Watch: Ron DeSantis slaps down heckler on Iowa campaign trail

Florida governor becomes steadily more incensed as protester accuses him of taking money from the oil industry

Ron DeSantis lashed out at “numbnut” hecklers who interrupted him three times during an event at a BBQ restaurant as he made a frantic last dash through Iowa before the state’s caucuses on Monday.
The climate protesters accused the Florida governor of taking money from oil industry executives and being a “climate criminal” as he attempted to deliver a stump speech at Jethro’s BBQ joint in Ames, central Iowa.
Mr DeSantis was on stage for just a few minutes when a demonstrator at the front began heckling him.
“Excuse me, hold on. Excuse me, I’m doing this,” Mr DeSantis said, telling him he was being “rude”. He added: “I know you have an agenda. Stop.”
Pointing to the protester, Mr DeSantis told the crowd: “This guy is like, he wants you to pay more for gas, more for energy, he wants rolling blackouts in this country”.
“We’re not going to let people like that win,” he added.
Shortly after the protester was forcibly removed, a second briefly ran onto the stage next to Mr DeSantis and began to unfurl a banner proclaiming the presidential candidate was a “climate criminal”.He was almost immediately pushed off the side of the stage by a security team.
The Republican candidate, 45, was not phased, joking “that’s what’s wrong with the college system right there”, to loud cheers from the crowd.
The city of Ames is home to Iowa State University, but it is unclear if the young hecklers were students.
Mr DeSantis also mocked the demonstrators for failing to cause more disruption, saying: “he was like stumbling around to get his flag out…. he telegraphed that like a mile away”.
A third protester later interrupted proceedings, but was swiftly dragged out of the room by the uniformed security officials.
Mr DeSantis carried on with his remarks and then turned the floor over to voters for a question and answer session.
Speaking to reporters after the event, Mr DeSantis said he was happy to “take questions from folks all the time”, as long as they were “respectful”.
He added: “I’m not going to let these numbnuts rush the stage or do anything like that”.
Mr DeSantis has staked his bid to beat Donald Trump on a strong showing in Iowa, a staunchly conservative state that goes first in the Republican presidential nomination contest.
He is facing intense pressure to prove his campaign is still viable, after months of staffing turmoil and a slump in the polls.

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