Ron DeSantis was knocked back on his heels by a new allegation, and his attempts to sidestep the matter failed miserably.
The Republican presidential hopeful has for weeks sparked theories that he’s wearing lifts inside his cowboy boots to make himself appear taller. Internet users and shoe experts alike point to the bizarre fit of DeSantis’s boots and his apparent struggle to walk in them. The Florida governor’s campaign team has vehemently denied the accusations.
But DeSantis was caught flat-footed Monday during an appearance on the PBD Podcast. Host Patrick Bet-David brought up the internet’s theory and showed DeSantis some videos that internet jokesters had edited to show how they thought DeSantis was essentially standing on tiptoes in his boots.
“What are they—I don’t even—I haven’t seen that,” DeSantis said, a little too fast.
Bet-David then produced a pair of flat designer shoes, which he said he had bought for DeSantis so the governor could try them on and prove how tall he is.
“I don’t accept gifts. I can’t accept it,” DeSantis said in an awkward monotone.
If DeSantis and the 1999 Yale baseball roster are to be believed, DeSantis is 5-foot-11. It’s also understandable why he would want to appear tall at all costs. Taller candidates generally (although not always) perform better, but more importantly, DeSantis is facing off against Donald Trump. Trump loves to describe people as “little” as a form of, well, belittlement.
Unfortunately, this could be a massive missed opportunity for DeSantis. If he is shorter, he could embrace his short king status, call Trump out for body-shaming, and seek to prove that good things come in small packages. If the shoe fits, wear it, right?
Instead, whatever he’s doing is just creating an incredibly strange, clown-like effect. As menswear expert Derek Guy wrote in Politico, whether or not he has lifts in his boots, DeSantis is still wearing really terribly fitting boots. Guy spoke with three bootmaking-industry veterans, and all agreed that DeSantis’s boots are far too wide around his calves. The heels are low and the toes turn up abnormally high. The boots bulge and crease in weird places.
All of these things could be signs that DeSantis simply needs to get his feet re-measured—or that he shoved some lifts into his boots. It looks like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis can’t sidestep ridiculous rumors about his height much longer.
People have been fixated on the Republican governor’s footwear ever since someone suggested DeSantis has secret lifts inside his favorite pair of cowboy boots.
But the Republican presidential hopeful walked away from a chance to debunk the theory during an appearance Monday on conservative podcaster Patrick Bet-David’s show.
DeSantis seemed confused when Bet-David tried to explain the shoe scandal with a viral video, but he refused to put on a pair of very fancy Ferragamo loafers to prove he’s 5 feet, 11 inches, as he claims.
When jokes about DeSantis’ height-enhanced boots began making the rounds, former President Donald Trump chimed in with a photo of his 2024 presidential rival sitting pretty during an interview with Bill Maher.
“Tell me he’s not wearing hidden heels,” text on the image trolled.
A different pair of DeSantis shoes turned into meme fodder last year after he surveyed the damage of Hurricane Ian wearing a very groovy pair of white rubber rain boots.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), whom Donald Trump once reportedly mulled calling “Tiny D” (before landing on the curt, devastating “Rob”), would like to set the record straight. He is not only tall but also a sensible shopper, the flailing presidential candidate proclaimed on the PBD podcast on Monday.
The topic came up when host Patrick Bet-David lobbed what he probably thought was a softball at DeSantis: “I’m sure your marketing team points out how they’re trying to troll you in the marketplace,” he says, before playing a clip of DeSantis during a recent appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, featuring the governor sporting a hefty pair of boots that’s since reignited the ongoing rumor that DeSantis, estimated to stand somewhere in the height range of 5’7” to 5’10”, wears shoe lifts. “Some people are wondering—what they’re trying to say with this is, that in your boots, you have heels,” Bet-David says. He’s not accusing DeSantis, personally, he implicitly insists, he’s just repeating what he’s been hearing through the nasty, catty grapevine! “Those are just standard, off-the-rack Lucchese boots,” DeSantis says. When asked how tall he is, he replies, without batting an eye, “5’11.” Hmm!
As one fashion TikToker put it, “This theory only came about because of how weird this man walks and because of how his boots look when worn. First and foremost, why do the front of his boots look empty? And why are they curling?” He then walks us through the anatomy of a human leg and why there’s something just not adding up here.
