DeSantis targeting Special Olympics prompted attack ad, Newsom says

WASHINGTON — California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have been trolling each other recently on the pandemic, abortion, LGBTQ rights and more.

But Newsom said that what pushed him to air an anti-GOP ad in Florida over the Fourth of July was DeSantis’ treatment of the Special Olympics. The state threatened to fine the organization $27.5 million if it didn’t drop its COVID19 vaccine mandate before the 2022 USA Games in Orlando last month. Special Olympics officials complied.

“He did something that tipped me very directly, and that was going after the Special Olympics. I had an emotional response to that,” Newsom told The Sacramento Bee, his voice catching momentarily. “That led to the consideration of doing something a little bit more expressive and that was the determination on the ad.”

Newsom spoke Friday to The Bee in the U.S. Capitol, where he has been meeting with federal lawmakers this week on issues such as wildfires, gun violence and education.

The timing of the visit, just a month after the ad starting airing on Fox News in Florida, again prompted speculation that he will run for the White House.

Again, Newsom said, that’s “nonsensical.”

“Nonsensical in this respect that I’ll be meeting with the vice president in a moment: my old friend, colleague, Californian, the vice president of the United States,” Newsom said before having lunch with Vice President Kamala Harris. “It’s a non starter.”

In the Florida ad, Newsom says “freedom is under attack in your state” in reference to bans on books, voting restrictions and limitations on abortion.

What propelled it to screen, Newsom said, was DeSantis’ push to eliminate the Special Olympics’ coronavirus vaccine mandate for their competition in Florida last month.

Shortly before the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games were to begin, the Florida Department of Health threatened the organization with a $27.5 million fine unless it dropped its vaccine mandate. DeSantis has barred private orga

nizations from requiring proof of vaccination or enforcing vaccine mandates.

The Special Olympics dropped the mandate, and Florida did not fine the organization.

DSantis said that the decision was a victory for the athletes.

Newsom has been a staunch defender of the Special Olympics since he headed the leadership committee for its World Games in Los Angeles in 2015. His mother worked with an organization that helped families adopt children with disabilities, making the fight personal.

“Ron DeSantis’ values on full display: Bullying. The. Special. Olympics.” Newsom wrote on Twitter in response.

Newsom himself has dyslexia, a reading disability, which has

shaped his work on education and led him to publish a children’s book.

DeSantis, who is said to be considering a presidential run in 2024, blasted Newsom’s ad, saying “California is driving people away with their terrible governance.” He claimed major cities have been “destroyed with drugs and crime and homelessness,” decried remote learning policies and criticized Newsom’s infamous unmasked 2020 dinner at the French Laundry.

Asked if he would consider more advertisements outside California in the near future, Newsom said “I’d be lying if I suggested otherwise.”

“But that’s not to suggest that I have anything specific in mind,” he said.