Ron DeSantis Mocked by Banner Flying Over Him During Speech

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was greeted by a banner flying over the Iowa State Fair on Saturday that read, "Be likeable Ron!" before he was set to give a speech.

DeSantis was in the state as part of his campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and was widely considered to be a strong contender for it before he formally entered the race in May. However, his campaign has struggled to gain traction. DeSantis's campaign recently cut roughly a third of its staff, or 38 people, as part of an effort to get his presidential bid back on track.

In addition, a new poll published Thursday from the Republican-leaning pollster Cygnal showed that DeSantis is now the preferred option of just 10 percent of those polled, and he's running virtually neck-and-neck with businessman Vivek Ramaswamy who has 11 percent support. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump led both potential rivals with 53 percent support in findings consistent with the vast majority of recent polling.

Politico reporter Stephanie Murray posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday to comment about the banner and wrote, "And the Iowa State Fair trolling begins. Less than an hour before Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will speak at the fair, a plane flies overhead with a banner that reads 'Be Likable, Ron!'"

Dylan Wells, a campaign reporter for The Washington Post, also posted to X, "A plane is flying a 'Be likeable, Ron!' banner over the Iowa State Fair."

Newsweek has reached out to DeSantis's campaign via email for comment.

ABC News campaign reporter Lalee Ibssa also posted a video of DeSantis walking through the fair on Saturday as Trump chants rang out.

"Gov. Ron DeSantis walks through a crowd chanting 'We love Trump' and 'We want Trump,'" Ibssa wrote.

The Florida governor was also heckled and called "pudding fingers" during a visit to Iowa on Friday, with footage of the incident quickly being shared to social media.

The protesters chanted "Go back to Florida" and "Go back to Florida, pudding fingers" through a bullhorn as DeSantis got off his campaign bus. Video of that moment was shared to X by The Recount on Friday and has been viewed more than 75,000 times as of Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile, political analyst Craig Agranoff told Newsweek on Saturday that it will be "hard to say for sure whether or not the heckling and banner will affect DeSantis."

"Some politicians might be rattled by such public displays of disapproval, but DeSantis has a reputation for being a tough and resilient politician. He may even see the heckling as a sign that he's a threat to the establishment, which could actually help him to energize his base," Agranoff said.

He added: "It's possible that the heckling and banner could deflate DeSantis' ego a little bit, but it's also possible that he'll brush it off. Again, it depends on his personality and how he interprets the events. If he sees them as a sign that he's doing something right, he may not be bothered by them at all."