Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ gamble to take his presidential campaign to rival Nikki Haley’s turf ended up with him shouting down a fourth grade teacher over the former governor’s record on education Saturday evening. 

DeSantis headlined an event for his super PAC at Hudson’s Smokehouse in Lexington, South Carolina, a suburb of Columbia, and threw out a question to the crowd that he’s asked at all three of his recent Palmetto State events.

‘I’ve been asking crowds what her big achievements were as governor here?’ 

Fourth grade teacher Regina Wasiluk had heard that DeSantis had asked the same question at his earlier event Saturday in Myrtle Beach and came armed with information about how Haley had increased education standards in the state. 

As they bickered back and forth, DeSantis said, ‘I’m talking about big conservative achievements. That’s what the name of the game is. It’s about big conservative achievements.’ 

When Wasiluk continued to defend Haley’s record DeSantis raised his voice and said, ‘It’s not your show ma’am, it’s not your show.’

He continued by saying, ‘So if you promise school choice, don’t cave to the teacher’s unions,’ with Wasiluk yelling to point out that South Carolina doesn’t have teacher’s unions. 

After the tense exchange, Wasiluk – a South Carolinian who declined to give the name of her district but said she’d been teaching for 24 years – said if it was DeSantis versus Biden on the general election ballot, she’d sit this election out. 

‘I will say that if DeSantis beats Haley, I will not vote, period,’ she told a group of reporters after the altercation with Florida governor. ‘I would not vote for him now.’ 

‘In South Carolina, I will vote for Haley, absolutely,’ she added of the upcoming February 24 GOP primary.

Wasiluk was visibly shaken by the encounter with the presidential hopeful.

‘I was very upset by the governor’s reaction and his inability to answer my question honestly,’ she told DailyMail.com. 

‘I was just trying to get him – he asked the question in Myrtle Beach this morning – does anybody know of anything good that Nikki Haley’s done and I wanted to say the good things Nikki Haley has done because she’s not being given credit by him for the things that she has done for the children of our state, for the elderly people of our state, for all people in our state,’ Wasiluk continued.

Wasiluk also volunteered that her adult child is non-binary.

‘I came here today because I wanted him to understand, I wanted to see what he really had to say. I wanted to ask him then why should I vote for you if you believe that my child who is considered “woke” is not acceptable in this United States of America,’ she said. 

Wasiluk also said it was a ‘big mistake’ for DeSantis to be in South Carolina before Haley is actively campaigning in the state when he should be competing in New Hampshire.  

After DeSantis lost Iowa Monday by 30 points to former President Donald Trump, his campaign has scrambled to right the ship – and figure out where his message might best resonate. 

He’s not expected to do well in New Hampshire, where he’s trailing both Trump and Haley. 

The thought was that if DeSantis pulled some support away from Haley in South Carolina he could turn it into two-person race against Trump – because she would look weak losing the state where she served as governor from 2011 to 2017. 

That took him to Greenville, South Carolina first thing Tuesday morning to then travel back to New Hampshire mid-week. 

CBS first reported that he would spend the weekend in South Carolina, but that turned into one day – with three events – on Saturday, as he plans to head back to the Granite State Sunday. 

That also meant that he had to skip a planned appearance on CNN’s Sunday show State of the Union.  

In a gaggle after his event in Myrtle Beach around lunchtime Saturday, DeSantis answered ‘I’m not a political pundit’ when asked if there’s a district in South Carolina he could win. 

The most recent South Carolina poll, which still included former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, had DeSantis at 7 percent in the state, compared to Trump’s 54 percent and Haley’s 25 percent.