Look, I get it: DeSantis’ campaign is gasping for air, bogged down by one act of nearly ritualistic emasculation perpetrated by the Trump campaign after another. Clocking in anywhere under the 6’0” height his much-talked-about Lucchese boots accord him would be a disaster that could very well bury his campaign in an even deeper hole than his personality and void of charisma already have. Height and perception of virility and masculinity have long been unfair but decisive factors in who’s elected president. I get it! But did DeSantis’ campaign advisers seriously not consider the brutal, watchful eye of the internet, which has been busy—to say the least—since DeSantis’ Bill Maher appearance earlier this month? The deeply weird posture, the way the toe of his boots and his actual foot appear to be a mile apart, the uncannily elevated height—were we all supposed to just sit there and suspend our disbelief?
As for DeSantis claiming to be 5’11”, this is hardly the most upsetting lie of his political career. But it’s arguably his most annoying lie—if you’re going to give a fake height you might as well just say you’re 6’. There’s something so snide and calculatingly dishonest about being 5’8”, 5’9”, and claiming to be 5’11”, but then again, there’s something snide and calculatingly dishonest about the rest of him too.
In any case, between getting dragged for his boots on Real Time with Bill Maher and dragged, again, for his dubious claims on PBD, I’ll be surprised if we ever see or hear from this man again.
Perhaps he will reboot his campaign again.
Not like his campaign was going anywhere
Are there no photos of him wearing shoes, wearing shorts, or at the beach?
Although somewhat uplifting, the story comes up short.
I’m glad this fascist clown is getting embarrassed by his insecurities. Fuck you Ron
Viagra for his heels?
Only a heel would do this.
No matter how tall his is he will always be a very small man.
He’s in such a funny position. His campaign is a joke and his national viability decimated after once being considered a given. But also he’s still in second place and the dude in first has 90+ pending criminal charges.
What are you supposed to do there?
How aboot that?
Y’all should be ashamed of yourselves, tearing down a man who lifted himself up with his own bootstraps.
Ron being embarrassed AND loads of shoe puns. I’ll take it.
He’s got them uncanny valley feet.
Please send me a link to where I can get some “if not drag, then why man wear heels?” shirts or something like that. Someone’s got to have done it; I will pay embarrassing amounts of money for one.
Given the projection strategy the GOP love, any bets that Trump campaign is pushing this “story”?
His foolishness only works in Florida because, well, it’s Florida.
Lifts are the least of his problems. His record is his major source of shame.
This dude is 5’8” trying to look 5’10” so he can tell people he’s 6 feet tall. His political conduct is just further evidence of Napoleon’s syndrome. Just a chihuahua in a suit hanging out with nazis.
Republican voters: “No problem if DeSantis supports Neo-Nazis and other white racists, and if he ruins public schools and allows corruption, and deliberately harms refugees and their innocent kids when they are in other states legally, and if he supports rich people but hurts poor people and generally does everything the exact opposite of Jesus’ teachings. But we will not tolerate lifts or heels for men because we have principles and we’re serious people, not just angry fools who are easily tricked by our own right-wing media.”
Among the reasons DeSantis should never be President this doesn’t even crack the top 10.
I met him person once. He said he was 5’11. I’m 6 feet even and he was a few inches shorter than me. Such a stupid thing to lie about.
If a politician can’t be honest about something as trivial as height and weight. Then what exactly do you think they will be honest about?
It’s funny that he’s getting dragged for this, where Trump seems to more or less skate by, despite being caked in very heavy makeup daily, wearing lifts himself, and wearing some kind of girdle or other support system.
We all make fun of Trump for being “orange” but it never really amounts to anything, and he’s never asked about it. If Biden wore that much makeup they’d DESTROY him on Fox news.
These comments are why I love Reddit.
Way to rise to the occasion and point out where DeSantis isn’t … measuring up. 😋
Hard to hide hooves.
This dude (although a POS) destroyed by wearing lifts. Trump can literally be on paper the least electable human that has ever lived and still thrives. What a time to be alive.
Why the downvotes? This is uplifting news. I’ll let myself out. (He’s a fascist)
What’s really messed up is that,
The thing that is going to end his campaign is that he wears high heels. Not his awful performance as governor.
I mean, it’s petty, but he’s a petty piece of shit, so I’m glad it embarrasses him and makes him uncomfortable. I hope drag queens go to his events and dress up like him except for spectacular bejeweled high heels.
Wearing high heels because he’s not happy with the way God made him. Who’da thunk it.
