Sorry, folks, election silly season has returned in full force.

The latest example came while 2024 presidential hopeful Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) was talking with a crowd of voters in New Hampshire on Thursday. Associated Press reporter Steve Peoples then asked , "Governor, how come you’re not taking questions from voters?" DeSantis shot back, "What are you talking about? Are you blind? Are you blind? People are coming up to me, talking to me whatever they want to talk to me about." Peoples responded that he was not, in fact, blind.

NBC reporter Jonathan Allen, who is also a former committee member for a PAC of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), framed the exchange as a "lashing out" by the governor. Allen argued that DeSantis did not actually take questions from his lectern and therefore was not answering questions from voters. The exchange also rocketed around the media's cool kids' table.

But this is not a story of journalistic reporting, but rather of journalists creating a narrative. DeSantis is wise to the game. It’s a game that journalists perfected during the Trump years, creating outrage cycle after outrage cycle. Sadly, this is only the beginning.

Politico’s Jonathan Martin revealed this agenda , tweeting that "the larger problem w DeSantis reaction is it shows he still doesn’t grasp the bad will he’s courting by, in this case, lashing out at one of the top reporters for the @AP." Here Martin is playing the fake "How dare you, sir" card. The challenge for DeSantis is that he knows no matter what kind of action or response he offers, good or bad, many in the media are going to create stories for their mostly progressive base.

Hence why he's playing hardball.

Stephen L. Miller ( @redsteeze ) has written for National Review, the New York Post, and Fox News and hosts the Versus Media podcast.