'Are you blind? Are you blind?' Tense moment Ron DeSantis SNAPS at Associated Press reporter over bizarre question as he posed for selfies and chatted to supporters

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Ron DeSantis hit back at Associated Press reporter on Thursday for bizarrely asking why he was taking no questions from voters, while he was posing for selfies and chatting with supporters at campaign stop.

The 2024 Republican presidential hopeful was signing autographs and mingling with members of the audience in Laconia, New Hampshire, when he turned to reporter Steve Peoples and asked: 'What are you talking about? Are you blind?'

He began the event alongside wife Casey with a scripted remarks hitting on his favorite topics including the 'war on woke' and 'sending Joe Biden to his basement'.

In a swipe at Donald Trump, he vowed to 'end the culture of losing that has infected the Republican Party' and criticized how recent elections have been 'flubbed'. 

He then met some of the 250 supporters backstage, when he lashed out at Peoples as reporters surrounded him in a scrum.

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Ron DeSantis exploded at an Associated Press reporter on Thursday for asking why he was taking no questions from voters at a campaign stop in Laconia, New Hampshire. He is seen speaking to some voters backstage

The moment a frustrated DeSantis turned and responded to the journalist who asked him why he hadn't taken questions from voters, captured by an NBC News correspondent 

Peoples asked: 'Why are you not taking any questions from voters, Governor?' 

'People are coming up to me, talking to me. What are you talking about? Are you blind? Are you blind? People are coming up to me, talking to me whatever they want to talk to me about,' he said in the moment captured by NBC News.

'I'm not blind,' Peoples responded. 

The Florida Governor was chatting to voters individually, but didn't take questions from the audience. 

His security detail then whisked him away from the press. 

'That's disappointing to hear,' said Vikram Mansharamani, an entrepreneur and former Republican Senate candidate, after viewing the video of the exchange first posted by NBC News.

'I did not want a monologue; I wanted to see how he interacted with the audience,' the 49-year-old added.

DeSantis' press secretary Bryan Griffin criticized the media after the tense exchange.

The 2024 Republican presidential hopeful began the event alongside wife Casey with a speech hitting on his priorities including the 'war on woke' and 'sending Joe Biden to his basement'

He then met some of the 250 supporters in the crowd to pose for selfies and sign autographs, when he lashed out at journalist Steve Peoples

'This AP reporter asked this question while (he) was surrounded by voters in New Hampshire asking him questions and taking pictures,' he tweeted. 

'Perfectly illustrative of the modern media shutting their eyes and ears to the truth to push their narrative.'

DeSantis' speech to the audience made up mainly of retirees mostly included lines from previous campaign stops.

But he gained a huge round of applause when he raised how he had banned gender transition surgery for minors.

His dig at Trump when he criticized the GOP for their string of election defeats and failed endorsements.

'But here's the thing, you can't do any of this. If you don't win, there is no substitute for victory,' he told the crowd.

'And we've got to end this culture of losing that has infected the Republican Party in recent years, you know, we should have 55 Republican senators right now. 

'And we not flubbed so many races over the last four or six years. ….. We've got to get it done and the stakes are high.'

DeSantis, dressed casually in blue jeans and black leather boots, was flanked by his glamorous former TV reporter First Lady Casey.

First Lady Casey praised took the stage and praised her husband. 'He always puts the interests of the people ahead of his own,' she told the crowd 

The 42-year-old gave a thinly-veiled nod to her husband's policies in the Sunshine State by sporting a fitted blue sweatshirt with an Alligator logo warning: 'Don't Tread on Florida'

'Too often, and you'll probably see it, you have people who run for elected office, they say they're going to do all these wonderful things,' she said.

'When they go up to particularly places like Washington DC, they go rogue and they become listless vessels bending in the wind, beholden to polls and politics, not delivering accomplishments on behalf of the people that they were elected to represent. And it's very frustrating.

'He never backs down. He never changes. He doesn't cower, never takes the path of least resistance, who always stands up for what's right. And he always puts the interests of the people ahead of his own.’ 

Scott Nelson, a 75-year-old retired entrepreneur, said the Governor's performance was 'terrific' but insisted it was 'too early to make any decision' on how to vote.

DeSantis returned to the campaign trail as Trump continued to mock him and fellow Republican rival Chris Christie.

The former President poked fun at DeSantis for changing his stance on how to pronounce his name and then attacked the former New Jersey governor's weight.

Trump issued the insults on his Truth Social platform following reports that Christie, the former New Jersey governor, would soon jump into the race.

Former Vice President Mike Pence is also expected to announce his entry within days.

The moves establish a crowded field where once again Trump rivals are set to expend considerably energy taking on each other.

Trump has been training most of his fire on DeSantis, as he did last night with a post that pointed to repeated changes in how DeSantis pronounces his last name. He pronounced it 'dee-Santis' during the video announcing his campaign, then pronounced it 'da-Santis' during interviews on Fox News, keeping up a pattern that goes back years.