his show in November. On Wednesday, while DeSantis argues on the floor during the second GOP Presidential Debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Newsom said he believes their future debate is evidence that DeSantis "regrets running for president."

Newsom spoke about his upcoming debate for the first time Wednesday, Sept. 27 with FOX 11's Elex Michaelson. 

When asked why he was participating in the debate, Newsom said the question wasn't why DeSantis would do it but rather, "why is he doing it."

"The fact that he took this debate, the fact that he took the bait in relation to this debate, shows he's completely unqualified to be President of the United States," Newsom said. He then asked, "Why is he debating a guy who's not even running for President when he's running for President?"

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Newsom went on to criticize the DeSantis team's decision to share an ad promoting his debate with Newsom — not his presidential campaign — on his X (formerly Twitter) account, shortly after the debate was announced Monday.

"This guy is distracted, so I don't know that he has it in his heart," Newsom said. "Here's my personal opinion about Ron DeSantis — he regrets running for President. He made a huge mistake. He listened to his consultants, he bought his own hype, he had this little God complex… He bought into all this stuff, and he quickly regretted it, but he's stuck."

The 90-minute debate between the California and Florida governors will air at 9 p.m. ET on Nov. 30 on FOX News Channel.

FOX 11 reached out to Gov. Ron DeSantis for an interview several times, but DeSantis has, so far, refused.