Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was speaking during a Republican event at TPepin’s Hospitality Centre in Tampa when he was interrupted and accused of stealing money by Democratic candidate for the Florida State House Ben Braver. The episode sparked criticism against DeSantis, as Braver was escorted out of the room for speaking out against the governor.
As shown in a video shared by Ben Braver’s campaign, which later made the rounds on Reddit, DeSantis was about to pass the stage to Republican gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds when he was interrupted. Braver, from the crowd, started shouting at DeSantis: “Thanks so much for your leadership, stealing $10 million from poor kids.”
While guards escorted Braver out of the event, he also said, “thank you, Data Center Donalds, [for receiving] $6 million from data center companies” and continued with his accusations as he was booed by the crowd.
Braver is a teacher, union member, and progressive Democrat, and is currently running for Florida State House District 65 in 2026. What he mentioned in the footage was related to the Hope Florida $10 million controversy, in which a grand jury found that the DeSantis administration had misappropriated $10 million in taxpayer money, taking it to a charity led by his wife, Casey DeSantis. However, not enough evidence was found to charge anyone.
Floridians React to Ben Braver’s Confrontation With DeSantis
Floridians who watched the video on Reddit were angry to see Braver being escorted out and agreed with the Democrat. One of them said: “Crazy that people are booing him when all this guy is doing is speaking FACTS.”
Someone answered: “They don’t want facts interrupting the propaganda they went there to hear.” Other residents also commented: “He advertised us to the worst people imaginable because he knew they would be a strong political base for him, and they came in droves.”
Other seemingly angry Floridians called out GOP members for what they perceived as unfairness: “They have no problem with waste and corruption, they just want to be the ones doing it.” Some users agreed: “Conservatives love calling out fraud across the aisle but will assault you if you call out their hypocrisy.”
Another local became enraged by seeing that the Democratic candidate was not allowed to speak, saying: “This is what censorship looks like. Sue.”
As the elections draw near, it’s possible that episodes such as the Hope Florida controversy or Byron Donalds’ relationship with data center companies will continue popping up, but it’s unclear how much effect these topics will have on the vote.
