Newsom’s July 4 weekend ad claims “Freedom is under attack” in states run by Republican governors like Florida. He continues to demonize several decisions led by the conservative DeSantis. “Your Republican leaders, they’re banning books,” Newsom says in the voiceover of De Sandys’ images. Republican governors are “making it harder to vote, restricting speech in classrooms, even criminalizing women and doctors,” Newsom’s ad claims. The ad is something of a rebuttal to DeSantis’ April tirade in San Francisco, where he claimed the bay city was a “trash fire” while expressing concerns that its people would relocate to Florida to escape. DeSantis said if they did, they would likely bring the same voting habits that allegedly destroyed California to his home state. Newsom called on Floridians to “join the fight” against DeSantis. He added that disaffected citizens in the Sunshine State are welcome to move to California, “where we still believe in freedom. Freedom of speech, freedom of choice, freedom from hate and freedom to love. Don’t let them take your freedom away.”
