They have been the focus of millions of Twitter views, have sparked a flurry of excitement on TikTok and prompted amateur sleuths to investigate.
They are 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis’ cowboy boots.
The Florida governor has been accused of inserting lifts into pairs of brown and black boots to turn them into heels, giving him a height boost – as Americans traditionally like taller candidates.
DeSantis appeared on the PBD Podcast Monday and told host Patrick Bet-David that he was unaware that people online were theorizing that he was wearing heels, saying his boots were ‘just standard, off the rack Lucchese’ and that he stood at 5’11”.
But a trio of expert shoemakers have come forward to say he is using lifts to make himself look taller.
A trio of expert shoemakers believe that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is wearing heels despite the 2024 candidate denying that there are lifts tucked inside his cowboy boots. DeSantis sported these boots at a Heritage Foundation event on Friday
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. The experts described a similar – yet shorter way – that lifts would be configured
Bootmaker Zephan Parker looked at photos of DeSantis’ boots from this campaign event in Tampa and said it appeared that the 2024 hopeful was wearing lifts
Politico Magazine on Tuesday gave what had been merely online speculation some legitimacy, with all three boot and shoemakers pointing out how the odd fit of the candidate’s boots likely means he’s getting a boost.
Bootmaker Zephan Parker of the Houston-based Parker Boot Company didn’t buy it.
‘I’ve dealt with these politicians many times,’ Parker told Politico Magazine. ‘I’ve helped them with their lifts. [DeSantis] is wearing lifts; there’s no doubt.’
Parker looked at photos of DeSantis at a recent campaign event in Tampa and noticed that while the boots are of a traditional Western silhouette the heels appear shorter.
He explained that when you insert lifts into cowboy boots the lift-heel combo can ‘turn them into five-inch stilettos.’
‘That’s too much for the common man,’ Parker said. ‘So on a ready-made boot, they’ll cut down the heel about half an inch to accommodate the lifts, which looks to be what happened here.’
Parker also said the boots’ tops seem to be sticking out further than a traditional cowboy boot.
While cowboy boots are supposed to fit snugly, a tight boot can’t accommodate a lift, so often men who want to achieve some extra height will have to size up.
‘He looks like he’s wearing trousers with an eight-inch opening,’ Parker observed, ‘which is plenty of room for a Western boot on a man of his proportions.’
However, since the tops of his boots are pressed up against his pant legs, Parker suggested that ‘the boots are bigger than intended, probably to accommodate his lifts.’
Austin-based bootmaker Graham Ebner looked at what DeSantis wore to the Iowa State Fair and pointed out the unusually high instep, which suggests he may have inserted a wedge in the heel to make him appear taller
Another image of the boots that DeSantis (right) often wears and which he sported at the Iowa State Fair in August
Austin-based bootmaker Graham Ebner told Politico Magazine that he also suspected DeSantis is wearing lifts.
‘Three things stick out to me,’ Ebner said, ‘the instep, the toe spring and where the ball of his foot is sitting in the boots.’
The instep in shoemaking is where the shoelaces usually sit on the top of the foot.
In DeSantis’ case, Ebner pointed out that he had an unusually high instep.
‘Instead of the leather hugging the inside arch of his foot, as it should, it looks like his foot is being lifted up and stretching out the leather,’ Ebner said.
As for the toe spring – how the toes curl up in a boot – Ebner said on DeSantis it looked too pronounced, suggesting his toes are too far back in the boot.
The ball of the candidate’s foot also seems oddly placed, the bootmaker said.
‘In the photo of him sitting on the wooden stool, you can see where the ball of his foot is protruding on the right boot,’ Ebner said, describing DeSantis’ footwear at the Iowa State Fair. ‘It’s a good inch behind where it should be. It should not be in that position unless the heels were being lifted dramatically.’
A TikTok user named Spamellina created a video that showcased DeSantis’ boots, commenting: ‘tell me he’s not wearing hidden heels.’
As part of the video, Spamellina sketched on top of DeSantis’ boot, showing the foot positioned in the way Ebner described. A wedged boot for women then flashed onscreen to serve as a comparison.
A third shoemaking expert, the London-based Nicholas Templeman, noted that DeSantis’ boots had an unusual wrinkle high up on the shaft – suggesting that an interior wedge is lifting his foot up.
‘If you put your foot into a regular pair of Western cowboy boots, that are is just going to be your shin, which doesn’t bend,’ Templeman said.
DeSantis’ spokesman Bryan Griffin did not appreciate Politico Magazine’s investigation.
‘Considering the fact that Politico Magazine admittedly spent money to consult “boot experts” to run this hit piece on DeSantis tells you all you need to know about their “journalism,”‘ Griffin said. ‘The governor doesn’t pad his boots, but if he ever needed anything to line a pet cage or fold up and wedge under a table leg, that would be the highest and best use for Politico Magazine.’
Politico Magazine doesn’t appear in print, nor did the news organization pay the boot experts to assess whether the 2024 hopeful was wearing hidden heels.