Ron DeSantis has certainly proven himself in his time as Florida governor.
Running for president of the United States is an entirely different animal though.
One of the things that many claim separates him from President Donald Trump is his tact.
It may be possible that some people are confusing Ron DeSantis’ tact with his ability to remain cool under pressure, which is something Trump typically excels at.
Is that really the case though?
DeSantis got a bit snippy with a reporter who asked him a question during a New Hampshire campaign event.
A reporter asked him why he wasn’t taking questions with local voters.
DeSantis, who in his defense appeared to be making himself readily available to voters, took offense to the question and snapped back at the reporter:
“People are coming up to me, talking to me. What are you talking about?”
“Are you blind?.. Are you blind?” DeSantis continued.
While it’s quite possible this reporter was asking a ‘dumb’ question, this wasn’t a good look for DeSantis, especially when you look at the way Joe Biden handled questions when he ran for president in 2020.
DeSantis news – live: ‘Angry’ Florida governor asks reporter ‘Are you blind?’ at New Hampshire campaign event https://t.co/iBxaaYlmsP
— Tom Williams (@tommyboy0690) June 2, 2023
MSN reported on the incident:
The incident came hours after Mr DeSantis snapped at a reporter who persisted in asking him why he was posing for pictures with local voters but not taking their questions.
“Are you blind?” Mr DeSantis snarled, insisting he was making himself available.
The exchange was leapt upon Mr Trump, who branded his top 2024 rival “angry” at a Fox News town hall event in Iowa on Thursday evening.
Whether DeSantis was out of line or not is up to the voters to decide.
What do you think?:
Ron DeSantis snaps after being asked why he’s not taking questions from voters: “Are you blind?” pic.twitter.com/2tDLqSGzFT
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) June 1, 2023
.@RonDeSantis snaps at reporter claiming he's not taking questions from voters: 'Are you blind?' https://t.co/oG175YLDCJ
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 1, 2023
The DeSantis team dismissed the notion that this was some kind of outburst, with his press secretary calling out the media tactics leading up to the exchange.
Fox News has more:
Videos posted to Twitter show DeSantis taking photos with members of the crowd at a campaign event in New Hampshire, which has the first Republican primary next year. The first caucuses will take place in Iowa.
NBC News reported that DeSantis “did not answer questions from his lectern so that voters could all hear his answers at once.”
DeSantis’ press secretary Bryan Griffin reacted to video of the confrontation on Twitter.
“This @AP reporter asked this question while @RonDeSantis was surrounded by voters in New Hampshire asking him questions and taking pictures. Perfectly illustrative of the modern media shutting their eyes and ears to the truth to push their narrative,” Griffin said.
ADVERTISEMENT
It’s easy to be taken back to the many angry incidents that Joe Biden was a part of.
Remember this one?..:
This is not to say that DeSantis is just like Biden, but he is certainly going to have to learn to keep his cool.
Are we really supposed to believe that republican voters would have less of a problem with this than with Donald Trump and his quick wit?
Either way, there appears to be a mix of emotions when it comes to DeSantis vs Trump.
https://twitter.com/CassandraRules/status/1664465817457803264?s=20
It’s very early days, and he’s losing his temper already. This should be fun. https://t.co/TMcdxt90wq
— George Hahn (@georgehahn) June 1, 2023
The Trump vs DeSantis beef can be boiled down real simple.
Trump supporters are ordinary Americans of all stripes.
DeSantis supporters are hyper online neoliberal nerds.
The former tolerate the latter. But the latter LOATHE the former. That’s it.
— Raheem. (@RaheemKassam) June 2, 2023
Is it just me, or is Ron DeSantis getting much more rude and nasty than ever before?
He yelled at one reporter yesterday, told the other one his question was stupid, and he continues to hurl insults at President Trump in a vain attempt to win the MAGA vote.
He needs to behave!
— Alexander Sheppard 🇺🇸 (@NotAlexSheppard) June 2, 2023
Trump is trouncing DeSantis. Rasmussen, Emerson, Harvard-Harris, ABC Washington Post polls are all seeing the same thing. No candidate is getting a 30 to 45-point-swing. Team DeSantis is banking on Merrick Garland using lawfare to imprison Donald Trump.
That’s literally their… pic.twitter.com/vVnaFtTGvA
— Jason D. Meister 🇺🇸 (@jason_meister) June 2, 2023
I have a solution for the Trump vs. DeSantis problem.
America needs a president, and Florida needs a governor.
Why don’t we let President Donald Trump run for president and save this nation while Ron DeSantis spends the next few years working to hone his craft on the state…
— Nick Adams (Alpha Male) (@NickAdamsinUSA) June 2, 2023
I am Not abandoning President Trump for DeSantis or Anyone Else. The Democrats are Banking on us doing that. I Refuse to give them what they want! And You should too!
— ChefCooke (@ReefSixtyNine69) June 2, 2023
Join the conversation!
Please share your thoughts about this article below. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion!