DeSantis shuts down ‘numbnuts’ climate protesters at Iowa event, security tackles to ground: ‘I’m doing this’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was interrupted several times by climate protesters during an Iowa campaign event, including a protester who was tackled to the ground by security.

“Ron DeSantis is a climate criminal!” an environmentalist protester shouted at DeSantis after rushing onto the stage of an event in Ames on Thursday night.

While wrestling with security on the ground, the protester yelled, “How much money are you taking from oil companies?”

DeSantis told the man, “That is (what’s) wrong with the college system right there. That’s exhibit A.”

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. (AP)

Ames is home to Iowa State University. 

Moments earlier, another protester had tried to interrupt DeSantis while holding a banner that said, “DESANTIS: CLIMATE CRIMINAL.”

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis arrives for a presidential campaign rally at the Thunderdome in Newton, Iowa, on Dec. 2, 2023. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

DeSantis sparred with another protester who tried to interrupt the event. 

“Second thing is second, excuse me, hold on,” DeSantis said. “Excuse me. I’m doing this… but you’re interrupting and you’re being rude. Everyone else is listening. And you’re butting in. I don’t care. I know you have an agenda. I know you have an agenda.”

“We take questions from folks all the time,” DeSantis told reporters later. “Yeah, I’m not going to let these, these numbnuts rush the stage or do anything like that, but I mean people that ask, you know, normal, respectful questions, we’re happy to do.”

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at the Republican Party of Iowa’s 2023 Lincoln Dinner at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, Iowa, on July 28, 2023. (SERGIO FLORES/AFP via Getty Images)

DeSantis was also interrupted by climate activists during his Fox News Town Hall on Wednesday night and has mixed it up with protesters on the campaign trail before that, including in June when he mixed it up with a protester who called him a “fascist.”

“Those people like that in Florida are the people we beat every single day on policy,” DeSantis said. “We do not let them win. We win all these battles. We’re not letting them indoctrinate our kids, not on our watch.”