Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held his first New Hampshire campaign event on Thursday as a Republican presidential candidate — and capped it off by snapping at a reporter who asked why he keeps avoiding taking questions at his events.
DeSantis was posing for photos with attendees after the event when Associated Press reporter Steve Peoples approached him and asked why he won’t take questions from the people attending his campaign events.
DeSantis didn’t take questions once again at Thursday’s event in Laconia, New Hampshire, which breaks with a tradition in the state where presidential candidates spend significant time personally engaging with voters. This has long been part of New Hampshire’s argument to be the first in the nation to hold presidential primaries.
NBC News captured the tense moment on video.
“Why not take any questions from voters, governor?” Peoples could be heard asking as DeSantis posed for a photo.
“Governor, how come you’re not taking questions from voters?” he asked again.
As soon as he was done with his photo, DeSantis lashed out at Peoples.
“People are coming up to me, talking to me. What are you talking about? I’m out here working with people. Are you blind? Are you blind?” said the governor.
“I’m not blind, no,” replied Peoples.
“OK, so people are coming up to me,” said DeSantis, “talking to me [about] whatever they want to talk to me about.”
Here’s the video clip:
Rep. Ro Khanna, a progressive Democrat from California, later took a shot at DeSantis over the incident on Twitter.
“Free advice Ron,” said Khanna. “In the Granite state, get rid of your entourage & stick around to answer every question. I know it’s a quaint idea. But the state still believes in town hall democracy.”
