The kids are proud of themselves. A group of climate change activists from Sunrise Movement briefly derailed a town hall event with Ron DeSantis and Fox News Channel.
This was the first time I have seen protesters for any issue interrupt a Republican town hall during the primary race this cycle. Like Nikki Haley on Monday night, Ron DeSantis participated in a town hall in Des Moines, Iowa with Fox moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum Tuesday night. He did very well. He was relaxed and confident as he fielded a variety of questions from the moderators and the audience members.
At the end of the town hall, DeSantis was answering a question about abortion. During his answer, some chanting could be heard and suddenly a large banner was being held up by a small group on young people. The large yellow banner read “No oil money” and one protester jumped up on the stage. Security quickly moved in and removed the group.
The moderators and DeSantis were calm and remained in place. DeSantis brushed off the interruption.
Security removed the hecklers after one managed to get on stage as DeSantis said: ‘You live and you learn with these people.’
‘Well, you guys, that was a mistake.’ he told the demonstrators as they were escorted away. ‘You guys didn’t get that one right’.
In a post-town hall press conference, DeSantis brushed off the protesters as just some ‘guests.’
‘We had a great time tonight,’ the governor said. ‘I mean, we had some guests that came to the show, tried to make it on the stage but you know, that’s just the way this stuff rolls.’
‘It’s the first time that’s happened,’ he dismissed.
Tonight, we disrupted DeSantis’s FOX Town Hall.
DeSantis doesn’t care that the climate crisis is killing us because he’s too busy drowning in oil money bribes to care about our lives.
We won’t let him get away with it. pic.twitter.com/1fvFzFKQrl
— Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@sunrisemvmt) January 10, 2024
The Sunrise Movement is taking credit for the protest. One of its members, as it turns out, was a plant in the audience and asked a question of DeSantis about fracking. Amalia, who said she is 22-years-old, asked the question.
Amalia told FOX News that she was an undecided GOP caucus-goer. Surprise! She’s a Sunrise activist.
DeSantis knows fracking kills, because he campaigned on banning it at home…but he can’t resist those sweet fossil fuel bribes 🤑 pic.twitter.com/dCby6754my
— Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@sunrisemvmt) January 10, 2024
At the time when she asked the question, I noticed she addressed the candidate as “DeSantis”, not Ron or Governor DeSantis as the others did. It sounded off and one audience member seated close to her turned and looked at her with a surprised look. It reminded me of that crazy interview Biden did with Cardi B in 2020 and Cardi B addressed him as “Biden.”
As I said, the protesters waited until the end of the town hall to make their move. Whoever was vetting the audience dropped the ball. How did a large yellow banner not get attention? Maybe it was hidden in a backpack but I find it hard to believe that Ron DeSantis is the only Republican candidate that offends progressives enough to create a commotion during a televised campaign event. Fortunately, security moved quickly. The worst part was that one of the protesters was able to jump up on the stage.
The Sunrise Movement is “a movement of young people to stop climate change & create millions of good jobs in the process.” according to its X bio. The group is all about the Green New Deal. They are known to do sit-ins in the offices of members of Congress on Capitol Hill.
DeSantis answered a question about how he thinks he will win the Iowa caucus when Trump is so far ahead in the polls. His response is that Iowans can make history if they turn out and vote for him. He noted his conservative values and how he made good on his promises to Florida voters as their governor.
If you’re a conservative, I’m your guy. pic.twitter.com/wS7Lzdr4aK
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) January 9, 2024
I’ll note that DeSantis said he will do well in the caucuses. In past appearances, he confidently said he will win the caucuses. This is why the caucuses in Iowa are so interesting. They are the first indication of what voters are thinking. Will Iowans turn out in the brutally cold weather that is predicted that night? Will DeSantis reap the benefits of a strong ground game in Iowa? Those questions will be answered next week on January 15. There are 1500 locations for caucuses so that voters don’t have to travel too far to participate.
As I said, I think DeSantis did very well. There were no gaffes. He doesn’t hesitate as he answers a variety of questions. He looks comfortable. We’ll see how it shakes out next week.
