Update: Ron DeSantis’ 8 most hilariously epic fails on the presidential campaign trail

Ron DeSantis' embarrassments are a balm to our collective souls

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced his intention to run for President at the beginning of 2023 and his campaign has been filled with one huge mistake after another ever since. From donors dropping out, to campaign leaks, to eating pudding with his fingers and even wearing secret high-heeled boots, the man who signed the “Don’t Say Gay“ bill is managing to tank his own campaign without liberals having to lift a finger. DeSantis' flailing presidential bid would be funny if his anti-LGBTQ+ policies weren’t so terrifying. We may not be able to laugh yet, but we can revel in his complete and utter failure as a viable candidate!

1. He's an awkward suck up

DeSantis responds in Waukee, Iowa to a voter who argues he should go harder at Trump. pic.twitter.com/h3acvOkq9u

— Hannah Knowles (@KnowlesHannah) January 3, 2024

At a recent event in Wake, Iowa, a voter pointed out that although DeSantis is trailing Trump in the polls by A LOT, the Florida governor refuses to go after him, saying, “In my viewpoint, you’ve gone pretty soft on him.” DeSantis then proved he is not only awkward but also a bootlicker and suck-up by responding, “I articulate all the differences time and time again on the campaign trail …There’s just a narrative…I think the narrative is this — what the media wants is they want Republican candidates to just kind of smear him personally and kind of do that. That’s just not how I roll.”

2. His donors are jumping ship

Hotel Magnate Robert Bigelow donated more than $20 million to Never Back Down, the super PAC supporting DeSantis’ presidential campaign, but is now considering cutting the purse strings and supporting Donald Trump instead. “Who would you want as a commander? I’d want somebody that would be a hell of an ass-kicker if he needed to be,” Bigelow said in an interview with the Financial Timestoday. “On the face of it, you lean toward Trump.” This comes after Bigelow already threatened to jump ship if DeSantis didn’t agree to moderate some of his more extreme conservative policies.

3. Social media fail

Back in May DeSantis formally launched his bid for the presidency during a live forum on X (formerly Twitter) hosted by Elon Musk and it was an epic fail. The audio kept glitching during the entire 25-minute long announcement, making DeSantis look like an idiot. Frankly, that's not very hard to do with this particular politician, but it was still a glorious thing to behold.

4. These high-heeled boots are made for walking

Way back in February a rumor started circulating online that DeSantis was wearing lifts in his boots to appear taller on the campaign trail. But the rumor took on new life last month when Trump posted a photo on Truth Social of DeSantis on Real Time With Bill Maher with the caption "Tell me he's not wearing hidden heels." There have now been countless memes and diagrams posted across social media analyzing the Florida governor’s shoes and his height in relation to other people. Internet sleuths give us life! We don’t know if it’s true, but the memes are pretty convincing.

5. His aide used a Nazi symbol

Scoop: This staffer didn't just retweet the video.
He secretly made the video w/ the Sonnenrad, per a person familiar.

It was then shared through @desantiscams where the staffer retweeted it. The video was later deleted it but here it is.
My storyhttps://t.co/TBt0IMNQe0 https://t.co/Tutp4lM4On pic.twitter.com/DJdy71DzwD

— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) July 25, 2023

The DeSantis presidential campaign had to fire an aide who secretly made a campaign video that featured DeSantis at the center of a Sonnenrad, a Nazis symbol that’s still used by some white supremacists, according to Axios. The video has a cover of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” playing in the background as well—how dare they corrupt that beautiful song!

6. American Psycho wants to be the American president

Back in July DeSantis retweeted a campaign ad made by an anonymous fan that criticizes Trump for being too supportive of LGBTQ+ rights and compares him to Patrick Bateman, a finance bro/serial killer from the film American Psycho. Oh, and the video also shows lightning bolts shooting out of the governor’s eyes. The video was widely condemned by not just Democrats, but Log Cabin Republicans as well, according to The Nation.

7. Can't stop these leaks!

DeSantis’ Don’t Back Down super PAC has suffered near constant leaks since his campaign started. The PAC’s chief strategist was caught begging donors for obscene amounts of money and trashing DeSantis in some leaked audio that the New York Times obtained. But that’s not all, an embarrassing campaign memo was leaked right before the Republican debate that was full of insults leveled at other candidates and reminded DeSantis—who has frequently been criticized for seeming robotic—to “show emotion.”

8. Last but not least: Pudding fingers

In one of the more hilarious blunders, a MAGA ad tearing down DeSantis claimed the presidential hopeful is such a disgustingly messy eater that he devours pudding with his fingers. Since then this claim has followed DeSantis around the campaign trail, even causing him to be heckled and told to “go back to Florida pudding fingers” by onlookers when he got off his campaign bus in Iowa, The Daily Beastreported.