Is Ron DeSantis slimming down for his White House run?
DeSantis ‘left’? The Florida governor is losing weight as he explores a run for the White House by taking a book tour to the early states of the primaries
- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has slimmed down and is looking slimmer this week in Iowa even since his inauguration in January.
- On Thursday, Puck’s news outlets speculated he might be taking Ozempic, while a Florida political expert said he was simply cutting back on carbs and desserts.
- There is a political tradition that presidential hopefuls lose kilos before announcing a race
Just call him ‘Gone’ DeSantis.
The Florida governor was seen in Iowa last week looking thinner than he has in years, even since his inauguration in January.
DeSantis is making all the necessary moves to launch a run for the White House later this year.
He just published a book, The Courage to Be Free, which is taking him to the early states of the primaries.
And potential presidential hopefuls also tend to lose weight.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been cutting his figure lately. At left is DeSantis in December 2019, facing an appearance last week in Iowa.
DeSantis watchers even say they can see a difference in DeSantis’ weight from his January inauguration (pictured) and appearances on his current book tour.
As an example, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stoked speculation that he would run in the 2024 Republican primary after losing noticeably thinner since leaving office.
DeSantis’ diet has worked so quickly that on Thursday Puck News speculated that he might be taking Ozempic, the diabetes drug-turned-weight-loss drug that celebrities are turning to to lose weight fast.
“It’s a shell of what it was before,” a Tallahassee informant told Puck.
Peter Schorsch, the editor of Florida Politicswrote Thursday on Twitter that DeSantis isn’t taking Ozempic “even if the rest of Tally and Miami are.”
‘Word on the street is that Ronnie D. has cut carbs, no bread, no desserts!’ Schorch wrote.
It means that Donald Trump may lose one of his lines of attack during the campaign.
The former president called DeSantis “fat” and “whiny” and took credit for being elected governor, New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman wrote in her book Confidence Man.
That could be a good political decision for DeSantis to avoid more taunts later. the Daily Beast reported on Thursday that during a flight from Tallahassee to Washington, DC in March 2019, the governor ate chocolate pudding with three fingers.
DeSantis made his Iowa debut last Friday and observers noted that he looked leaner than ever.
“He would sit in meetings and eat in front of people,” a former DeSantis staffer also told Beast. Adding, ‘always like a hungry animal that he’s never eaten before… getting shit everywhere.’
Puck also reported that employees would lure DeSantis to meetings with cupcakes.
And he’s a big fan of fried chicken from Zaxby’s, a popular fast-food chain in the South, Puck said.
DeSantis may have also been inspired to slim down after hearing that former President Donald Trump, who of late made DeSantis his favorite political piñata, was spitting out the idea of dubbing him “meatball Ron.”
It’s a Trump tradition to nickname all his political rivals.
On his way to Davenport, Iowa, on Monday, Trump explained to reporters why he decided to stay with Ron ‘DeSanctimonious’.
I don’t use that name. It is used by other people. I don’t like that name, I think it’s too crude,” Trump said. according to the Daily Caller. ‘I’m a very non-rude individual.’