Donald Trump supporters crashed a Long Island, New York, book signing event for Ron DeSantis on Saturday afternoon.
The incident follows reports that have continued to surface that the Florida governor has been toying with a 2024 presidential bid to challenge the former president.
After a long parade of cars with Trump flags streamed into the parking lot—at a local aviation museum—ahead of the DeSantis book event, the two sides reportedly clashed face to face.
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“Go home, DeSantis!” one protester yelled at DeSantis backers, a scene captured by local WABC Channel 7 investigative reporter Kristin Thorne.
But that was far from the event’s only interaction that gained attention online.
During DeSantis’ evening address inside the venue, the governor was heckled by at least one very vocal Trump supporter.
Trump White House alum and 2022 Claremont Institute fellow Paul Ingrassia interrupted the governor’s speech, urging him to “support” and “endorse Donald Trump for president.”
In a subsequent interview with The Daily Beast, Ingrassia accused DeSantis of being “in bed with the globalists.”
The former National Economic Council staffer further told The Daily Beast that after he shouted at DeSantis, he was escorted out of the venue by security.
“I cooperated with them,” he added. As for why he chose to say what he said, Ingrassia said he believed he was expressing what’s on Trump supporters’ minds. He said he is “not officially” involved with the Trump 2024 campaign.
DeSantis “is either running a campaign, or he’s not—and if he’s not running a campaign, he should be endorsing Donald Trump,” he concluded.
DeSantis spokeswoman Lindsey Curnutte did not return multiple requests for comment from The Daily Beast.
DeSantis briefly spoke of the indictment against Trump during his speech, without mentioning the former president by name. Instead, he took aim at the prosecutor overseeing the case against Trump, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
“This guy is doing politics. He has an agenda that is not the rule of law,” DeSantis said, according to ABC 7.
The spat between the two sides follows reporting by The Daily Beast late last month that detailed how DeSantis’ book tour has turned into “amateur hour,” all while the tour’s top coordinator pulled out of their contract.
“Word is they quietly rescheduled some stuff… but it definitely feels like he’s peeled some back,” a GOP consultant who has advised DeSantis told The Daily Beast, as it relates to the book tour. “I think the soft launch is having an effect. I think it’s gone poorly, I hear nothing but they are unhappy.”
