(DCWatchdog.com) – The ship of a possible Ron DeSantis presidency might be about to sink as Florida’s once-popular governor has taken a new publicity hit by getting mocked for allegedly wearing high heels, or boots with lifts, with his 2024 GOP opponents Donald Trump and Nikki Haley jumping in to ridicule him.
Amidst the political jousting of the 2024 presidential campaign, candidates Donald Trump and Nikki Haley have targeted GOP competitor Ron DeSantis, suggesting he wears elevated footwear to appear taller.
Last month, former President Trump posted on Truth Social a sequence of images scrutinizing DeSantis’s shoes from an HBO appearance, with the caption, “Tell me he’s not wearing hidden heels.”
Contradicting these allegations, DeSantis rebuffed any insinuation of footwear trickery.
During a recent appearance on entrepreneur Patrick Bet-David’s podcast, DeSantis said he wore “standard, off-the-rack Lucchese” boots during campaign events.
He verified his height at 5 feet 11 inches, as documented on Yale University’s 2001 varsity roster.
Yet, another GOP presidential nomination hopeful, Nikki Haley, has now mocked Florida’s governor.
The former US ambassador and the lone female candidate was asked earlier this week by “The Daily Show” substitute host Charlamagne tha God if she planned to wear high heels in the upcoming debate to overshadow DeSantis.
“I don’t know. We’ll have to figure that out,” a smiling Haley said.
“I wear high heels. I’ve never hid that from anybody. I’ve always said, ‘Don’t wear ’em if you can’t run in’ em,’ so we’ll see if he can run in ’em,” she added.
Last month, Trump’s super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., mockingly declared it would gift DeSantis a pair of Puerto Rican flag-themed boots featuring a conspicuous heel in a jab at his alleged preference for lifts and purported support for Puerto Rican statehood, which is favored by the left.
Meanwhile, expert bootmakers have cast doubt on DeSantis’s assertions.
“[DeSantis] is wearing lifts; there’s no doubt,” Zephan Parker of the Parker Boot Company in Houston told Politico, noting his experience with politicians seeking height enhancement through shoe lifts.
He pointed to the tension of DeSantis’ boot tops against his trousers and a notably shorter heel than conventional Western boots.
“On a ready-made boot, they’ll cut down the heel about half an inch to accommodate the lifts, which looks to be what happened here,” the expert said.
Nikki Haley took a shot at Ron DeSantis over #Bootgate stating she has "never hid" her high heels "from anybody". pic.twitter.com/Su9l9AyxYB
— Iyan Velji (@IyanVelji) November 2, 2023
