Going all the way back to 2019, when he was barely out of elementary school, Quinn Mitchell has been asking questions of political candidates whenever they stop by his home state of New Hampshire. The exchanges have routinely been welcomed by politicians who appreciate the opportunity to meet a young man who describes himself as a “political independent who loves history and politics.” The fact that it plays great for the cameras doesn’t hurt either.
Unless, of course, you’re Ron Desantis.
During a town hall event in June, the now 15-year-old Mitchell asked the Florida governor a simple question about January 6. “Do you believe that Trump violated the peaceful transfer of power, a key principle of American democracy that we must uphold?”
Any normal candidate with a knack for retail politics would’ve handled the softball question by defending the importance of a peaceful transfer of power. DeSantis opted to wave off the question by saying American’s shouldn’t “get stuck in the past” and then mockingly asked Mitchell, “Are you in high school?”
The exchange did not play well for the governor, which prompted his campaign to take aggressive measures to make sure Mitchell never got near DeSantis again. Which is ironic, because the 15-year-old actually felt bad about embarrassing DeSantis and apologized to the governor, who shook the boy’s hand at a Fourth of July parade. That’s when Mitchell learned he was on a watchlist.
Via The Daily Beast:
Right after the handshake, Mitchell recalled his shock when he felt a firm tug on his shirt, pulling him away from DeSantis. Suddenly, all he could see were the outstretched arms of security guards and plain clothed aides.
“Usually what they do is they don’t push you or anything, but they put their hands out and kind of body you, so you just don’t move, basically,” Mitchell said, describing a shuffling motion more akin to an offensive line on a football team than a presidential candidate’s security detail.
If that were not startling enough, right after the fracas, a DeSantis security guard cornered Mitchell and ordered him not to move from the spot for another five minutes.
Understandably frightened by the encounter, Mitchell texted his mom, who wanted answers from DeSantis’ security. What she got instead was a personal visit from the candidate’s wife, Casey DeSantis, who initially accused the boy of lying before promising to “get to the bottom” of the situation. The Florida first lady then told Mitchell to come to DeSantis’ next event.
Feeling the matter was resolved, Mitchell attended a campaign stop in August. When he got there, not only did the governor’s security team flank him and block him from getting close to DeSantis, but staffers for the Never Back Down PAC were taking photos of the boy. Reporters later informed Mitchell that the staffers were sharing photos of him on Snapchat with the ominous caption “got our kid.”
The whole thing is a political blunder that only Ron DeSantis could make.
(Via The Daily Beast)