Here is some green room gossip from a DeSantis campaign official. It’s a little behind-the-scenes moment from the Red State vs Blue State Debate that is worth passing along.

One reason that the debate was so compelling was that it shined a light on the stark difference between the political leadership styles of a successful red-state governor and an unsuccessful blue-state. As it turns out, there was also a stark difference in how the final moments were spent in the green rooms before the two governors went on stage. An observation was shared with me via email.

We shared a green room wall. The Newsom team tried to pump up their candidate by playing loud rap music and it sounded like a club.

In contrast, on our side, we were very even-keeled and business-like and a pastor came in to pray with the governor and his wife while rap music was coming through the wall. That’s when we knew for sure we had them.

Slick and slippery Governor Gavin Newsom needed a loud club-like atmosphere to get ready to do the debate. Is he a low-energy person who needs that kind of mood-changing stimulant? It seems like before an event he strongly supported and encouraged Hannity to do, Newsom would have been ready right out of the gate.

The contrast with Governor DeSantis is an eye-opener. DeSantis and his wife Casey are prayerful people and publicly acknowledge their faith in God. So, it seems logical that before a big event, DeSantis would center himself with a prayer, even with rap music blasting through the wall.

The viewership was big by any measure. The first numbers that were released were good. The viewership numbers for the Red State vs Blue State debate exceeded other televised political events.

TV viewership

4.8M – DeSantis vs Newsom debate on Hannity
2.9M – July Trump townhall on Hannity
2.8M – June Trump townhall on Hannity
3.3M – May Trump townhall on CNN

— Matt Wolking (@MattWolking) December 1, 2023

The updated numbers were even better.

Viewership of 5.4 million for the DeSantis debate with Newsom is significantly more than anything Trump draws for his shrinking rallies and low-energy speaking appearances.

Brilliant move by @RonDeSantis. pic.twitter.com/e7tpHSiwOB

— Cryptid Politics 🇺🇸🐊 (@CryptidPolitics) December 2, 2023

DeSantis came prepared to debate the issues. Newsom did not. Newsom simply lied his way through the debate. He made up his facts and name-called DeSantis like a schoolyard bully. Newsom planned to do some aggressive gaslighting of the viewing audience by delivering an alternative universe. He tried to make claims like Floridians moving to California in record numbers, when the opposite is true. He continued to do that on all the issues. He made crazy claims that California is a state with low taxes.

The craziest of claims was when Newsom tried to claim that DeSantis was a lockdown governor. Newsom kept California shut down longer than most states were locked down. DeSantis created all kinds of commotion when he quickly re-opened Florida after an initial, brief period of lockdown – at the recommendation of President Trump and Dr. Anthony Fauci. DeSantis saw that it was too detrimental to families, businesses, schools, and everyday life to shut down Florida. Who can forget the Grim Reaper who appeared on Florida public beaches to shame DeSantis? The message was that DeSantis was killing Floridians by opening up the state.

DeSantis threw Newsom off guard by bringing visual aids to the debate. He showed a book that included pornographic material that was included in classroom materials for inappropriately young children. He even produced the poop map that shows where there are problems with public defecation in San Francisco. That was quite a moment. The most devastating moment was when DeSantis told a story of talking to a man who had moved from California to Florida. The man told DeSantis how he was enjoying living in Florida after leaving California. At the end of that conversation, he told DeSantis that he was Newsom’s father-in-law. Ouch! That was during the first minutes of the debate and Newsom never recovered from that blow. What better way to highlight the exodus from a failing blue state to a thriving red state?

Most telling of all was the tidbit that it was Gavin Newsom’s wife who put a stop to extending the debate. Newsom was so clueless on how badly he was doing against DeSantis that Newsom was agreeable to going on, claiming he was having an excellent time. His wife saw things differently and pulled the plug. Newsom is so self-absorbed that he is unaware of his complete lack of self-awareness.

Newsom went into the debate not to defend the indefensible progressive policies that have destroyed life in California for everyday people but to play campaign surrogate for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Ron DeSantis had the facts and a successful record as a conservative red-state governor on his side. That debate was over before it ever began.