Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign did not get off to a good start.
The 45-year-old candidate, dubbed the Republican Party’s “DeFuture,” tried to launch his 2024 bid in April by showing off his next-generation technological know-how — with a Twitter Spaces session.
And then the app crashed.
The debacle drew laughs from his senior rivals, former President Donald Trump, 77, and President Joe Biden, 81.
“Glitchy. Technical problems. Awkward silences. A complete failure to launch. And that’s just the candidate!’ a Trump spokesperson said cheerfully. Biden chimed in with “This link works,” which directed people to his campaign’s donation site.
For the next eight months, the DeSantis campaign was plagued with problems, including rumors that he sat awkwardly on the stump, secretly wore high heels and hemorrhaged money from his donors.
Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida announced Sunday that he would quit the presidential race after eight months. He supported former President Donald Trump on his way out
In April, the 45-year-old candidate tried to launch his 2024 presidential bid via Twitter, but the app crashed
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis smiles during a campaign stop in Iowa ahead of his official presidential campaign announcement in April. DeSantis’ awkward attitude on the campaign trail became one of the prevailing stories about his failed 2024 campaign
Even before the official launch, DeSantis had to deal with some strange anecdotes in the press about him.
The Daily Beast reports this in March of that year, four years earlier, during a private plane trip between Tallahassee and D.C., DeSantis dug — literally — into a pudding cup with three of his fingers to eat the treat.
“He would sit in meetings and eat in front of people,” a former DeSantis aide told The Daily Beast, “always like a starving animal that has never eaten before…getting s*** everywhere.”
Once he started actively campaigning, he was immediately branded as clumsy, robotic and aloof.
A DeSantis employee, who did not want to be identified, told DailyMail.com in June that their boss had to be told “when to smile.”
“He just needs to relax a bit and be less stiff,” another source said. “He always looks strange and needs to go out and meet more people.”
Early on, DeSantis had an impressive fundraising total, but by July he had cut a third of his staff, a total of 38 assistants.
In turn, DeSantis’ super PAC took over hosting most of the governor’s campaign events.
In October, podcaster Patrick Bet-David DeSantis revealed a viral TikTok video airing a conspiracy theory that he had hidden heels in the cowboy boots he often wore to campaign events.
The 2024 presidential candidate faced rumors that he was wearing hidden high heels in his cowboy boots. Politico Magazine later published a story supporting this claim
DeSantis – like Senator Marco Rubio before him – also had to quell rumors that he was wearing hidden high heels.
In October, podcaster Patrick Bet-David DeSantis revealed a viral TikTok video airing a conspiracy theory that he had hidden heels in the cowboy boots he often wore to campaign events.
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,” DeSantis said in defense, naming a popular brand of cowboy boots.
Politico Magazine appeared later a story quoting three expert cobblers who supported the hidden elevator claim.
The dig stalled, with Donald Trump Jr. mocked him for it on the stump in Iowa last week.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will speak Monday at his party ahead of the Iowa caucus results. He lost to Trump by 30 points in the Hawkeye State after his campaign and super PAC spent a combined $150 million
On Saturday, DeSantis headlined three events in South Carolina in an attempt to steal votes from Nikki Haley in her home state.
During the final days of the race, DeSantis was frantically trying to figure out where his message would resonate best after losing Iowa to Trump by 30 points — at a cost of $150 million, between his campaign and his Never Back Down super PAC.
One estimate was $6,400 per vote.
In Iowa, he had traveled to all 99 counties – dubbed the “full Grassley” – and won the support of the state’s popular governor Kim Reynolds – but almost lost his second place to Haley, who did not focus heavily on the state .
The day after the Iowa caucuses, DeSantis flew to Greensville, South Carolina to plant a flag there, thinking that if Haley lost South Carolina, he could turn the Republican Party’s primary into a two-person race against Trump.
At the same time, his super PAC began laying off staff.
He flew back to New Hamsphire later that day, and on Wednesday, CBS News announced that he planned to leave the Granite State — possibly for good — to campaign again in South Carolina all weekend.
That trip ended up lasting one day — with three events — and concluded with headlines about how DeSantis groomed a fourth-grade teacher because of Haley’s training as governor.
DeSantis could not say where he might win in South Carolina, nor could he point to a Super Tuesday state where the campaign could focus.
On Sunday, instead of campaigning in South Carolina, DeSantis was expected to fly back to New Hamsphire, canceling appearances on NBC’s Meet the Press and CNN’s State of the Union.
Instead, he returned to Florida, where he filmed the video announcement that he was withdrawing from the race and endorsing Trump, kicking Haley one last time on his way out.
“He has my support because we cannot go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear, a repackaged form of hyped-up corporatism that Nikki Haley represents,” DeSantis said into the camera.