Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), a presidential candidate, snapped at a reporter who asked him about taking questions from those present at his campaign event in New Hampshire.
“Governor, how come you’re not taking questions from voters?” an Associated Press reporter asked in the exchange.
NBC News reporter Jonathan Allen tweeted that DeSantis declined to take questions at his first event in New Hampshire on Thursday after announcing his run for the presidency last week.
“People are coming up to me, talking to me. What are you talking about? Are you blind? Are you blind?” DeSantis asked the reporter, who responded, “No.”
“OK, so people are coming up to me, talking to me whatever they want to talk to me about,” he continued.
The Never Back Down PAC, which formed to support DeSantis’s run for the White House, also tweeted a video of the interaction, writing that he “SHUTS DOWN fake news reporter.”
DeSantis press secretary Bryan Griffin also defended DeSantis, tweeting that the reporter asked DeSantis the question while the governor was “surrounded” by New Hampshire voters who were asking him questions and taking pictures with him.
“Perfectly illustrative of the modern media shutting their eyes and ears to the truth to push their narrative,” Griffin said.