For the second night in a row, 2024 GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis ran into a technical difficulty at an important moment, this time during a Newsmax interview.
DeSantis’ long-awaited campaign announcement at a Twitter Spaces event on Wednesday night was marred by crashes, causing a delay of about 20 minutes. DeSantis appeared on Fox News later that night, where guest host Trey Gowdy laughed off the embarrassment, joking, “Fox News won’t crash during this interview.” Indeed, that was not the case.
Apparently Newsmax couldn’t quite guarantee the same. On The balance, host Eric Bolling asked the Governor of Florida about the NAACP issuing a travel advisory for minorities and LGBTQ+ people planning to visit the state, citing the “relentless attacks on fundamental freedoms of DeSantis through actions such as banning books and funding diversity programs at state colleges. (Bolling incorrectly referred to the notice as a “ban”.)
“What is your response to the NAACP for our audience? Bolling asked, just as this audience saw a frozen split screen.
“It’s such a stunt. It’s a typical political farce,” DeSantis can still be heard saying, despite the frozen image. Shortly after, the stream of footage resumed, only to freeze again approximately 40 seconds later when DeSantis was talking about minorities in places not in Florida.
“If you’re in Chicago or Baltimore, those kids are more likely to get shot than to get a decent education. I don’t see the NAACP talking about Chicago or Baltimore. No, they are focused on Florida, where people of all races have the opportunity to progress,” he asserted.
Nearly 30 seconds later, the visual flow finally resumed, this time for good.
