Florida Gov. Ron “DeSanctimonious” DeSantis has seen his polling numbers crumble in recent weeks. And his lackluster performance in a recent podcast interview with entrepreneur Patrick Bet-David didn’t make things any better.
He was forced to respond to a controversy surrounding whether he wore lifts in his boots to make himself appear taller, and front-runner Donald Trump was quick to seize on the narrative.
A Trump campaign statement labeled #bootgate the “kiss of death” for DeSantis’ flailing White House bid.
As The Post Millennial reported:
“When asked directly about why his boots look like stilts, DeSanctus offered up the implausible explanation that he just wears off-the-rack Lucchese boots, doing major brand damage to a great American footwear company. If there are any enterprising journalists willing to contact the Lucchese press team for their thoughts on DeSanctus, they are reachable here.”
The statement noted the “laughable claim” from DeSantis that he is 5’11″, adding that “instead of telling the truth and just being comfortable in his own skin, he resorts to borderline psychotic behavior by lying to the American people. Is that what this country wants in a president?
Patrick Bet-David confronted DeSantis about the boots that went viral after the Florida leader’s appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, saying after playing the viral TikTok, “what they’re trying to say with this is that in your boots, you have heels.”
Here’s the full statement:
JUST IN – The Trump campaign has released an official statement on the #BOOTGATE Scandal that is rocking the political world https://t.co/2K9gxo0Cst
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) October 31, 2023
Of course, Team Trump wasn’t the only source of #bootgate mockery on social media.
You tell me….#bootgate pic.twitter.com/UsLGAgtFRO
— Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) November 1, 2023
So much #Bootgate. So little time. pic.twitter.com/5fnMZktbQC
— Maiden USA (@MaidenUSA_) October 31, 2023
Can you tell @DonaldJTrumpJr is @realDonaldTrump’s son?! 😂🤣 #bootgate pic.twitter.com/JdzINWOqpZ
— Alex Bruesewitz 🇺🇸 (@alexbruesewitz) November 1, 2023
John,
Ron did this to himself.
He has to stop the bleeding on #Bootgate before it goes global.
It’s everywhere now.
Why doesn’t he just admit it and embrace it?
Remember how Jimmy Fallon put Trump on blast asking him if he was wearing a hairpiece?
Trump laughed along… pic.twitter.com/HTDwAelA6k
— Linda Traitz (@LindaTraitz) November 1, 2023
Industry insiders weighed in on the matter and concluded that DeSantis appeared to be wearing lifts in his boots.
According to Forbes:
Zephan Parker of Houston’s Parker Boot Co., Austin-based cowboy bootmaker Graham Ebner and World Championships of Shoemaking judge Nicholas Templeman each estimated to Politico that DeSantis is wearing 1.5-inch hidden lifts, citing several telltale signs of the inserts.
Parker noted to Politico writer Derek Guy—a menswear journalist prolific on social media—the heels on DeSantis’ boots appear shorter than those on traditional cowboy boots, a mechanism Parker said is often used on shoes with heeled inserts in order to offset the height increase.
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Here’s a clip from the disastrous podcast appearance:
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