Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis snapped at a journalist asking him why he wouldn’t take questions from the audience Thursday after a presidential campaign event in Laconia, New Hampshire.
“Why not take any questions from voters, governor?” the reporter, Steve Peoples of The Associated Press, asked at the beginning of video shot and published by NBC News, which you can see below.
DeSantis, who didn’t provide a public forum for voter questioning as is usually typical in New Hampshire, initially ignored Peoples as he posed for a selfie with another man. Rather than take questions at a lectern, the governor walked through the crowd to shake hands with individuals and talk with them.
“Governor, how come you’re not taking any questions from voters?” the reporter asked again.
“What are you talking about?” DeSantis said to the reporter. “I’m out here with people. Are you blind?”
DeSantis repeated his question to the journalist, who replied by saying he is not blind.
“OK, so people are coming up to me, talking to me whatever they want to talk to me about,” the governor said.
DeSantis made his campaign for Republican presidential nominee official Wednesday after announcing that he would be competing for the presidency on Twitter in a conversation with Elon Musk after some glitches and technical difficulties on the social media platform.
DeSantis has repeatedly emphasized that the changes he wants to make will not occur if he is not elected president. Former President Donald Trump has also entered the race for the Republican nomination, and former Vice President Mike Pence is expected to next week.
