CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is coming under pressure to respond to questions from voters in more formal formats amid his first week on the campaign trail as a declared 2024 Republican presidential candidate.
But DeSantis and his aides are dismissing the complaints, contending he answers questions as he speaks with voters along the rope line after his events, which this week were held in the early nominating states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.
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Mary Howard, 65, raised concerns about DeSantis not taking voters' questions after hearing the governor in Cedar Rapids this week, the rally punctuating his two-day tour of the state.
"He went on a little too long and didn't take any questions or anything," Howard, a computer programmer, told the Washington Examiner. "So he didn't get, he didn't get any audience participation, which is normally expected in Iowa."
An earlier stop in Salix, Iowa, described as "a conversation" with DeSantis, was actually a sit-down discussion between the governor and his wife Casey.
A day later, DeSantis snapped at a reporter who asked him in New Hampshire why he was not engaging more with voters after criticism of his skills in retail politics.
“People are coming up to me, talking to me," he said. "What are you talking about? ... Are you blind? Are you blind? OK, so people are coming up to me, talking to me whatever they want to talk to me about.”
DeSantis's campaign and his supporters also reacted, with his spokesman Bryan Griffin underscoring how the exchange was "perfectly illustrative of the modern media shutting their eyes and ears to the truth to push their narrative."
This @AP reporter asked this question while @RonDeSantis was surrounded by voters in New Hampshire asking him questions and taking pictures.
— Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) June 1, 2023
Perfectly illustrative of the modern media shutting their eyes and ears to the truth to push their narrative. https://t.co/izwzps6Sxo
DeSantis is in South Carolina on Friday after spending two days in Iowa, where he made his first in-person appearance as a declared candidate, and one day in New Hampshire. He is scheduled to be in Beaufort, Lexington, and Greenville before returning to Iowa on Saturday for Sen. Joni Ernst’s (R-IA) annual Roast and Ride fundraiser.
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"When he wraps up tonight in Greenville, Gov. DeSantis will have visited 12 different cities in four days, spoken to thousands of early-state voters, and participated in 10 exclusive interviews with local media, in addition to a large press availability in Des Moines," Andrew Romeo, another spokesman, said. "DeSantis is everywhere, and he has promised that he will have a likewise energetic approach as president."
"And when it comes to setting the record straight with 'journalists' attempting to lie and say he hasn’t taken questions from voters (he has taken them at every stop on the tour), the governor has shown the energy for that too," he said.