Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced on Wednesday evening that he has accepted California Governor Gavin Newsom’s debate challenge.

DeSantis accepted the challenge during an interview on Fox News with host Sean Hannity, who will host the debate.

When asked by Hannity what his answer was to Newsom’s offer, DeSantis responded: “Absolutely, I’m game.”

“Let’s get it done. Just tell me when and where we’ll do it,” DeSantis said as the audience cheered. “In one respect, the debate between California and Florida has already been had, as you suggest, people have been voting on that, they’ve been voting on it with their feet, they have fled California in record numbers.”

“Florida has been the number one state for net in-migration,” DeSantis continued. “We have the number one ranked economy, number one now in education, crime rate at a 50-year-low. But in another sense, this is the debate for the future of our country because you have people like Joe Biden, they would love to see the Californication of the United States.”

“Biden may not even be the nominee,” DeSantis added. “You could have Gavin Newsom, you could have Kamala Harris. And I think if we go down that direction, that’s going to accelerate American decline. We can’t see America decline anymore. We need to reverse.”

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The debate between California and Florida is already over. People have been voting with their feet for years.

But the debate about the future of our country is one we need to have.

I'm game to talk about my plans to reverse the decline in this country anytime, anywhere, because… pic.twitter.com/BbUKix8s5E

— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) August 3, 2023

The news comes as DeSantis is trailing only former President Donald Trump in the Republican Party presidential primary, according to The New York Times/Siena poll, which is rated by FiveThirtyEight as the top poll in the nation.

The poll found that no other candidates even come close to breaking into double digit territory with former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley all sitting at 3%. The remaining candidates all sit at 2% or less.

While Trump appears to be dominant at the moment with just over half of the vote in The New York Times/Siena poll, the poll showed that nearly half of the respondents who chose Trump in the poll — 46% — say that they are “considering other candidates.”

This report has been updated to include additional information. 

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) launched a new framework for “LGBTQI inclusive development” on Wednesday, which includes a policy goal of aiding in access to “comprehensive sexuality education.”

The framework also says that access to sexual health care and “reproductive rights,” which frequently refers to abortion, are key outcomes pursued by USAID, which is the federal agency that distributes billions of taxpayers dollars every year to countries around the world.

“USAID affirms and celebrates lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) people and all people of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) as integral parts of every society,” the new framework says.

According to USAID LGBTQ coordinator Jay Gilliam, inclusive development means that “every individual and community, of all diverse identities and experiences, is instrumental in the transformation of their own societies.”

Gilliam previously worked as the global director of the Human Rights Campaign, an organization that has opposed bans on sex-change operations on children.

“USAID is incredibly proud to stand for nondiscrimination, to stand for empathy, and to stand for inclusion. We dedicate ourselves to those values during pride month and every month of the year,” USAID Director Sammantha Power said in the framework’s launch video.

Screen grab from USAID framework.

In addition to addressing violence around the world, the framework says that LGBT-identifying individuals are denied opportunities for “political participation and economic empowerment” throughout the globe.

The framework also goes to great lengths to recognize all potential gender identities.

“USAID recognizes that language is dynamic and evolves, that terminology differs across languages and cultures, and that it is always best to ask individuals from local LGBTQI+ communities about preferred terminology. Regardless of the acronym used, USAID’s intention is to be inclusive of the full diversity of all sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, and variations in sex characteristics,” the document says.

The framework highlights one clinic in India supported by USAID that is “run by and for transgender individuals” in the country. The U.S. has backed other “Pride” events in India, including an event on “pride in American literature.”

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The announcement of the new initiative comes after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) introduced a bill on Tuesday to abolish USAID over concerns it’s using taxpayer dollars to spread “wokeism” abroad.

“American taxpayer dollars are being wasted to fund radical leftist propaganda in foreign countries,” Gaetz said in the press release. “The American people will not tolerate government-funded degeneracy at home, and we certainly will not accept its force-feeding abroad under Old Glory.”