Two women rushed the stage as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis delivered a speech to New Hampshire Republicans Friday night. DeSantis spoke during the Amos Tuck fundraiser in Manchester. The women ran up on the stage carrying a banner that read “Ron Desantis: Loves Israel, Hates Jews” and yelled, “Jews against DeSantis.” Security took them away.

DeSantis handled it with calm grace. Those reporting in the room write that at first, he appeared startled. Then it was as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. He continued speaking as the women were removed from the stage and joked about the commotion.

“You gotta have a little spice in the speech right?” DeSantis told the crowd to cheers as the women were whisked away.

“Why would you want to pay for the ticket to get in just to do that? I don’t know, but different strokes for different folks,” he joked.

#BREAKING: Protestors storm an unphased Gov. Ron DeSantis at New Hampshire event

They chanted "Jews against DeSantis!"

DeSantis: "Why you'd want to pay the ticket to get in just to do that, I don't know!" pic.twitter.com/zwNnlz7590

— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) April 14, 2023

DeSantis was utterly unfazed. Those loons were able to get right next to the governor and thank goodness they weren’t armed and out to hurt him physically. It was a small-ish stage. There wasn’t a lot of room for error. The political attack points to the poisonous atmosphere today in politics. Two women paid for tickets ($150 per person) to a GOP fundraiser dinner to gain access to DeSantis. We are accustomed to seeing videos of protesters interrupting campaign rallies but this was a private fundraiser.

They tried to ding DeSantis but they ended up showing how he handles unexpected incidents. He’s the guy who remains calm in a crisis. He’s the one you want leading the country through a tough time. Thanks, ladies. They made the point that DeSantis supporters already know – he’s a natural leader. He looked as though he quickly assessed that the women were not trying to harm him, just interrupting his speech, and he continued accordingly.

The women appear to have been referencing a kerfuffle DeSantis found himself in when he was criticized for not publicly condemning the behavior of Nazi demonstrations that had taken place near Orlando. He accused his critics of trying to “smear me as if I had something to do with it.” This happened during the governor’s re-election campaign. His Democrat opponents jumped at the opportunity to weigh in.

Democratic candidates for governor immediately reacted to DeSantis’ news conference. US Rep. Charlie Crist wrote on Twitter: “It should be easy, Ron. Condemn the Nazis.”

Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who was recently rebuked by the Anti-Defamation League for comparing DeSantis to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, said in a news release that she was “horrified but not surprised” that DeSantis had declined to condemn what had happened.

DeSantis called them “some jackass doing this on the street.” He called for state law enforcement to “hold them accountable.”

DeSantis said his administration has a proven track record of supporting the Jewish people, including signing legislation to address antisemitism, “record funding” for Jewish day schools, punishing companies that boycott Israel, and strengthening economic ties with Israel.

“I’m not going to have people try to smear me that belong to a political party that has elevated antisemites to the halls of Congress, like (US Rep.) Ilhan Omar, that have played footsie with the (boycott Israel) movement,” he said.

Yep.

The Jews against DeSantis women are described as far-left activists. In that case, don’t expect to see a lot of media coverage on cable television this weekend of the disruption, except maybe on conservative media.

Although it was not clear at first who the protesters were, the organization IfNotNow, a progressive American Jewish group, claimed credit online explaining that the publicity stunt was a means of drawing attention to the Florida governor’s upcoming trip to Israel.

There was a small group of Trump supporters protesting the dinner event. They, however, said they are open to supporting DeSantis if he is the party’s nominee. And there was a Democrat in the audience willing to speak out against DeSantis.

Not everyone was a fan. Ryan Carmody, a recent law school graduate, come up from Massachusetts with a politically-active friend. “I’m not a Republican, and his speech had more focus on religion than I’m interested in. And he seems like a guy who is more into getting the job than making friends.”

Even some of the two dozen or so pro-Trump protesters gathered outside the Manchester Doubletree were relatively receptive to DeSantis as a candidate.

“I wish him the best,” said Paul Varcak of Landaff, N.H., who was waving a Trump flag with his wife, Alma. “We’re here to support Trump, but I would support the party’s nominee.

“We’re for Trump, of course,” Alma added.

After the speech, Speaker of the New Hampshire House Sherm Packard was honored with the Gov. Meldrim Thomson “Principle over Politics” award. He said the Florida governor’s performance was “impressive.”

The long knives are out for DeSantis, who hasn’t officially launched his campaign for the nomination. There are ugly attack ads up against DeSantis by a pro-Trump PAC. Democrats are beside themselves with worry that DeSantis will be the Republican nominee. They desperately want to run against Trump. Look at how Gavin Newsom is going after DeSantis as though he is the Democrat nominee and DeSantis the Republican.

What DeSantis did in New Hampshire was help the local Republican Party raise a record-setting amount of money, which he has done throughout the country.

Perhaps DeSantis’ most important political move of his Granite State visit was the $132,000 check he gave the NHGOP before the event began, raised from his donors to support the party. The NHGOP has long struggled on the financial front. It added to the already record-setting total for the night.

It was the first major event for new state party chairman Chris Ager, who faced questions of his own about being an effective fundraiser when he was elected to the job in January.

“Thank you, governor,” Ager said after DeSantis concluded his remarks. “Maybe instead of everyone moving to Florida, you could move up here.”

“I shall return,” DeSantis said.

The crowd loved it.

He did well. Some in the room had not seen him before and came away impressed. He stayed after the event for about an hour and shook hands and took selfies with everyone. Retail politics. He does that, too, despite the critics who want you to think his personality is cold and stand-offish.

The primary race is on whether DeSantis is officially in it or not. It’s going to be brutal between Trump and DeSantis. Look for Haley and Vivek to jump on DeSantis, too, betting on Trump winning the nomination. This isn’t 2016, though, and Trump isn’t entitled to the nomination. He has to earn it like anyone else.