32 comments
Ron DeSantis was knocked back on his heels by a new allegation, and his attempts to sidestep the matter failed miserably.
The Republican presidential hopeful has for weeks sparked theories that he’s wearing lifts inside his cowboy boots to make himself appear taller. Internet users and shoe experts alike point to the bizarre fit of DeSantis’s boots and his apparent struggle to walk in them. The Florida governor’s campaign team has vehemently denied the accusations.
But DeSantis was caught flat-footed Monday during an appearance on the PBD Podcast. Host Patrick Bet-David brought up the internet’s theory and showed DeSantis some videos that internet jokesters had edited to show how they thought DeSantis was essentially standing on tiptoes in his boots.
“What are they—I don’t even—I haven’t seen that,” DeSantis said, a little too fast.
Bet-David then produced a pair of flat designer shoes, which he said he had bought for DeSantis so the governor could try them on and prove how tall he is.
“I don’t accept gifts. I can’t accept it,” DeSantis said in an awkward monotone.
If DeSantis and the 1999 Yale baseball roster are to be believed, DeSantis is 5-foot-11. It’s also understandable why he would want to appear tall at all costs. Taller candidates generally (although not always) perform better, but more importantly, DeSantis is facing off against Donald Trump. Trump loves to describe people as “little” as a form of, well, belittlement.
Unfortunately, this could be a massive missed opportunity for DeSantis. If he is shorter, he could embrace his short king status, call Trump out for body-shaming, and seek to prove that good things come in small packages. If the shoe fits, wear it, right?
Instead, whatever he’s doing is just creating an incredibly strange, clown-like effect. As menswear expert Derek Guy wrote in Politico, whether or not he has lifts in his boots, DeSantis is still wearing really terribly fitting boots. Guy spoke with three bootmaking-industry veterans, and all agreed that DeSantis’s boots are far too wide around his calves. The heels are low and the toes turn up abnormally high. The boots bulge and crease in weird places.
All of these things could be signs that DeSantis simply needs to get his feet re-measured—or that he shoved some lifts into his boots. It looks like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis can’t sidestep ridiculous rumors about his height much longer.
People have been fixated on the Republican governor’s footwear ever since someone suggested DeSantis has secret lifts inside his favorite pair of cowboy boots.
But the Republican presidential hopeful walked away from a chance to debunk the theory during an appearance Monday on conservative podcaster Patrick Bet-David’s show.
DeSantis seemed confused when Bet-David tried to explain the shoe scandal with a viral video, but he refused to put on a pair of very fancy Ferragamo loafers to prove he’s 5 feet, 11 inches, as he claims.
When jokes about DeSantis’ height-enhanced boots began making the rounds, former President Donald Trump chimed in with a photo of his 2024 presidential rival sitting pretty during an interview with Bill Maher.
“Tell me he’s not wearing hidden heels,” text on the image trolled.
A different pair of DeSantis shoes turned into meme fodder last year after he surveyed the damage of Hurricane Ian wearing a very groovy pair of white rubber rain boots.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), whom Donald Trump once reportedly mulled calling “Tiny D” (before landing on the curt, devastating “Rob”), would like to set the record straight. He is not only tall but also a sensible shopper, the flailing presidential candidate proclaimed on the PBD podcast on Monday.
The topic came up when host Patrick Bet-David lobbed what he probably thought was a softball at DeSantis: “I’m sure your marketing team points out how they’re trying to troll you in the marketplace,” he says, before playing a clip of DeSantis during a recent appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, featuring the governor sporting a hefty pair of boots that’s since reignited the ongoing rumor that DeSantis, estimated to stand somewhere in the height range of 5’7” to 5’10”, wears shoe lifts. “Some people are wondering—what they’re trying to say with this is, that in your boots, you have heels,” Bet-David says. He’s not accusing DeSantis, personally, he implicitly insists, he’s just repeating what he’s been hearing through the nasty, catty grapevine! “Those are just standard, off-the-rack Lucchese boots,” DeSantis says. When asked how tall he is, he replies, without batting an eye, “5’11.” Hmm!
As one fashion TikToker put it, “This theory only came about because of how weird this man walks and because of how his boots look when worn. First and foremost, why do the front of his boots look empty? And why are they curling?” He then walks us through the anatomy of a human leg and why there’s something just not adding up here.
