DeSantis, voter have heated exchange over Gaza bombings: ‘You had my vote, but you don’t now’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), a 2024 presidential candidate, had a heated exchange with a voter over Israel’s airstrikes in Gaza after Hamas militants launched a deadly attack against Israel last weekend.

The sparring ended with the voter telling the White House hopeful, “You had my vote, but you don’t now,” according to a video shared Thursday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, by CBS News reporter Aaron Navarro. 

On Saturday, Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, invaded Israeli towns, set off missile strikes and killed and reportedly captured a number Israeli soldiers and civilians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war against the group, and Israel has since launched a barrage of airstrikes on Gaza.

The voter, who was not named, had asked DeSantis about the “annihilation and decapitation” of Palestinians in Gaza.

“But they are not decapitating babies’ heads. They are not intentionally doing that,” the governor pushed back, referring to allegations Israel has made about atrocities committed by Hamas.

The voter cited outlet Al Jazeera, which DeSantis said he “would be very careful” of trusting.  

“Israel put in a warning: ‘We’re gonna go in this area. Civilians, leave.’ Hamas tells them not to leave. Hamas wants them to be human shields. That’s their tactic, technique and procedure. Who — how many other armed forces give warnings to get out before they go? I think Israel’s probably the only one in the world that does that,” DeSantis said.

When the voter contended that many Palestinians have nowhere to go amid the conflict, DeSantis said he brought up “a really good point.”

“Why aren’t these Arab countries willing to absorb some of the Palestinian Arabs? They will not do it,” DeSantis said, before the voter walked out and declared the Florida governor had lost his support in 2024. 

More than 2,800 people on both sides have reportedly died in the conflict. Israel on Friday ordered 1 million people to evacuate Gaza ahead of a possible ground operation.

A spokesperson for DeSantis’s campaign confirmed that the governor told reporters about the back-and-forth with the voter, “I take strong positions … by and large, people are going to support me, but if they don’t, that’s fine. But on this one, to me, to compare Israel responding to the barbarism of Hamas, I don’t see the equivalence of that.”

— Updated at 1:45 p.m.