Governor Ron DeSantis’ Iowa town hall was disrupted by climate protesters on Tuesday, who attempted to storm the stage while chanting “No oil money!”
DeSantis was in the process of answering a question on abortion when at least two protesters attempted to interrupt the event, which Fox News hosted.
“It took 48 years for us to overturn Roe v. Wade. I’m a Christian, right? So I was in that battle. And then, now that we get it done, the Republicans are running from it. They’re hiding from it. I mean, why don’t we own it?” asked an audience member. “I mean, that’s what we wanted. Why don’t we own it? How are you going to address this?”
But before the Governor could answer, two climate activists began chanting and attempted to unfurl a banner. At least one of the protesters stormed the stage before being quickly removed by security. The activists’ cries of “No oil money!” could continue to be heard over the broadcast for several seconds later.
DeSantis, however, appeared unbothered,
“You know, you live and you learn with these people. Right?” DeSantis joked as the protesters were escorted away. “All right. All right. Well, you guys, that was a mistake. You guys didn’t get that one right. Okay.”
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🔥🔥 Ron DeSantis roasts leftist disruptors chanting ‘NO OIL MONEY!’
"Well you guys didn't get that one right.” pic.twitter.com/7zyTXf2QRE
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) January 10, 2024
DeSantis referenced the incident in a press conference following the town hall and brushed off the ambush. “We had a great time tonight,” DeSantis told reporters.
“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.”
After being allowed to resume his answer during the town hall, DeSantis criticized his 2024 rival, Nikki Haley, for indulging “left-wing tropes” about abortion.
“She has chastised pro-lifers, saying, you know, ‘You shouldn’t be talking about putting women in prison.’ Nobody’s talking about that,” the Governor told the audience.
“I’ve not met a single pro-lifer that has ever talked about that. That is a trope that the left and the media will use and yet she’s indulged that.”
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This photo represents exactly what @RonDeSantis has done – and will do – to the left pic.twitter.com/cJ5zwQqA31
— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) January 10, 2024
In a video of the disruption, at least one of the protesters can be seen wearing a shirt identifying him as part of the “Sunrise Movement”–an activist group that claims to be part of the “climate revolution,” which has become famous for several high-profile sit-ins.
In 2018, the group stormed the office of then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi with the help of Representative-elect Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, leading to 51 of its members being arrested. Last year, the group repeated the stunt against then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, demanding funding for climate causes.
In April 2022, the group also blockaded the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in protest of “deadly new oil and gas projects … killing the planet,” according to a statement. The group referred to the fellow activist group Climate Defiance as “comrades.”
According to a Tuesday report by The Hill, the group has vowed further disruptions in the week leading up to the Iowa Caucuses.
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