DeSantis Opens CNN Town Hall By Awkwardly Giving Kaitlan Collins a Caitlin Clark Shirt to Mock Nikki Haley

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis opened his CNN town hall on Thursday with an awkward scene comparing host Kaitlan Collins to Iowa basketball player Caitlin Clark, just moments before he was asked a series of questions about the Perry High School shooting 45 minutes away.

After Collins introduced DeSantis to the stage in Des Moines, Iowa, the Florida governor said:

Thank you. Thanks so much. Great to be back at Grand View. Thanks CNN. So, I heard the other day someone say that Kaitlan Collins had some basketball skills. Now, I don’t know if that was a mistake or not, but I know in Iowa they have a Caitlin Clark, so I just wanted to give you this as a memento.

DeSantis then handed Collins a basketball jersey with Clark’s name on it. This was designed to be a clear dig at Nikki Haley, who accidentally said the CNN anchor’s name while praising the Iowa Hawkeye player at a late December rally.

“And just respectfully,” he continued, “if the game’s on the line and we need a buzzer beater, I’m going with Clark over Collins.”

Collins replied:

Rest assured, her free throws and her threes are much better than mine, governor. But thank you so much for that. Thank you. And good luck to her playing against Rutgers on Friday night. Governor, thank you for being here. Obviously, as you know, just 45 minutes away from here, Perry High School earlier today in Iowa, there was a shooting. A sixth grader was killed, five others were injured, including a school administrator on their first day back after winter break.

DeSantis was then asked a series of questions from the audience about the school shooting.

Watch above via CNN.

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