Video of Sparse Crowd During Ron DeSantis Appearance Viewed 300,000 Times

A video that shows a small crowd during an appearance by presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis in Nevada has been viewed more than 300,000 times online.

The clip, shared by independent journalist Ron Filipkowski, who claims to monitor right-wing extremism, showed the Florida governor walking onto a stage at the Basque Fry Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) event in Gardnerville, a small town southwest of Lake Tahoe, on Saturday.

As the video continued, it showed the crowd of just dozens of people applauding DeSantis as he appeared.

Filipkowski, who has been openly critical of DeSantis and his rival Donald Trump, mocked the size of the crowd, how people have enjoyed the less popular cuts of meat that have been available at the Basque Fry and also used the Florida governor's key anti-woke slogan against him.

In the tweet, Filipkowski said: "That's it? DeSantis went to NV to pour beer for a dozen Trump voters at the VFW, attended a rodeo where people ignored him, and these people waiting for fried lamb testicles?

"FL may be 'where woke goes to die,' but NV looks like the place where the DeSantis campaign goes to die."

Since being shared on Saturday, June 17, the clip has been viewed more than 337,000 times and liked on some 4,370 occasions.

According to The Associated Press, during his speech in Nevada, DeSantis took aim at the Justice Department and Walt Disney World, with which he ignited a feud after his 2022 "don't say gay" bill, which bans the discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in certain school grades across Florida.

However, the Florida governor steered clear of criticizing Trump, who comfortably leads a crowded Republican field despite a federal indictment over his alleged mishandling of classified documents.

Polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight found that Trump dominates the Republican primary polls with an average of 53.5 percent, while DeSantis holds a distant second place with 20.9 percent.

The next-closest challenger is former Vice President Mike Pence with 5.6 percent and all other candidates have not accumulated more than 3 percent worth of support.

FiveThirtyEight also found that in the majority of polls carried out between June 1 and 15 most of the respondents held an unfavorable view of DeSantis. A total of 11,010 American adults were asked over seven polls.

However, former Republican attorney general of Nevada, Adam Laxalt, told NBC earlier this week that it would be unlikely Trump would win Nevada in 2024.

Laxalt—who despite Trump's past endorsements during the 2018 Nevada gubernatorial race—now chairs a political action committee supporting DeSantis, added: "Trump hasn't won Nevada the last two go-arounds," Laxalt said. "I was a two-time Trump chair. I don't see a path for him to win Nevada in a general election. Those voters are not coming back."

Newsweek has contacted DeSantis' press team for comment.