Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis’ presidential run was doomed from his first failed Twitter space. Filled with technical glitches, he stumbled through his announcement with Elon Musk, setting the tone for a disastrous nine months.
Now, the Florida governor’s campaign is essentially over, and he has some regrets.
In an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, DeSantis lamented his self-induced lack of exposure. The anti-gay pol only appeared on conservative outlets at the start of his campaign, bypassing traditional mainstream stops.
Politics, but make it gay!
Stay woke with our briefing while staying informed on all things LGBTQ+ entertainment, life, and more!
And it didn’t work. DeSantis kept sinking in the polls, reaching single digits in some states.
“I came in not really doing as much media,” said DeSantis, via the Daily Beast. “I should have just been blanketing. I should have gone on all the corporate shows. I should have gone on everything.”
How times have changed! When he launched his presidential bid, he sold himself as a brave cultural warrior garnering revenge on liberal elites.
Now, he’s wishing he appeared more often on CNN.
Speaking of which, DeSantis agreed to CNN and ABC debates in New Hampshire this week, but both events were canceled when Nikki Haley pulled out.
Without Trump involved, Haley says she doesn’t see much of a point. And she’s not wrong.
Haley is trouncing DeSantis in the Granite State. A poll released Wednesday shows “Meatball Ron” with just 5% support, compared to 34% for Haley and 50% for the disgraced ex-president.
As a result, DeSantis is abandoning New Hampshire, with the primary just four days away. Apparently, moderate voters up north didn’t take well to his extreme rhetoric, such as when he recently claimed without evidence that people with COVID booster shots are more likely to contract the virus.
Though DeSantis barely placed second in Iowa, he still finished 30 points behind Trump.
And suffered plenty of embarrassment along the way.
Towards the end, he couldn’t even defend himself against hecklers. That duty fell to his wife, Casey. When somebody tried to hand DeSantis a “participation trophy,” she stepped between them.
The governor can’t handle a heckler, but we’re supposed to think he can stand up to Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping???
The real Alpha had to step in to defend Ron.
— Anthony Hughes (@CallMeAntwan) January 13, 2024
Luckily Casey was there to protect him from this emotional assault.
— Kevin Washington (@KevinSixx13) January 13, 2024
His wife put the last nail in his candidacy.
— Joel Zamboni (@joelzamboni) January 13, 2024
Despite a second place finish in Iowa, DeSantis’ beleaguered Super PAC, Never Back Down, laid off more employees.
It’s a sign that his campaign is just sputtering to its inevitable end. He’s even blasted Trump in recent days, correctly declaring that Fox News protects him to juice its own ratings.
DeSantis hitched his hopes to the right-wing media, but as it turns out, they already had their darling in mind.
He’s orange, loud and full of criminal indictments!
DeSantis, meanwhile, is full of nothing but disappointments. He’s now pinning his futile campaign on South Carolina, even though polling shows him a distant third.
At this point, it really feels like he’s just delaying his campaign’s official postmortem.
RIGay
Huh? A Republican candidate not blaming is failing run on Joe Biden? I am ASTONISHED!!!
still_onthemark
“The liberal media and Biden should have helped me beat Trump.” – that may pop out in the next week or so. The same thing happened after Kevin McCarthy got dumped, “Democrats should have abstained and saved him, so all this is the Democrats’ fault.”
ZzBomb
It was the pudding fingers. The only demographic that could relate was 4 y/o!?
Patsy Stoned
The more people got to know him, the less support he had. Thankfully the entire country is not made up of “Florida Man” but I do fear for whatever decent people are left down there when this wrathful bitch in heels flounces back down there.
abfab
When the circus comes to town in the swamps of the Tallahootchie, they will headline the freak show.
still_onthemark
I hope Ron’s ex-employee, Queerty’s decrans, will comment here with his reminiscences!
barryaksarben
I have gotten ALL shots and boosters and still haven’t had it once and I live in Florida. If he had blanketed the media they would have gotten to see the real child and he would have plunged in the polls SOONER
James
NOW THE MORON AND LOSER CAN BE PUT INTO A MENTAL HOSPITAL IN A STRAIGHT JACKET IN SOLITARY FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE AND NO ONE WILL CARE.
Kangol2
Whiny, racist, anti-LGBTQ DeFascist was the mainstream’s great Republican hope, or one of them, before his campaign began imploding, and it couldn’t have happened to a worse candidate. It’s a bit of justice that he’s term-limited from another four years as Florida’s governor.
Invader7
Oops. Wasted $120 million on charter jet flights (lots of entitlement there ) and FAILED media buys. Thankfully “Horse Laugh ” DeStupid won’t be president. He deserves every failure. So do the morons who vote & support Neo NAZI fascists like him !
abfab
The Casey & Rhonda Show is about to close.
abfab
….annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd, scene.
Georgeiv2
Miss DeSantis should hide and take the eyebrow beard as well , doing us all a favour .
abfab
And that dumb-ass ”surprised” look that seems to be one of his trademarked facial features.