Ron DeSantis tears into Gavin Newsom for having so many residents - including his father-in-law - leave California they 'ran out of U-Hauls': Democrat hits back saying NEITHER will be a presidential nominee in 2024

The claws came out early in the showdown between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and California Gov. Gavin Newsom as the two state leaders took personal jabs and fought to speak over each other.

DeSantis slammed his California counterpart by pointing to his hypocrisy during COVID-19 by going out to fine-dining restaurant The French Laundry and sending his children to in-person private schools while his residents were still under lockdown.

He said California ran out of UHauls because so many people were moving out to head to red states – including Florida. He said among the new residents in Florida is Newsom's wife's father.

Newsom didn't back down in the one-on-one debate in Alpharetta, Georgia on Thursday night, taking a dig at DeSantis by saying they both won't be presidential nominees in 2024.

He also accused DeSantis of 'trolling' with his move to transport migrants out of border states to Democratic sanctuary cities – and said he's trying to one-up former President Donald Trump with the antics. 

'You almost have to try to mess California up,' DeSantis said during feisty opening remarks explaining why his state is superior. 'That is what Gavin Newsom has done since he has been governor.'

'He has imposed restrictions on his own people while exempting himself from those restrictions and going to the French Laundry while his people were suffering,' the Florida governor said. 'He led the country in school closures, blocking kids out of school while he had his own kids in private school in-person.' 

Newsom has repeatedly said he has no plans to run for president in 2024 and has served as a surrogate for President Joe Biden since he launched his reelection campaign this year.

On the other hand, DeSantis is engaged in a heated primary election where he comes in distant second to former President Donald Trump.

'You're trolling folks and trying to find migrants to play political games to try to get some news attention to out-Trump Trump,' Newsom alleged of the Florida governor's actions.

'And by the way, how's that going for you? Down by 41 points in your own home state.' 

DeSantis, at another point, said: 'I'll give Gavin credit — he did at least admit in his first answer, he's joined at the hip with Biden and Harris. He thinks Biden and Harris have done a great job. He thinks the economy is working because of their policies for Americans, and they are not.

'What California represents is the Biden-Harris agenda on steroids,' the governor added.

He noted that Newsom is the first California leader to see the state lose population rather than gain.

'They actually at one point, ran out of U-Hauls in the state of California because so many people were leaving,' DeSantis said at the start of a debate filled with a lot of tension and cross-talk.

Newsom acknowledged: 'There are profound differences tonight, and I look forward to engaging.'

'But there's one thing in closing that we have in common is neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024,' he jabbed.

The governors took stage Thursday evening to prove once and for all which of their states are superior and which of their governing styles works better for their residents.

The highly anticipated match-up was expected to get heated – and did not disappoint right out the gate.

The two men have spent months going at each other's throats on airwaves and finally get the chance to meet-up face-to-face.

Tensions between DeSantis and Newsom culminate in Alpharetta, Georgia, where Fox News host Sean Hannity is asking the two to share why their approach to governing is best.

The battle of the governors not only offers the ultimate red v. blue showdown, but also could preview a future presidential race – if not in this cycle, during a later one.

Some are also looking to see alternatives to President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, who are likely set for a rematch in 2024.

DeSantis is currently running in the 2024 Republican presidential race, consistently polling second, but far behind Trump. He has already participated in three Republican presidential primary debates against his GOP competitors without Trump ahead of the battle with Newsom.

Meanwhile, Newsom is not in the 2024 race – and insists he has no intentions of entering the running and instead is serving as a surrogate to Biden.

'As Democrats ramp up their efforts to replace the historically unpopular and failed Joe Biden as their nominee, Ron DeSantis' showdown with Gavin Newsom is even more timely,' DeSantis campaign manager James Uthmeier said in a statement provided to DailyMail.com

He added: 'A Newsom presidency would accelerate America's decline, and November 30th will be the first chance to expose to a national audience just how dangerous his radical ideology would be for the country.'

'Ron DeSantis will take this responsibility seriously and looks forward to sharing the stark contrast between his vision to revive our nation and Newsom's blueprint for failure.'

Newsom spokesman Nathan Click told DailyMail.com the day before the debate that the California governor is participating because he 'has long believed that Democrats have to go on offense in enemy territory, and that's exactly what he intends to do.'

Hannity helped brokered the terms of the debate, including at least one of the candidates preferring not to have an in-studio audience.

The Fox News host told DailyMail.com in an interview Tuesday: 'I took on the crazy position of personally handling this myself. I thought it was too important.'

Newsom initially challenged DeSantis to a debate in September 2022. At the time, DeSantis was not yet running in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.

In an interview with Hannity in June, Newsom, a liberal, again said he would debate DeSantis, a conservative, with the Fox host moderating.

DeSantis officially agreed in August, telling Hannity during an interview: 'I'm game. Let's get it done. Just tell me when and where.'

'We were shocked when he accepted,' Click said to DailyMail.com

'Newsom had been challenging Desantis (sic) for months to debate, and the fact that he finally accepted as his campaign was circling the drain shows just how bad Desantis (sic) needs to distract from his disaster of candidacy,' he added.