Ron DeSantis served drinks at a VFW post in Sparks, Nevada – but joked with the veterans that he wouldn’t serve them ‘woke’ beer Bud Light.
Before heading to Reno Rodeo on Friday evening, DeSantis was joined by former roommate and once Nevada’s Attorney General Adam Laxalt at the Veterans of Foreign War Post 9211.
‘Just so you know, I’ll serve you anything except Bud Light. I just can’t do that,’ DeSantis said to widespread laughter from patrons at the post known as ‘The Bunker.’
The Florida governor was making reference to the ongoing Republican boycott of Bud Light after the company celebrated transgender social media personality Dylan Mulvaney’s one-year anniversary of ‘being a girl.’
Nevada is one of the earliest primary contest states – and DeSantis already visited the other three with a swing earlier in June through Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis played bartender at a VFW post in Sparks, Nevada on Friday before taking his family to the Reno Rodeo
The governor joked with cheerful veterans that he would ‘serve you anything except Bud Light’
Video released by the campaign shows DeSantis playing bartender as he and Laxalt took spots behind the bar serving beers to veterans and taking their payment to the cash register.
‘Does anybody want a draught on the house?’ DeSantis asked before giving a beer over to a veteran for free.
The two cheered their beers and took a drink together.
Just an hour later, DeSantis charmed a Nevada rodeo crowd alongside his all-American family.
The Florida governor, his wife Casey DeSantis and their three children Madison, 6, Mason, 5, and Mamie, 3, were hosted by one of the sponsors of the Reno Rodeo in a box with premium views of the arena.
Attendees frequently walked by to shake DeSantis’ hand or take a selfie with the 2024 presidential candidate.
‘They’re in the right place,’ a rodeo-goer told DailyMail.com when asked how he felt about DeSantis attending.
The campaign stops at the VFW and rodeo came the day before the Florida governor headlines the 8th Annual Morning in Nevada PAC’s Basque Fry in Gardnerville, Nevada – just under an hour outside of Reno.
Adam Laxalt, a longtime Donald Trump ally who has defected to support DeSantis in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, also joined DeSantis for the Rodeo and is hosting him at the Basque Fry he started eight years ago.
Other attendees at the Basque Fry will include Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo; pro-Second Amendment media personality Dana Loesch; and Steve Cortes, the national spokesperson of the biggest PAC backing DeSantis’ presidential run, Never Back Down.
DeSantis’ joke with VFW patrons was a callback to the ongoing conservative boycott of Bud Light after the beer company celebrated transgender social media star Dylan Mulvaney (pictured) for reaching one-year of ‘being a girl’
DeSantis, his wife Casey and their three children Madison, 6, Mason, 5, and Mamie, 3, attended the Reno Rodeo Friday evening during a campaign swing through western Nevada
Ron DeSantis charmed a Nevada rodeo crowd alongside his all-American family Friday evening. Nevada is among the four early primary contest states
Laxalt and DeSantis roomed together while in naval officer training, and they have remained close friends through the years.
Both men were officers in the Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps, and they served in Iraq.
Laxalt chaired Trump’s 2020 campaign in Nevada, but this time around he is backing DeSantis, and heads up the pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down. He also ran an unsuccessful Senate campaign in 2022.
The ten-day Reno Rodeo is a coveted annual event in western Nevada with attendees pulling out their best boots, largest cowboy hats, pressed jeans and flashiest belt buckles to watch the competitions, which includes bareback riding and barrel racing, as well as bull and Bronc riding.
Past rodeo president Scott Patterson confirmed that DeSantis is the first-ever presidential candidate to visit the Reno Rodeo.
Event organizers said DeSantis’ kids wanted to attend the rodeo because they are big fans of bull riding.
The ten-day Reno Rodeo is a well-loved annual event in western Nevada
Spotted alongside DeSantis at the rodeo was former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt (right), a former Donald Trump ally who defected to support DeSantis, his longtime friend. Laxalt chaired Trump’s 2020 campaign in Nevada, but this time around he is backing DeSantis, and heads up the pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, wife Casey and children Madison, Mamie and Mason attend Patriot Night at the Ren Rodeo in Nevada on Friday
Many in the crowd eagerly anticipated DeSantis’ arrival, while a few others that seemed apolitical told DailyMail.com that they were only vaguely aware of the 2024 candidate.
The general manager of a local Reno and Tahoe-based business who was attending the rodeo on Friday evening said that he plans to change his registration from independent to Republican so he can vote for DeSantis in the primary election.
Richard Harrison, 45, told DailyMail.com that he voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 election, but said he’s ‘too crazy,’ so he switched his vote to Joe Biden in 2020.
But the Nevada voter said he fears that Biden is ‘too old’ to continue being president, and now backs DeSantis.
At the rodeo, DeSantis shook hands as he walked out to the bleachers after privately meeting with the event’s sponsors.
Many prospective voters approached DeSantis to take pictures as he settled into the box.
Though far from the Sunshine State, DeSantis looked to be right at home, donning the black pair of boots he is often seen wearing at campaign events with jeans, along with a white quarter zip on top of a light blue and plaid button down.
Casey, who is quickly becoming a fashion icon and drawing comparisons to former First Ladies Jackie Kennedy and Nancy Reagan, wore a cobalt blue zip-up over a white t-shirt and jeans.
Earlier in the day, DeSantis stopped to drink beers with veterans in Reno at VFW Post 9211, also known as ‘The Bunker’
Ron, Casey, and Adam Laxalt are seen serving drinks behind the bar at the VFW post
The three kids were in matching ‘RD24’ navy blue shirts promoting their father’s 2024 bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
Nevada’s presidential primary is scheduled for February 6, making it among the earliest states on the Republican schedule, as well as the newly revamped Democratic primary schedule.
The Basque Fry, a festival where fried lamb testicles are served among other foods, is considered a key event in the lead-up to the Silver State’s primary.
Also known as ‘lamb fries’, the dish is a signature one in Europe’s Basque culture, and the event, modeled after cookouts held by Laxalt’s grandfather, former Nevada Governor Paul Laxalt, pays tribute to the family’s Basque heritage.
The event typically draws thousands of conservatives, who come from around the state to have a ball.
DeSantis is headlining the festival, an encroachment into turf that Trump won decisively in the past two primaries, in a move drawing bitter scorn from the Trump camp.
‘Not surprised Ron DeSantis is looking for a set of b****,’ Trump senior adviser Chris LaCivita told NBC News when asked about the Florida governor’s visit to the Basque Fry.
That comment didn’t sit well with Erin Perrine, the communications director for the pro-DeSantis PAC Never Back Down. ‘The Trump team’s obsession with men’s genitalia is more perverted than a woke grooming book,’ Perrine told NBC.
The larger issue at play is whether DeSantis can make inroads in Nevada, where Trump has had strong support in the state Republican Party, but lost the state in both general elections.
‘Trump hasn’t won Nevada the last two go-arounds,’ Laxalt told NBC. ‘I was a two-time Trump chair. I don’t see a path for him to win Nevada in a general election.’
Laxalt’s grandfather Paul Laxalt was Nevada’s governor and represented the state in the US Senate, and the modern-day Basque Fry is modeled after his grandfather’s cookouts.
Trump’s advisor LaCivita cast Adam Laxalt as a loser.
‘So Adam Laxalt, who lost the governor’s race in ’18 and lost the Senate race in ’22, is lecturing President Trump?’ LaCivita said. ‘That’s the pot calling the kettle black.’
Taylor Budowich, the CEO of MAGA Inc., the top Trump super PAC told NBC of DeSantis: ‘There’s no sign that he can win in any state.’
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