Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign did not get off to a good start.
The 45-year-old candidate, dubbed ‘DeFuture’ of the Republican Party, tried to launch his 2024 bid in April by showing off his next-gen tech savvy – with a Twitter Spaces session.
And then the app crashed.
The debacle got a good laugh from his senior citizen rivals, former President Donald Trump, 77, and President Joe Biden, 81.
‘Glitchy. Tech issues. Uncomfortable silences. A complete failure to launch. And that’s just the candidate!’ a spokesman for Trump gleefully said. Biden chimed in with, ‘This links works,’ which led people to his campaign’s donation site.
For the next eight months, the DeSantis campaign was plagued with problems – including chatter that he was awkward on the stump, was secretly wearing high heels and was bleeding money from his donors.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Sunday he was leaving the presidential race after eight months. He endorsed former President Donald Trump on his way out the door
In April, the 45-year-old candidate tried to launch his 2024 presidential bid using Twitter – but the app crashed
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis laughs during an Iowa camapign stop in the lead-up to his official presidential campaign announcement in April. DeSantis’ awkward demeanor on the campaign trail became one of the prevailing narratives of his failed 2024 campaign
Even before the official launch, DeSantis had to contend with some strange anecdotes in the press about him.
The Daily Beast reported in March that four years before, during a private plane trip between Tallahassee and D.C., DeSantis dug into a pudding cup – literally – using three of his fingers to consume the treat.
‘He would sit in meetings and eat in front of people,’ a former DeSantis staffer told The Daily Beast, ‘always like a starving animal who has never eaten before … getting s*** everywhere.’
Once he started actively campaigning, he immediately got branded as awkward, robotic and aloof.
One DeSantis staffer, who declined to be identified, told DailyMail.com in June that their boss had to be told ‘when to smile.’
‘He just needs to chill out a bit and be less stiff,’ another source said. ‘He always looks awkward and needs to get out and meet more people.’
Early on, DeSantis had impressive fundraising totals, but by July he had cut a third of his staff, 38 aides in total.
In turn, DeSantis’ super PAC took over hosting most of the governor’s campaign events.
In October, podcaster Patrick Bet-David informed DeSantis that there was a viral TikTok video airing out a conspiracy theory that he had hidden heels inside the cowboy boots he often sported at campaign events
The 2024 presidential hopeful had to contend with rumors that he was wearing hidden high heels in his cowboy boots. Politico Magazine later ran a story bolstering this claim
DeSantis – like Sen. Marco Rubio before him – also had to slap down rumors that he was wearing hidden high heels.
In October, podcaster Patrick Bet-David informed DeSantis that there was a viral TikTok video airing out a conspiracy theory that he had hidden heels inside the cowboy boots he often sported at campaign events.
TikTok user Spamellina had sketched the shape of a high heel over the photo of DeSantis in his boots and then shared a picture of a pair of women’s wedged boots for comparison.
‘No, no, no those are just standard, off the rack Lucchese,’ DeSantis said in defense, name-dropping a popular cowboy boot brand.
Politico Magazine later ran a story quoting three expert shoemakers who bolstered the hidden lifts claim.
The dig stuck, with Donald Trump Jr. mocking him for it on the stump in Iowa last week.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at his Iowa caucus results party on Monday. He lost to Trump by 30 points in the Hawkeye State after his campaign and super PAC spent a combined $150 million
On Saturday, DeSantis headlined three events in South Carolina in an attempt to take votes away from Nikki Haley in her home state.
DeSantis’ final days in the race had him frantically trying to figure out where his message might best resonate after he lost Iowa to Trump by 30 points – at a cost of $150 million, between his campaign and his Never Back Down super PAC.
One estimate had that at $6,400 a vote.
In Iowa he had traveled to all 99 counties – dubbed the ‘full Grassley’ – and received the endorsement of the state’s popular Gov. Kim Reynolds – but almost lost his second place status to Haley, who wasn’t focusing heavily on the state.
The day after the Iowa caucuses DeSantis flew to Greensville, South Carolina to plant a flag there, with the thinking that if Haley lost South Carolina he could turn the GOP primary into a two-person race versus Trump.
At the same time, his super PAC started laying off staff.
He flew back to New Hamsphire later that day and on Wednesday CBS News broke that he planned to leave the Granite State – possibly for good – to again campaign in South Carolina all weeekend.
That trip ended up lasting one day – with three events – and concluded with headlines on how DeSantis dressed down a fourth grade teacher over Haley’s education record as governor.
DeSantis was unable to say where in South Carolina he could win – nor could he point to a Super Tuesday state where the campaign could put its focus.
On Sunday, instead of campaigning in South Carolina, DeSantis was expected to fly back to New Hamsphire – cancelling appearances on NBC’s Meet the Press and CNN’s State of the Union in the process.
Instead he returned to Florida, where he filmed the video announcement that he was dropping out of the race and endorsing Trump, kicking Haley a final time on his way out.
‘He has my endorsement because we can’t go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear, a repackaged form of warmed over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents,’ DeSantis said, speaking to the camera.