People pounce after Newsom welcomes GOP to 'the freedom state' of California ahead of 2nd Republican presidential primary debate

 Ahead of the second GOP presidential primary debate, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, posted a tweet welcoming the Republican Party to "the freedom state."

"Welcome to the freedom state, @GOP," Newsom wrote, adding that Californians "believe in these crazy things," including "Free speech," "Gun safety," "Healthcare," "Social Security," "Climate change," and "democracy."

"See you tonight," he added.

People pounced on the left-wing governor's post.

Dean Cain mocked Newsom's post by sharing a gif of someone laughing hysterically.

"Weird, I don't remember there ever being a time people fled from democracy. You must have a different definition," Kevin Sorbo wrote.

"If California were a freedom state, people would not be fleeing. This is all very East German," Erick Erickson tweeted.

"If there's so much freedom in California, why have millions of us - who were born and raised there - left for actual freedom-minded states? Politicians like this guy RUINED my home state and have made it unlivable," Gabriella Hoffman wrote.

Seven candidates will be participating in the debate on Wednesday night, but former President Donald Trump, the clear frontrunner in the primary contest, will be conspicuously absent from the debate, just as he was during the first GOP presidential primary debate last month.

Fox News Media recently announced that Sean Hannity will moderate a debate between Newsom and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Georgia on November 30. DeSantis is one of the GOP presidential hopefuls vying for the Republican nomination.

Newsom survived a gubernatorial recall election in 2021 and then went on to win a decisive re-election victory in 2022.