Ron DeSantis made a good first impression in Nevada as he introduced his family and his presidential platform at an annual GOP event where attendees can try fried lamb testicles.
The Florida governor warned the federal government to ‘buckle your seatbelts’ because ‘accountability is coming to Washington, D.C.’
‘I’m asking for your vote and your support,’ he wrapped his remarks as he vies to overcome a polling deficit with top 2024 Republican candidate Donald Trump.
In what has become a recognizable stump speech, DeSantis vowed to ‘send the IRS off into the sunset,’ lauded his policy banning the Chinese Communist Party from buying land in his state and offered to send those who rebuilt a Hurricane-hit bridge in three days down to the southern border to expedite wall construction.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis impressed a few thousands Republican Nevada voters during the 8th Annual Basque Fry
The 2024 presidential hopeful brought his wife and three kids on stage before making the case for why deep Trump country should flip their vote in the 2024 primary
DeSantis was introduced by ‘longtime friend’ and former Navy roommate Adam Laxalt, who served as Attorney General of Nevada before making an unsuccessful bid for the Senate, at the 8th Annual Morning in Nevada PAC’s Basque Fry in Gardnerville.
The event has quickly become known nationally for serving ‘lamb fries,’ which are fried testicles – a Basque ethnic staple that has become tradition in rural areas of Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas and Kentucky.
Adam Laxalt started the Gardnerville Basque Fry eight years ago to pay homage to his roots. Laxalt’s grandfather Paul Laxalt served as a U.S. senator and governor for the state of Nevada and was the child of Basque parents,
DeSantis’ wife and Florida first lady Casey DeSantis came up on stage with their three children – Madison, 6, Mason, 5, and Mamie, 3 – before taking their seats to listen to DeSantis’ remarks.
Nevada is one of the earliest primary contest states – and DeSantis already visited the other three with a swing earlier in June through Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
‘We are also going to usher in a reckoning for the federal government and its associated agencies,’ DeSantis said, seeming to win over some of the pro-Trump factions of the crowd with this line.
‘The handling of the COVID-19 pandemic was wrong, lock downs were wrong, mask mandates were wrong, school closures were wrong – and yet nobody has been held accountable,’ he lamented.
‘Buckle your seatbelts. accountability is coming to Washington, D.C.,’ DeSantis vowed.
Attendees, many wearing pro-Trump garb, were impressed by DeSantis – engaging in several standing ovations and enthusiastically cheering as he railed against the ‘woke’ establishment and vowed to ‘produce results’ instead of ‘virtue signal.’
Basque Fry attendee Bob, 80, told DailyMail.com that ‘much of western Nevada is a little bit more Trump than DeSantis country.’
‘This is pretty much still Trump country. It’s mixed though, like much of western Nevada. A little bit more Trump and DeSantis country,’ he added.
‘I’m absolutely open to switching my vote in 2024,’ Bob said after casting his primary election ballot for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020.
DeSantis, his wife Casey and their three children Madison, 6, Mason, 5, and Mamie, 3, attended the Reno Rodeo Friday evening during a campaign swing through western Nevada
Asked what could make him switch the vote, he said: ‘As things stand now, probably not anything could switch my vote.’
‘But if DeSantis comes out with something that’s truly unifying, I could switch my vote to him,’ he continued. ‘Because that’s the quandary right now – the Party’s really split.’
The Florida governor joked that his state is tied with Nevada for in migration from former California residents.
‘You know the one thing that Florida and Nevada have in common is we are both areas that receive a lot of disgruntled Californians,’ DeSantis earned some laughs. ‘It’s actually kind of new for us – you have been having that for many, many years.’
‘I was born and raised in Florida – I don’t think I ever saw a California license plate, all the time I was growing up,’ he said, which is a line that has become a mainstay of his stump speech. ‘Well when I became governor we started seeing these license plates – my supporters were a little bit spooked about that, because they’re wondering how are these people going to vote.’
DeSantis, however, assured: ‘Most of the people from California who’ve come to Florida have come for the right reasons.’
Keeping in line with the ‘ranch casual’ dress code for the event, DeSantis wore a light blue, short-sleeve button down with jeans and his black cowboy boots.
The DeSantis family attended the Reno Rodeo the night before the Basque Fry – and the governor helped serve drinks at a VFW post in Sparks earlier on Friday.
The 2024 presidential hopeful told the crowd of a few thousands Republicans at the Basque Fry that his son Mason was disappointed that he didn’t get to see bull riding at a rodeo in Oklahoma last week – so they tried to catch it this time.
