High drama unfolded at the Iowa State Fair recently, a must-stop for GOP presidential candidates and one of the most popular state fairs in the country.
According to Mediaite, the drama unfolded during Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' speech at the fair, as two women were ultimately tossed out by police officers after causing a commotion during the speech, heckling the Republican governor and 2024 presidential candidate.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds was also heckled by the women, both of them sporting shirts that read, "B**ch Get Stuff Done," and "Be Gay Fund Abortion."
The protesters used cowbells to try to interrupt an interview Gov. Reynolds was conducting with Gov. DeSantis.
Reynolds asked the protesters to be quiet in order to provide "an opportunity to hear from each and every candidate." That didn't help, and law enforcement had to step in after attendees at the rally mixed it up with the two women.
"You could either join the protests or leave the fair grounds! Period," a law enforcement officer yelled at the heckler, according to Mediaite. "You can enjoy this affair or you can leave! We’re not going to do this!"
Armed with whistles and cowbells, a few liberal demonstrators (Tshirts: “Bitches Get Stuff Done” & “Be Gay Fund Abortion”) aim to interrupt DeSantis at the Iowa State Fair
They just crank up the speakers pic.twitter.com/Zeb3bwcDpX
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) August 12, 2023
The situation became intense enough to forced police officers to drag one of the women out of a developing scuffle, with her blue-haired friend following her out of the crowd.
The protester being handled by law enforcement, unsurprisingly, screamed profanities at the officers as they kicked her out.
Mediaite reported that the two protesters are part of a protest group that had just recently confronted DeSantis at a prior campaign event.
Protesters who had been blowing whistles and ringing bells during DeSantis interview get removed. pic.twitter.com/gtjdgoha3P
— David Weigel (@daveweigel) August 12, 2023
DeSantis, who started his campaign off with a bang and respectable, second-place polling numbers, has failed to maintain that momentum over the past month, and has plummeted in many polls.
He recently replaced his campaign manager, which came in the wake of a huge staff shake-up in an effort to revitalize his struggling 2024 campaign.
Vivek Ramaswamy has recently replaced DeSantis in some polls for the second-place position behind Trump, who dominates his competitors in virtually all polling by double digits.