Look, I get it: DeSantis’ campaign is gasping for air, bogged down by one act of nearly ritualistic emasculation perpetrated by the Trump campaign after another. Clocking in anywhere under the 6’0” height his much-talked-about Lucchese boots accord him would be a disaster that could very well bury his campaign in an even deeper hole than his personality and void of charisma already have. Height and perception of virility and masculinity have long been unfair but decisive factors in who’s elected president. I get it! But did DeSantis’ campaign advisers seriously not consider the brutal, watchful eye of the internet, which has been busy—to say the least—since DeSantis’ Bill Maher appearance earlier this month? The deeply weird posture, the way the toe of his boots and his actual foot appear to be a mile apart, the uncannily elevated height—were we all supposed to just sit there and suspend our disbelief?
As for DeSantis claiming to be 5’11”, this is hardly the most upsetting lie of his political career. But it’s arguably his most annoying lie—if you’re going to give a fake height you might as well just say you’re 6’. There’s something so snide and calculatingly dishonest about being 5’8”, 5’9”, and claiming to be 5’11”, but then again, there’s something snide and calculatingly dishonest about the rest of him too.
In any case, between getting dragged for his boots on Real Time with Bill Maher and dragged, again, for his dubious claims on PBD, I’ll be surprised if we ever see or hear from this man again.
Perhaps he will reboot his campaign again.
Not like his campaign was going anywhere
Are there no photos of him wearing shoes, wearing shorts, or at the beach?
Although somewhat uplifting, the story comes up short.
I’m glad this fascist clown is getting embarrassed by his insecurities. Fuck you Ron
Viagra for his heels?
Only a heel would do this.
No matter how tall his is he will always be a very small man.
He’s in such a funny position. His campaign is a joke and his national viability decimated after once being considered a given. But also he’s still in second place and the dude in first has 90+ pending criminal charges.
What are you supposed to do there?
How aboot that?
Y’all should be ashamed of yourselves, tearing down a man who lifted himself up with his own bootstraps.
Ron being embarrassed AND loads of shoe puns. I’ll take it.
He’s got them uncanny valley feet.
Please send me a link to where I can get some “if not drag, then why man wear heels?” shirts or something like that. Someone’s got to have done it; I will pay embarrassing amounts of money for one.
Given the projection strategy the GOP love, any bets that Trump campaign is pushing this “story”?
His foolishness only works in Florida because, well, it’s Florida.
Lifts are the least of his problems. His record is his major source of shame.
This dude is 5’8” trying to look 5’10” so he can tell people he’s 6 feet tall. His political conduct is just further evidence of Napoleon’s syndrome. Just a chihuahua in a suit hanging out with nazis.
Republican voters: “No problem if DeSantis supports Neo-Nazis and other white racists, and if he ruins public schools and allows corruption, and deliberately harms refugees and their innocent kids when they are in other states legally, and if he supports rich people but hurts poor people and generally does everything the exact opposite of Jesus’ teachings. But we will not tolerate lifts or heels for men because we have principles and we’re serious people, not just angry fools who are easily tricked by our own right-wing media.”
Among the reasons DeSantis should never be President this doesn’t even crack the top 10.
I met him person once. He said he was 5’11. I’m 6 feet even and he was a few inches shorter than me. Such a stupid thing to lie about.
If a politician can’t be honest about something as trivial as height and weight. Then what exactly do you think they will be honest about?
It’s funny that he’s getting dragged for this, where Trump seems to more or less skate by, despite being caked in very heavy makeup daily, wearing lifts himself, and wearing some kind of girdle or other support system.
We all make fun of Trump for being “orange” but it never really amounts to anything, and he’s never asked about it. If Biden wore that much makeup they’d DESTROY him on Fox news.
These comments are why I love Reddit.
Way to rise to the occasion and point out where DeSantis isn’t … measuring up. 😋
Hard to hide hooves.
This dude (although a POS) destroyed by wearing lifts. Trump can literally be on paper the least electable human that has ever lived and still thrives. What a time to be alive.
Why the downvotes? This is uplifting news. I’ll let myself out. (He’s a fascist)
What’s really messed up is that,
The thing that is going to end his campaign is that he wears high heels. Not his awful performance as governor.
I mean, it’s petty, but he’s a petty piece of shit, so I’m glad it embarrasses him and makes him uncomfortable. I hope drag queens go to his events and dress up like him except for spectacular bejeweled high heels.
Wearing high heels because he’s not happy with the way God made him. Who’da thunk it.