Madison and Mason were able to stay up late enough for the bull riding at the Reno Rodeo, their father said.
Republican attendees at the Basque Fry were split between those supporting the Florida governor and those who plan to vote for a third time for Donald Trump, both wearing opposing garb.
Never Back Down PAC national spokesperson Steve Cortes appealed to the pro-Trump arm of the crowd to consider DeSantis, and insisted that a ‘competitive primary’ is good for the country and the Republican Party during remarks about an hour before the governor hit the stage.
Cortes worked for Trump in the 2016 and 2020 elections, but said he decided to work for DeSantis because he sees him as a person who can win and achieve things while in office.
‘I want to especially speak to the Trump supporters here, again, I respect you. I understand your allegiance because I lived it – I understand that,’ Cortes said. ‘And competitive primaries are a very good thing by the way, we should welcome competitive primaries, it’s good for our country. It’s good for our party.’
‘But I want to respectfully appeal to you, because it is so imperative that we win,’ he said. ‘Think about where our country is heading – culturally, economically – it is imperative that we elect who gives us the best chance to win, and that you use that power effectively. I submit to you – it is Governor Ron DeSantis for President.’
The crowd was respectful, cheering for their preferred candidate but opting not to boo or jeer for the other candidate when mentioned by speakers ahead of DeSantis’ remarks.
While serving drinks alongside Laxalt at VFW Post 9211 in Sparks, Nevada, DeSantis joked with veterans that he wouldn’t serve them ‘woke’ beer Bud Light.
‘Just so you know, I’ll serve you anything except Bud Light. I just can’t do that,’ DeSantis said to widespread laughter from patrons at the post known as ‘The Bunker.’
The Florida governor was making reference to the ongoing Republican boycott of Bud Light after the company celebrated transgender social media personality Dylan Mulvaney’s one-year anniversary of ‘being a girl.’
Video released by the campaign shows DeSantis playing bartender as he and Laxalt took spots behind the bar serving beers to veterans and taking their payment to the cash register.
‘Does anybody want a draught on the house?’ DeSantis asked before giving a beer over to a veteran for free. The two cheered their beers and took a drink together.
Just an hour later on Friday evening, DeSantis charmed a Nevada rodeo crowd alongside his all-American family.
The Florida governor, his wife Casey and their three children were hosted by one of the sponsors of the Reno Rodeo in a box with premium views of the arena. Attendees frequently walked by to shake DeSantis’ hand or take a selfie with the 2024 presidential candidate.
‘They’re in the right place,’ a rodeo-goer told DailyMail.com when asked how he felt about DeSantis attending.
The campaign stops at the VFW and rodeo came the day before the Florida governor headlined the Basque Fry – just under an hour outside of Reno in Gardnerville.
Laxalt, a longtime Donald Trump ally who has defected to support DeSantis in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, joined DeSantis for the Rodeo.
Laxalt and DeSantis roomed together while in naval officer training, and they have remained close friends through the years.
Both men were officers in the Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps, and they served in Iraq.
Laxalt chaired Trump’s 2020 campaign in Nevada, but this time around he is backing DeSantis, and heads up the pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down. He also ran an unsuccessful Senate campaign in 2022.
The ten-day Reno Rodeo is a coveted annual event in western Nevada with attendees pulling out their best boots, largest cowboy hats, pressed jeans and flashiest belt buckles to watch the competitions, which includes bareback riding and barrel racing, as well as bull and Bronc riding.
Past rodeo president Scott Patterson confirmed that DeSantis is the first-ever presidential candidate to visit the Reno Rodeo.
The general manager of a local business who was attending the rodeo on Friday evening said that he plans to change his registration from independent to Republican so he can vote for DeSantis in the primary election.
Richard Harrison, 45, told DailyMail.com that he voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 election, but said he’s ‘too crazy,’ so he switched his vote to Joe Biden in 2020. But the Nevada voter said he fears that Biden is ‘too old’ to continue being president, and now backs DeSantis.
Though far from the Sunshine State, DeSantis looked to be right at home, donning the black pair of boots he is often seen wearing at campaign events with jeans, along with a white quarter zip on top of a light blue and plaid button down.
Casey, who is quickly becoming a fashion icon and drawing comparisons to former First Ladies Jackie Kennedy and Nancy Reagan, wore a cobalt blue zip-up over a white t-shirt and jeans.
The three kids were in matching ‘RD24’ navy blue shirts promoting their father’s 2024 bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
Nevada’s presidential primary is scheduled for February 6, making it among the earliest states on the Republican schedule, as well as the newly revamped Democratic primary schedule.
