nobody likes you

Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis is so unlikable now even his closest allies are ripping him a new one

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Ron DeSantis

Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis’ presidential campaign has been an outright disaster. Entering the race with momentum following a big gubernatorial reelection win last year, DeSantis made his announcement on a glitchy Twitter spaces, and has only torpedoed further downhill from there.

Those who have worked closest with him aren’t surprised. DeSantis may be able to champion his hard-right policies as Florida governor, but that doesn’t change an important fact: he’s just not likable.

The Washington Post recently interviewed more than 30 people in Florida and Washington with ties to DeSantis, and few of them spoke highly of the governor. DeSantis continues to slip in primary polls, now dropping to third place behind little-known entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

Joe Gruters, who served as chairman of the Florida GOP during DeSantis’ first term, isn’t shedding any tears. “The more he is met by people, the more they are not going to like him,” he said. “The more he’s out there, the more his numbers go down. It’s not a good long-term scenario for him. I fully expected the downfall of his campaign a long time ago.”

It doesn’t get any harsher than that! Keep in mind, Gruters isn’t a Democratic official or MSNBC pundit. He’s a Republican who presumably agrees with much of DeSantis’ agenda.

And yet, he never thought about endorsing his former colleague. Gruters, along with most members of Florida’s congressional delegation, endorsed Donald Trump months ago.

Stories about DeSantis’ lack of social skills aren’t new. He’s been accused of ignoring his staffers, never saying “thank you” and allegedly once ate chocolate pudding with his hands. The gay-hating politician’s personality is so bad, it was once compared to a “piece of paper.”

But the WaPo piece goes deeper, quoting high-profile Florida lawmakers who aren’t shy about lambasting the governor. Rep. Byron Donalds, a Black Republican whom the DeSantis campaign ripped for questioning his stance that slavery had benefits for people of color, says he expected DeSantis to struggle.

“In presidential politics, you have to be able to engage and connect with people,” he said. “I never felt like it was something the governor would be able to do or accomplish.”

Another Republican Florida rep, Greg Steube, has spoken in the past about DeSantis’ failure to connect with others. Once a prominent DeSantis backer, Steube pulled his support when DeSantis never called him while he was recovering from a serious injury.

“In terms of building relationships with other members, it wasn’t his strong suit. He just doesn’t do that,” said Donalds.

Unsurprisingly, the Trump campaign has leaned into DeSantis’ personality flaws. On Saturday, the thrice-indicted ex-president’s team paid to fly an unflattering banner about DeSantis at the Iowa State Fair. The text simply read, “Be likable, Ron!” (Trump, for what it’s worth, has a -18.3 favorable rating himself.)

It was a brutal weekend in Iowa for DeSantis, whose first event of his tour was stopped early due to protesters calling him “pudding fingers.” (But then again, maybe that’s a positive. Less meet-and-greet time for DeSantis minimizes the chance he’ll chide a child for eating an icee, or something.)

Bleeding support, DeSantis has continually resorted to attacking gay people. This weekend, it was revealed his campaign paid $95,000 to court an anti-LGBTQ+ religious group in Iowa ahead of the state’s crucial caucuses. 

But even DeSantis’ homophobia can’t save him among Republicans. The WaPo reports he never texted back then-governor Rick Scott about crises in his home state; and in one bizarre encounter, ignored a Florida congresswoman at an airport…by keeping his earbuds in when she tried to speak with him.

“People in Florida, even his public supporters, are not feeling exactly sorry for him,” said one person who’s been listed as a supporter of the governor. “There’s a sense of, it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”

DeSantis can fire his staff and execute relaunch after relaunch. But as long he’s selling himself, it looks like his campaign will just keep sinking further.

Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy indeed.

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Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis’ anti-LGBTQ+ splurge, Sam Champion’s bday beefcake, & Liberace’s secret man cave

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