Ron DeSantis exploded to an Associated Press reporter Thursday for asking why he wasn’t answering questions from voters during a campaign stop in Manchester, New Hampshire.
The 2024 Republican presidential nominee kicked off the event with his wife Casey with a speech on his favorite political topics, including the “war on wake” and “sending Joe Biden to his basement.”
In a swipe at Donald Trump, he vowed to “end the culture of loss that has infected the Republican Party” and criticized how the recent election has been “bypassed.”
He then met some of the 250 supporters in the crowd to pose for selfies and sign autographs when he lashed out at journalist Steve Peoples.
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Ron DeSantis exploded to an Associated Press reporter Thursday for asking why he wasn’t answering questions from voters during a campaign stop in Manchester, New Hampshire. He is seen speaking to some voters backstage
The moment a frustrated DeSantis turned around and responded to the reporter asking him why he hadn’t answered voter questions, captured by an NBC News correspondent
“People come up to me, talk to me. What are you talking about? Are you blind? Are you blind? People come up to me and talk to me about whatever they want to talk about,” he said in the moment captured by NBC news.
Florida’s governor was chatting with individual voters but not taking questions from reporters.
His security detail then dragged him away from the press.
“That’s disappointing to hear,” said Vikram Mansharamani, an entrepreneur and former Republican Senate candidate, after watching video of the exchange first posted by NBC News.
‘I didn’t want a monologue; I wanted to see how he interacted with the public,” the 49-year-old added.
DeSantis press secretary Bryan Griffin criticized the media after the tense exchange.
After refusing to answer questions from the public following his first campaign event today in New Hampshire, Ron DeSantis lashed out at a reporter for asking him about it while talking to individual members of the public.
Here’s the video, via @NBCNews ¿> pic.twitter.com/Z2WtLy0JNj
— Jonathan Allen (@jonallendc) June 1, 2023
The 2024 Republican presidential nominee kicked off the event alongside wife Casey with a speech about his priorities, including the “war on wake” and “sending Joe Biden to his basement.”
He then met some of the 250 supporters in the crowd to pose for selfies and sign autographs when he lashed out at journalist Steve Peoples
“This AP reporter asked this question while (he) was surrounded by New Hampshire voters asking him questions and taking pictures,” he tweeted.
‘Perfectly illustrative of the modern media that close their eyes and ears to the truth to push their story through.’
DeSantis’ speech to the public, which consisted mostly of retirees, mostly included lines from previous campaign stops.
But he received a huge round of applause when he addressed how he banned gender transition surgery for minors.
His digs at Trump as he criticized the GOP for their string of electoral defeats and failed messages of support.
“But here’s the thing, you can’t do all this. If you don’t win, there is no substitute for victory,” he told the crowd.
And we need to end this culture of losing that has infected the Republican Party over the years, you know, we should have 55 Republican senators by now.
“And we haven’t whistled that many races in the last four or six years. ….. We have to get it done and the stakes are high.’
Dressed casually in blue jeans and black leather boots, DeSantis was flanked by his glamorous former TV reporter First Lady Casey.
The acclaimed First Lady Casey took the stage and praised her husband. “He always puts the people’s interests before his own,” she told the crowd
The 42-year-old gave a thinly veiled nod to her husband’s policies in the Sunshine State by wearing a fitted blue sweatshirt with an Alligator logo warning: ‘Don’t Tread on Florida’
“Too often, and you’ll probably see it, you have people running for elected office, they say they’re going to do all these great things,” she said.
“When they go to certain places like Washington DC, they go rogue and become listless ships that bend in the wind, beholden to polls and politics, and fail to deliver on behalf of the people they were supposed to represent. And it’s very frustrating.
‘He never backs down. He never changes. He does not back down, never takes the path of least resistance, always standing up for the good. And he always puts the interests of the people above his own.’
Scott Nelson, a 75-year-old retired entrepreneur, said the governor’s performance was “amazing” but insisted it was “too early to make a decision” about how to vote.