For the second consecutive night, 2024 GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis ran into a technical difficulty during an important moment—this time during a Newsmax interview.
On Wednesday evening, DeSantis’ much-awaited campaign announcement during a Twitter Spaces event was marred by crashes, which caused a roughly 20-minute delay. DeSantis appeared on Fox News later that night, where guest host Trey Gowdy poked fun at the inconvenience, joking, “Fox News will not crash during this interview.” Indeed, it did not.
Apparently Newsmax couldn’t quite guarantee the same. On The Balance, host Eric Bolling asked the Florida governor about the NAACP issuing a travel advisory for minorities and LGBTQ+ individuals planning on going to the state, citing DeSantis’ “unrelenting attacks on fundamental freedoms” through actions like book bans and defunding diversity programs at state colleges. (Bolling incorrectly referred to the advisory as a “ban.”)
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“What’s your response to the NAACP for our audience?” Bolling asked, just as that audience saw a frozen split-screen.
“This is such a stunt. It’s a typical political farce,” DeSantis can still be heard saying, despite the frozen image. Shortly thereafter, the picture feed did resume, only to freeze again about 40 seconds later when DeSantis was talking about minorities in places that aren’t Florida.
“If you’re in Chicago or you’re in Baltimore, these kids have a better chance of getting shot than getting a decent education. I don’t see the NAACP talking about Chicago or Baltimore. No, they’re focused on Florida, where people of all races are having the opportunity to get ahead,” he claimed.
Nearly 30 seconds later, the visual feed finally resumed, this time for good.
