Ron DeSantis’ first experience with the Iowa State Fair has been anything but “midwestern nice.”
For the second day in a row, the Florida governor was the only Republican at the event, which is hallowed political territory for any presidential candidate, interrupted by protestors imploring him to return to the Sunshine State.
DeSantis’ latest clash with the small group of demonstrators — who say they were there to protest his policies on a range of issues including abortion and education — was on Saturday morning during his one-on-one interview with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.
The protesters used cowbell and whistles to disrupt DeSantis, who has a close relationship with Reynolds and said he would consider her as a running mate. Two of DeSantis’ rivals for the GOP nomination, Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley, were also interviewed by Reynolds, ahead of DeSantis, and neither faced any vocal opposition from the audience.
“Hey, you know what, you know what? We’re in Iowa,” Reynolds told the protesters. “And in Iowa, we’re Iowa nice. So, let’s give everybody the opportunity to hear our candidates.”
It was the second day in a row DeSantis was heckled by the apparent left-leaning group. On Friday, they greeted DeSantis at the fair using a megaphone through which they chanted “Ron DeFacist” and “pudding fingers,” in reference to a Daily Beast story that reported DeSantis ate a cup of pudding with his bare hands.
“We’re Iowa nice by nature,” one of the protesters, Heather Ryan, told NBC News on Friday. “That’s what we’re known for. But I’m tired of being nice. I’m tired of getting trampled on for our rights … people like Ron DeSantis … I mean, women’s rights are, like, so unimportant to him that I almost don’t even have to say that he’s taking them away because you already know that.” NBC News was unable to contact Ryan following the incident on Saturday as she had been apprehended by authorities.
DeSantis dismissed the protesters, telling reporters in Iowa, “People like this are why we lose as Americans.”
Reynolds’ “fair-side” chats with the GOP contenders have been friendly and formulaic, allowing each GOP contender to field a series of softball questions in front of grassroots Iowa Republicans who are set to play an outsized role in the GOP nominating contest. Most of her questions have steered away from any hint of controversy, including front runner Donald Trump’s multiple indictments.
During his chat with Reynolds on Saturday, DeSantis reiterated his long-standing talking points, from Florida’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic to parental rights in education.
He also spoke about how he navigates having three small children on the campaign trail, as a plane flew overhead carrying a banner that read “Be likable, Ron!” — a reference to leaked video from debate preparation during his 2018 gubernatorial campaign where Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Republican who was a significant DeSantis adviser but now a Trump supporter, told DeSantis to “be likable.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
