New Hampshire
DeSantis Lashes Out At Reporter During New Hampshire Campaign Stop: ‘Are You Blind?’
Topline
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis lambasted a reporter during a campaign stop in New Hampshire Thursday, twice asking him “Are you blind?” after the reporter questioned why the presidential hopeful wasn’t taking questions from voters.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis lashed out at a reporter during a campaign stop Thursday in New Hampshire. … [+]
Key Facts
The heated comments came after Associated Press reporter Steve Peoples asked DeSantis, “Why not take any questions from voters, governor?”—DeSantis immediately shot down the question, replying “People are coming up to me, talking to me,” and asked, “what are you talking about? Are you blind? Are you blind?”
DeSantis was leaving the campaign event in Laconia, New Hampshire, at the time of the exchange, and was shaking hands with members of the crowd before departing, and while the Florida governor was able to answer individual questions, he did not take questions from the lectern allowing all voters to hear his answers at once, NBC News reported.
Peoples, who has been traveling with the presidential hopeful throughout the week from Iowa to New Hampshire, noted on his social media that DeSantis did not take questions from voters during his campaign stops in Iowa earlier in the week.
Before the heated exchange, Peoples pondered on Twitter whether DeSantis would take questions from New Hampshire voters during Thursday’s campaign stops, as the state is one “where voters have been asking presidential candidates tough questions for decades,” Peoples said.
Crucial Quote
“There weren’t questions or any interactivity with the audience,” Vikram Mansharamani, a former candidate for the GOP Senate nomination in New Hampshire, told NBC News. “We like to hear from candidates and we have questions of our own [as]
citizens here in the state.”
Key Background
This is not the first time DeSantis has gotten into a heated exchange with a member of the press. In March, DeSantis lost his temper with a reporter from The Times of London after he asked how the Florida governor’s policy on the war in Ukraine would differ from President Joe Biden’s. Last year, after a reporter asked DeSantis about a piece of legislation, DeSantis responded, “you’re in the news business, does the truth matter or not?” and began asking the reporter questions during the press conference. Early in the pandemic, a CNN reporter pressed DeSantis on the coronavirus vaccine rollout, and DeSantis interrupted the reporter mid-question and asked, “are you going to give a speech or are you going to ask a question?”
News Peg
DeSantis hit the campaign trial this week for the first time since he announced his candidacy last week. The Florida governor is a frontrunner alongside former President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination, though a slew of other candidates have already announced and more are coming next week, like former Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
Further Reading
Is It Ron ‘Dee-Santis’ Or ‘Deh-Santis’? Trump Sees A Conspiracy Either Way (Forbes)
Deh-Santis or Dee-Santis? Even He Has Been Inconsistent (Forbes)