JD Vance responds to Gavin Newsom attacking Sarah Sanders
Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, joins 'Hannity' to discuss criticism of new Arkansas governor
California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom took a swipe at newly-minted Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, after the rising GOP star offered the Republican response to President Biden's State of the Union address.
Newsom tweeted that Sanders, daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, touted the GOP's focus on public safety but "skip[ped] over Arkansas ha[ving] one of the highest murder rates in the nation."
On "Hannity," host Sean Hannity said Sanders obviously "triggered" Newsom, who has presided over a state in multifaceted decline for years, especially in terms of public safety and criminal justice.
Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, echoed that assertion, saying Sanders "poked at something that's got to bother Gavin Newsom."
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Former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders was sworn in as governor of Arkansas on Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Will Newton)
"He is the governor of what was once one of the most beautiful and prosperous states in the union. And he's allowed certain places in that state to become like a third-world country," he said.
"I take no pleasure in saying this as Ohio's senator, but you go to Los Angeles, you go to San Francisco — these are places that used to be the center of world prosperity. And now you have open air drug markets, homeless tent cities as far as the eye can see."
Newsom has also been widely suggested — along with Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — as a top Democratic governor that could potentially seek the 2024 presidential nomination.
Vance said Newsom needs to "look in the mirror" at California's failure and its own public safety crisis.
He added that President Biden is appearing to take Newsom's policies national, attributing the rising national crime rates to that move.
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a news conference after meeting with students at James Denman Middle School in San Francisco on Oct. 1, 2021. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
"That's the problem. The problem is not Sarah Huckabee Sanders pointing out that average Americans, we just want public safety," Vance said.
In her response to the State of the Union address, Sanders, the youngest governor in the country, called for a "new generation of Republican leadership" and described the choice between Democrats and Republicans as a choice "between normal or crazy."
"Being a mom to three young children taught me not to believe every story I hear. So forgive me for not believing much of anything I heard tonight from President Biden. From out-of-control inflation and violent crime to the dangerous border crisis and threat from China, Biden and the Democrats have failed you," she said.
"It’s time for a change. Tonight, let us reaffirm our commitment to a timeless American idea: that government exists not to rule the people, but to serve the people. Democrats want to rule us with more government control, but that is not who we are," she added.
Fox News' Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.
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