Ron DeSantis Mocked After Rally Goes Silent When OK Gov Tries to Muster Enthusiasm
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has one thing going for him this week: he’s not former President Donald Trump. Trump may
Ivy Griffith
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has one thing going for him this week: he’s not former President Donald Trump.
Trump may be facing 37 criminal charges in a historic federal indictment in Florida on Tuesday, but the governor of that same state is hitting the campaign trail to make his case as the Republican nominee for 2024.
However, despite the fact that he’s not facing a criminal indictment and arraignment this week, DeSantis’ week may be going even worse than Trump’s.
During a rally in Oklahoma, a crowd went silent when the Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt tried to stir up enthusiasm for DeSantis.
And it was one of those record-scratch moments that will likely dog the 2024 hopeful to the end of his campaign – and beyond.
DailyMail writes, “Critics of the Florida Gov. and lackeys for the former president shared an awkward moment showing Republican Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt urging the crowd to cheer when he was announcing the arrival of his Florida counterpart running for president in 2024.
It came right after Stitt became the first U.S. governor to officially endorse DeSantis’ 2024 Republican presidential primary bid.
‘Oklahomans love Ron DeSantis!’ Stitt said.
While the majority of the crowd was silent, one man yelled out: ‘That’s right.’
Tough night for @RonDeSantis in Oklahoma.@GovStitt says, “Oklahoma loves Ron DeSantis!”
Crowd response 🦗🦗🦗
Stitt: Please Clap (@JebBush vibes)
Oklahoma will go for TRUMP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/r4CvG6h5gU
— Jackson Lahmeyer (@JacksonLahmeyer) June 11, 2023
‘Let’s get an ‘Amen, brother,’ Stitt prompted in an attempt to get more enthusiasm.
The crowd complied with the request with a communal ‘Amen’ and a few scattered claps and cheers.”
Pro-Trump (and anti-DeSantis – not always one in the same) Twitter erupted in glee at the awkward moment.
It was a moment that recalled and awkward 2016 incident, when then-candidate Jeb Bush spoke before a lackluster crowd in New Hampshire – and resorted to literally asking for applause.
Bush told the audience, ‘I think the next president needs to be a lot quieter, but send a signal that we’re prepared to act in the national security interest of this country – to get back in the business of creating a more peaceful world.”
The response from the crowd was silence.
Realizing that the audience was just not going to work with him and he was headed for a PR nightmare, Bush sighed and asked the audience, “Please clap.”
Many people on Twitter alluded to that awkward moment with Bush, calling the Oklahoma rally awkwardness DeSantis’ “please clap” moment.
One user wrote, “Stitt: Please Clap (Jeb Bush vibes). Oklahoma will go for TRUMP.”
And other Twitter users seemed to agree.
DeSantis all along has faced the criticism that he’s unlikeable and unelectable, and this weekend’s rally didn’t do much to dispel those concerns.
Megadonors are watching candidates eagerly over the next few weeks, trying to weed out which frontrunners they’ll pick to back for the 2024 GOP nomination, and which ones they’ll try to sink.
Things aren’t looking good for either Trump or DeSantis, both of whom have been told by GOP megadonors that they won’t receive support this time around.
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For Trump, it’s his legal peril and neverending legal circus.
For DeSantis, it’s his culture war extremism and lack of personality.
As of June 2023, the nomination is wide open – it’s anyone’s game.