Is Gavin Newsom looking for a way out of his debate with Ron DeSantis? That’s sure what it looks like after the California governor’s latest fit.

As RedState reported, DeSantis accepted the debate challenge during a recent appearance on Fox News. Newsom had previously sent his offer to Sean Hannity in late July, who he wants to moderate the event.

But Newsom is now crying foul after DeSantis sent his proposed debate rules.

NEW: Fox News’ debate between Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom, moderated by Sean Hannity, is in jeopardy as they reportedly disagree on terms:

“It sounds like Newsom is getting cold feet,” says District Media Group President @BeverlyHallberg. pic.twitter.com/szGoBrVDi6

— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) August 7, 2023

“What a joke,” Newsom spokesperson Nathan Click said in a statement. “Desantis’ counterproposal is littered with crutches to hide his insecurity and ineptitude — swapping opening statements with a hype video, cutting down the time he needs to be on stage, adding cheat notes and a cheering section.”

“Ron should be able to stand on his own two feet,” he added. “It’s no wonder Trump is kicking his ass.”

The line about Trump beating DeSantis is cute (while ignoring Newsom is too chicken to run against Joe Biden), but it completely papers over the fact that this is a debate between Newsom and DeSantis. A debate that Newsom himself proposed. And while the statement from his spokesperson above includes a lot of rhetoric to make it seem like DeSantis’ terms are unreasonable, when you actually look at the details, they are simply normal things you’d expect in any debate.

For example, DeSantis is proposing the same 90-minute time frame that Newsom did. He’s also proposing the debate take place in Georgia, a state Newsom himself suggested. The Florida governor is even agreeing to Newsom’s rules about no interruptions and having two-minute closing statements. Lastly, DeSantis agreed to a November 8th debate, which is one of only two dates Newsom offered.

None of that seems unreasonable, does it?

The two sides’ proposed rules detail a number of similarities. They both agree on Hannity being the lone moderator, a 90-minute run time, equally divided speaking time and two minutes of closing statements.

Between the two governors’ proposals, Nov. 8 is the only date in common, while Georgia is the only location in common.

In fact, aside from the idea of having opener videos highlighting each state’s achievements, which doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, Newsom’s freakout seems to revolve around just a single request: Having a live audience.

Apparently, the California governor believes his much-loved COVID lockdowns are still in effect throughout the country. They aren’t, though, and debates have traditionally taken place in front of live audiences. DeSantis’ proposal to have people in the crowd even includes a 50/50 split of tickets so those who attend are evenly divided between the two participants.

The idea that Newsom would scoff at such a request and call it a “joke” is laughable. It also exposes the California governor’s cowardice. He wants a controlled environment where real people have no ability to respond to anything he says, which is exactly what he’s used to living in his insulated deep blue kingdom.

Putting all this together, it sure looks like Newsom is just looking for an excuse to bail. Never in a million years did he expect DeSantis to accept his debate challenge. Heck, I didn’t expect it given Newsom isn’t running for president (officially, at least).

Ask yourself, why did Newsom only propose dates in mid-November? No one actually believes he doesn’t have a free evening until then, especially given all the other press appearances he’s been making. Does he really need that much time to prepare for a single debate on the issues he claims he’s winning on? Or is he trying to stall in hopes that things fall apart and he doesn’t have to show up? With all the crying about simply appearing in front of an audience, my money is on the latter.

Is Newsom a better debater than DeSantis? I don’t know. What I do know is that the facts are on DeSantis’ side, and I’d much rather be defending Florida’s governance than California’s. No amount of slick talking is going to change the gulf of success between the two states. I’d suspect Newsom knows that, and now he’s scrambling.