Ron DeSantis confronted by woman claiming murder cover-up at campaign event
Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis has seen his latest presidential campaign speech interrupted by a woman who claimed her son’s murder is being covered up by the state.
At the end of May, DeSantis announced his run for the Republican presidential nomination in a Twitter stream, which confirmed his bid for the White House is reliant on hate and culture war politics.
During his latest campaign event in Manchester, New Hampshire, DeSantis – who is currently locked in a lengthy legal battle with Disney – saw further controversy come his way.
At the event, a woman interrupted DeSantis’ speech and claimed her son’s murder was covered up in the state.
In a video circulating on Twitter, she can be heard shouting “five years”, before DeSantis responds “thank you” as the woman is taken away by two security guards.
As she is removed from the event, the women throws her DeSantis hat to the ground before pulling out and putting on a Trump one. DeSantis then proceeds to continue his spiel about “pornographic books in schools.”
The Florida governor – known for his reviled Don’t Say Gay law and his repeated attacks on the trans community – has sought to crack down on all things LGBTQ+ and ‘woke’ in the sunshine state, ahead of his run for the 2024 presidential nomination.
MANCHESTER, NH!
Woman interrupts Ron Desantis, claims her sons murder was covered up in Florida, and his office has ignored her! She throws her Desantis hat on the ground, says she’s going to put a real one on, and pulls out a Trump hat. pic.twitter.com/rA7MDG1Kx9
— Heather Mullins (@TalkMullins) June 2, 2023
On Twitter, the bizarre interruption is being called a “Trump stunt” by people who are failing to see the woman’s ownership of two opposing party hats as a coincidence.
Trump stunt 101. How many ppl will he employ to pull off manufactured political stunts?
—
Defend Democracy
(@Kimmi1965) June 2, 2023
Theatrical performance.
— Jenn Ecks Redux (@CactusCat236) June 2, 2023
Because normal people carry around two hats of competing candidates.
— Florida Dad (@FloridadadD) June 2, 2023
Ah yes, this doesn’t seem staged at all.
Normal people always carry around Trump and DeSantis hats at the same time
— Proud Elephant
(@ProudElephantUS) June 2, 2023
Following another incident during his New Hampshire campaign event, which saw DeSantis snap at a reporter with “are you blind?” after they asked why he wasn’t taking questions from local voters, Trump was quick to brand his main opponent “angry”.
The indicted former president, who rarely misses an opportunity to lash out at DeSantis, made the comments at a Fox News town hall in Iowa on Thursday (1 June), The Independent reported.
*Federal judge disqualifies himself from Disney lawsuit*
On Friday (2 June), US District Judge Mark Walker disqualified himself from overseeing a Florida court case brought against DeSantis by Disney.
The judge denied DeSantis’ claims that he had disqualified himself due to questions about his impartiality, and instead said the motion lacked merit and that it amounted to “nothing more than rank judge-shopping”, Reuters reported.
In late April, Disney launched legal action against DeSantis over his takeover of the park’s special district.
The lawsuit accuses DeSantis and his supporters of illegally using state government to punish the company for voicing an opinion that should be protected under the First Amendment.
During DeSantis’ candidacy announcement on 24 May, he spoke for over an hour about numerous issues, from book bans to military recruitment, via Twitter Spaces.
Immediately after the event, LGBTQ+ groups denounced DeSantis’ campaign as an attempt to “export extremist, anti-LGBTQ+ agenda to the nation”.
Despite DeSantis’ anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric, the Florida governor is still lagging far behind Trump in the polls.
A recent Reuters/Ipsos survey showed Trump was backed by 49 per cent of Republicans, compared with just 19 per cent for DeSantis.