DeSantis poses with handmade snowflake sign with a hidden insult

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis posed with a snowflake during a campaign trip to Iowa, seemingly without noticing its pattern saying “fascist” over and over.

Freelancer Steven Goffman tweeted, “at a Republican political rally in Davenport, Iowa today someone gave @GovRonDeSantis and @IAGovernor Kim Reynolds a handmade ‘snowflake’ with the word ‘Fascist’ secretly embedded in it”.

Twitter user IowaCaptive added: “My friend makes snowflakes to give to politicians who come to Iowa – there are special messages for odious Republicans – please look at the snowflake carefully.”

Mr DeSantis was attending an event at the Rhythm City Casino Resort in Davenport on Friday to talk about his new book when he was handed the snowflake, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

“We will never surrender to the woke mob,” Mr DeSantis said in front of the crowd in eastern Iowa. “Our state is where woke goes to die.”

He claimed that “woke ideology” has “infected” areas like education, healthcare and business.

“There [are] certain little enclaves in our country [where] that may be popular,” he said on Friday morning, according to the Des Moines Register. “But it’s not popular with the vast majority of people. And I think it showed. From what we showed in Florida, not only can you have a good agenda and deliver, you can make big inroads with the electorate.”

“And that’s exactly what we did. To go from a 32,000 to 1.5 million (vote) margin, it doesn’t happen by accident,” he added referencing his 2018 and 2022 gubernatorial election victories.

Donald Halterman, a resident of Davenport, told the Register that “I think he has the potential to be another Reagan”.

“I was a supporter of Trump. I still support Trump,” he added. “I just liked this man. … His personality I think is what this country needs.”

Twitter users from both sides of the aisle mocked Mr DeSantis for the snowflake.

“If the snowflake fits,” Bob Duff, a Democratic Connecticut state senator, tweeted.

Pro-Trump commentator Laura Loomer wrote: “Lmao. DeSantis got trolled in Iowa. Read the snowflake.”

The term “snowflake” is typically used to mock people on the left for supposedly being too thin-skinned and too quick to take offence.

Florida Democratic Congressman Maxwell Frost accused Mr DeSantis in a speech last month of levelling “a full-scale fascist attack” on the New College of Florida, and he alleged that the governor had filled the school’s board “with ultra-conservative lapdogs”.

“My Dad once told me that even if someone hands you a bag of poop, say ‘thank you’ and be polite. It’s not DeSantis that should be embarrassed by this childish stunt,” one Twitter user said.

“I don’t see how this is anything but a self own. The Left is known as the party of snowflakes, so she gave him a fascist snowflake (is there any other kind?). A self portrait, if you will. DeSantis gracefully accepted the gift, believing the gift giver was being sincere,” another added.

“Nothing says it better that the truth, and nothing but the truth. I applaud the lady that played them perfectly with that truth,” Ashley Curtis said.