‘This is no time for foot fetishes’: DeSantis responds to jabs at shoes by suggesting Trump doesn’t ‘have the balls’ to debate him, says he’ll wear a boot on his head if he does
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis continues to try to fight back against former President Donald Trump, defeating accusations that he lifts and wears high heels masquerading as boots.
Trump and other opponents have floated conspiracy theories that the candidate uses lifts in his boots to appear taller.
In a conversation with Eric Bolling Thursday, DeSantis revisited the claims and tried to hit back at Trump for his lack of participation in Republican primary debates.
“This is no time for foot fetishes, we have serious problems in the country,” DeSantis said, before explaining the myriad problems with the country under current President Joe Biden.
“I know that Donald Trump and a lot of his people have focused on things like shoes. I’ll tell you this: If Donald Trump can muster the balls to show up for a debate, I’ll be wearing a boot on my head!’
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis continues to try to fight back against former President Donald Trump, defeating accusations that he lifts and wears high heels masquerading as boots
Trump has not yet responded to the offer after posting about DeSantis on Truth Social earlier today, joking that Fox News “gave up” on the Florida governor and moved on to “Birdbrain” Nikki Haley.
The former president has declined to appear at the first two GOP debates and shows no signs of attending Friday’s third debate after earlier tightening his lead in the polls.
Trump is at 43 percent of likely primary voters in the new Des Moines Register poll.
He has built a 27-point lead over his nearest rivals, with DeSantis at 16 percent, as does former South Carolina Gov. Haley — although she arrived there after a 10-point gain from August.
DeSantis fell from 19 percent that month. Haley is the only candidate in the study who made a substantial leap.
Earlier this week, DeSantis spoke with podcaster Patrick Bet-David, who showed the 2024 Republican hopeful footage of a viral TikTok video of DeSantis in his boots in which the creator asked, “Tell me he’s not wearing hidden heels.”
TikTok user Spamellina had sketched the shape of a high heel over the photo of DeSantis in his boots, then shared a photo of a pair of women’s wedge boots for comparison.
Bet-David wrongly assumed that DeSantis’ staff had alerted him to the brazen conspiracy theory and then had to explain, “Okay, what they’re trying to say is that you have heels in your boots.”
Trump and other opponents have floated conspiracy theories that the candidate uses lifts in his boots to appear taller
Trump has yet to respond to the offer, after posting about DeSantis on Truth Social earlier today, joking that Fox News “gave up” on the Florida governor and moved on to “Birdbrain” Nikki Haley
Podcaster Patrick Bet-David (left) asked Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (right) about a viral video that advanced the conspiracy theory that the 2024 hopeful’s heeled boots contained real high heels
TikTok user Spamellina had sketched the shape of a high heel over the photo of DeSantis in his boots, then shared a photo of a pair of women’s wedge boots for comparison
“No, no, no, they’re just standard, off-the-shelf Lucchese,” said DeSantis, spotlighting a popular cowboy boot brand.
Bet-David interrupted DeSantis to ask the governor about his height.
“5’11,” DeSantis replied.
Bet-David then asked why DeSantis wasn’t wearing tennis shoes or dress shoes.
“I wear tennis shoes when I work out, yes, 100 percent,” DeSantis responded.
The podcaster said he went shoe shopping in Ferragamo for the governor, carrying a red shopping bag.
“I don’t accept gifts, I can’t accept,” DeSantis said from across the table. ‘I’m sorry.’
The 2024 presidential candidate, who has seen his poll numbers trail former President Donald Trump, then referenced Yogi Berra and noted that the iconic Yankees catcher “doesn’t look like a Yankee.”
DeSantis surprised Bet-David by revealing he hadn’t heard there was a conspiracy theory about his high-heeled boots
“And Yogi basically says, OK, you can say I’m ugly, that’s fine, but you don’t hit a baseball with your face,” DeSantis said.
“And so what we do is, I think addressing the problems, the leadership, the people who bully you for different things – that’s fine, but ultimately it’s not – I think it’s a sign of strength.” , the candidate said. added.
Bet-David used DeSantis, who was unaware of the high heel rumors, to more broadly condemn the governor’s “marketing team.”
“I’m a big fan of yours, okay, I’m not a fan of your marketing team, I’m just not,” Bet-David said. “I think your book was a miss.”
DeSantis asked why it was a miss.
“It was the number one book in the country for two weeks,” the Florida governor noted.
Bet-David emphasized that it could have been bigger.
“Yeah, that’s not long though,” the prominent YouTuber said. “You are the man who should be the leading man for the presidency,” he said.
Long considered Trump’s most formidable opponent in the 2024 Republican primaries, DeSantis performed strongly in the second GOP debate, but his campaign has yet to catch fire.
The latest polls in Iowa, the state hosting the first Republican caucus, showed Trump with 43 percent support and DeSantis and a former U.N. official. Nikki Haley finished in second place with just 16 percent of the potential Republican votes in Iowa.
Senator Marco Rubio, one of the Republicans who lost the 2016 presidential primaries to Trump, was also criticized for wearing heeled boots during the campaign.