DeSantis lashes out at reporter on New Hampshire campaign visit: ‘Are you blind?’

A Republican who unsucessfully ran for office in New Hampshire called the governor’s reaction ‘disappointing’

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis snapped at a reporter, asking him “are you blind?” after they asked him why he wouldn't take questions from potential voters.

Mr DeSantis — who formally announced his 2024 presidential candidacy during a buggy Twitter spaces event hosted by Elon Musk — held a campaign event in New Hampshire on Thursday, after which he refused to take any questions.

A reporter caught up with Mr DeSantis after the event, where he was gladhanding with supporters and taking photos while surrounded by his security and support staff.

Their exchange was captured in a video that was shared widely on social media.

The reporter asked Mr DeSantis about his refusal to answer questions following the event.

"Why not take any questions from voters, governor?" the reporter asked.

Mr DeSantis smiled through the question as he posed with a man for a photo before the reporter asked his question again. This time Mr DeSantis responded.

As he began to walk away, Mr DeSantis asked the reporter "what are you talking about" and pointed out that he was "out here talking with people."

"Are you blind? Are you blind?" he asked the reporter.

The reporter said he is not.

"Ok so people are coming up to me, talking to me, asking me whatever they want to talk to me about," Mr DeSantis said as his staff whisked him away from the journalist.

One of the functions of the press is to capture the statements made by individuals in power and hold those statements up against the actions they take. When a presidential candidate answers an individual's question in the middle of a noisy crowd, it is different from answering in front of a gathering of voters and reporters, who can take down those comments and demand the individual seeking power is questioned, analysed, and ultimately held to their words.

The reporter wasn't the only one curious as to why the Republican presidential hopeful wasn't taking questions; Vikram Mansharamani, who unsuccessfully campaigned for the GOP Senate nomination in New Hampshire last year, said he wished the governor had answered questions publicly.

“There weren’t questions or any interactivity with the audience,” he told NBC News. “We like to hear from candidates and we have questions of our own [as] citizens here in the state.”

When showed the clip of Mr DeSantis's response to the reporter, he called the scene "very disappointing".

Mr DeSantis has made it clear he has no love for the free press; he has urged the Republican controlled legislature in Florida to weaken state laws protecting journalists from defamation lawsuits brought by elected officials, according to Politico.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis asks a reporter if they are ‘blind’ after they asked why he did not take questions following a presidential campaign event in New Hampshire (screengrab/NBC News)

Typically a public figure who wishes to sue for defamation has to prove "actual malice" was committed in the publishing or delivery of a lie. In order to prove actual malice, a plaintiff typically has to prove that the lie was damaging and that the defendant knowingly made false remarks. A plaintiff can also argue that a publisher was reckless in making their statement, but must prove the publisher did not investigate the claims before making them.

The end goal of weakening state laws appears to be a desire to take resulting lawsuits to the Supreme Court, with the intention of overturning New York Times V Sullivan, which established the actual malice precedent for public figures.

State Representative Alex Andrade, the Republican sponsoring the bill, claimed the court had overreached in its previous ruling.

“There is a strong argument to be made that the Supreme Court overreached,” he said in an interview, according to Politico. “This is not the government shutting down free speech. This is a private cause of action.”

Mr Andrade confirmed he was working with Mr DeSantis's office on the bill.

The Independent has reached out to Mr DeSantis for comment.