August 13, 2023

Ron DeSantis Did Not Have a Good Weekend

Hecklers and humiliation at the Iowa State Fair.

Jeff Roberson/AP

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I did not attend the Iowa State Fair this weekend. But even a thousand miles away from pig pens and Republican presidential candidates, I could feel the utter humiliation of a certain Florida man.

That’s the big takeaway from the fairgrounds where Ron DeSantis was repeatedly heckled with pro-Trump chants as he attempted to play the role of an everyday, just-one-of-the-guys Republican. How does a notoriously charmless presidential hopeful achieve this? Flipping burgers and mutilating fresh farm eggs with sticks:

I would never eat an egg on a stick, and the sight of a man offering one would genuinely shock me. But participating in traditions like “food on a stick” while engaging in requisite small talk with “real people,” something DeSantis reportedly finds painful, is apparently what a candidate whose campaign is in free fall must endure. Were Iowans seduced? Did Iowans succumb to acts of forced intimacy: 

It appears not.

In fact, those attending the fair were reportedly rapt with excitement over Donald Trump. As the New York Times reports, Trump’s appearance this weekend was a rare moment in the 2024 campaign that featured the two men in the same place—and Trump did not waste the opportunity to make DeSantis’ life hell. Here’s Matt Gaetz, one of several Florida congressmen Trump brought to taunt DeSantis, at the fair: 

I’ll admit to enjoying these clips of odious grown men psychologically pummeling each other. But any small joy in watching a humiliating weekend for Ron DeSantis vanishes when you remember that a twice-impeached former president facing criminal charges is now all but certain to win the Republican presidential nomination. 

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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