Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, MIA the past few weeks as Florida suffered massive flooding and a gasoline shortage, only to show up to quietly sign a hugely controversial six-week abortion ban, expand his anti-LGBTQ "Don't Say Gay" law, all while continuing to attack Disney, is now being mocked for his response to a question during his overseas trip to to Japan, South Korea, Israel and the United Kingdom.
While DeSantis has been widely ravaged for ignoring his home state as he defiantly traveled the country promoting his book, clearly part of paving the road for his expected presidential campaign, Donald Trump has been rapidly racking up endorsements – from Florida Republicans – as DeSantis continues to plummet in the polls.
On the first leg of what his office is calling an "international trade mission," apparently designed to strengthen perception of his foreign affairs bonafides, a reporter asked a simple question that has made his response – and quirky mannerism – go viral.
"Governor, polls show you falling behind Trump. Any thoughts on that?" DeSantis was asked.
"I'm not a candidate, so we'll see if and when that changes," the Florida Republican governor replied.
Some on social media are pointing to DeSantis' curiously bobbing head as he smugly answered the question, while others are noting that the apparent point of the trip was to strengthen perception in the U.S. of DeSantis as a legitimate presidential candidate who could take on the current front-runner, Donald Trump.
The video, posted online by CNN's Kaitlan Collins, has already been viewed over 1.7 million times in just four hours.
The responses have been damaging – and damning.
"If I were trying to combat a quickly-solidifying image of being a weirdo, I simply would not do this," says Media Matters for America's Matthew Gertz. "Weirdo" is not a randomly-chosen word. Numerous opinion and news reports over the past week have used that term for, apparently spurred by one report from a few weeks ago citing a claim he was caught eating pudding with his fingers.
Semafor Washington Bureau chief Benjy Sarlin also pointed to the "weird" word: "The danger of being relatively undefined and getting branded “weird” by your opponent first is that even fairly straightforward answers start getting scrutinized in those terms."
"Billionaires are lined up to support this guy as leader of the most powerful country in the world?" wondered former President & Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund Sherrilyn Ifill.
"Not only is this snide, but he seems surprised and defensive. He's traveling to Japan to burnish foreign policy credentials for presidential run. What did he expect?" asked journalist, author, and SiriusXM Progress host Michelangelo Signorile. "The bizarre, deer-in-the-headlights look of shock on his face shows he's not ready for prime time."
Signorile was not the only one observing DeSantis is "ready for prime time."
Dave Zirin, frequent political commentator and noted sports editor at The Nation: "Not ready for primetime. Wide eyes and a neck wiggle is no way to do it."
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"Such smarminess. If he can't handle an easy question about poll numbers he certainly can't handle the presidency. At least not well," adds MSNBC contributor, law professor, and former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance.
"That sassy head wiggle is extra, noted The Lincoln Project's Rick Wilson.
"Yep. If you’re going to challenge Trump, you can’t be cute about it or play defense. To have any chance at all, you’ve got to go after him hammer and tong, consistently and relentlessly. No defense. Just attack," noted attorney, frequent political commentator, and columnist George Conway said, offering this analysis: "I don’t think DeSantis has the personality for it. And even if he did, I don’t think he’d necessarily be successful given the current diseased state of the GOP. In any event he’s got to go to total war or go home."
Political analyst and professor of political science Robert E Kelly summed it up: "Man, Trump is gonna eat him alive…"
