Ron DeSantis roasts Gavin Newsom as California residents flee: 'People vote with their feet'

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis responded to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s attacks against him, saying the golden state is "hemorrhaging wealth" under the Democrat’s leadership. 

The jab came after Newsom said Florida "doesn’t even come close" to California’s "fastest growing" economy. 

"For decades in this country, people have beaten a path to California. It's a beautiful state, great topography, all kinds of diversity in terms of the different communities you can live in and yet they never lost population until their current governor took office," DeSantis told "Fox News Tonight" on Wednesday, "Now, they're hemorrhaging wealth. Now, they're hemorrhaging population." 

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks at a press conference at the American Police Hall of Fame & Museum in Titusville. (Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

DeSantis revealed the shocking conditions he witnessed on a visit to California and said police officers were thanking him for his work in Florida, wishing they had similar leadership. 

"The other day in San Francisco, I saw people defecating on the sidewalk," he recalled. "I saw people in an open-air drug market using fentanyl. I saw them using crack cocaine." 

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California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California on May 2, 2023. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images) (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

The sunshine state governor, who maintains Florida has led economic growth since COVID-19, said the state is number one in new business formations, has less tax, less debt and lower unemployment than California.  

"We can cite all the statistics," DeSantis told Fox News. "People vote with their feet and if someone picks up and moves 2,500 miles across the country from California to Florida, that's a major statement and I grew up in Florida. I never saw California license plates until the last four years."