Gavin Newsom says he would have killed as many Californians as 'TEN 9/11s' if he used Florida COVID policies - while DeSantis says Democrats' lockdowns 'ruined livelihoods' while kids were in school

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday night that 'ten 9/11s' worth of Californias would have died of COVID-19 had he followed the same policies as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. 

The two took part in a red state-blue state debate in Georgia moderated by Fox News' Sean Hannity, with COVID-19 playing a supporting role.

At the top of the debate, DeSantis hammered Newsom for going to the French Laundry restaurant while other Californians were stuck at home, while Newsom swatted back by saying that DeSantis had followed the recommendations of Dr. Anthony Fauci until the Republican Party changed its tune.

Newsom noted that DeSantis closed beaches, bars and restaurants, touted vaccines and wore a mask.  

'He did all of that until he decided to fall prey to the fringe of his party,' Newsom said. 'And as a consequence of that Ron, tens of thousands of people lost their lives. The equivalent - if I had your policies - the equivalent to ten 9/11s.' 

A Los Angeles Times report ahead of the debate found that significantly more Floridians died on a per capita basis during the pandemic than Californians. 

Of the four most populous states, California lost 2,560 people for every million residents, while Florida lost 4,044 people for every million, according to the Times analysis of John Hopkins University data.  

But DeSantis argued that the death rates in the two states were 'basically the same.'

'Now why is that important?' he mused. 'Gavin Newsom did huge damage to people in California. He ruined livelihoods. We reopened the state very quickly. We saved hundreds of thousands of jobs. We saved thousands of businesses. We had our kids in school. He had the kids locked out of school because of the teachers' unions.' 

DeSantis said that keeping kids out of school had a 'generational impact' and accused California of having one of the lowest literacy rates in the country. 

'So you should apologize for not getting your kids in school. Why didn't you get kids in school in the summer of 2020 like we did?' DeSantis asked. 

Newsom shot back and said the 'only person who should apologize is Ron DeSantis.'

'For the tens of thousands of lives that died unnecessarily because he played to the fringe of his party,' the California governor said. 

During the pandemic, which started during former President Donald Trump's tenure, the Republican leader initially backed social distancing policies, including the temporary closures of businesses and schools to stop the spread of the contagious disease. 

But as months went on, Trump started pushing Republican leaders to open their states, with DeSantis starting the process in May 2020, two months after the pandemic took hold.