DeSantis Makes Cringey Attempt to Reclaim ‘Bootgate’ Narrative

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis on Thursday contributed to the seemingly never-ending discourse about whether or not he wears lifts in his boots by outlining a bizarre scenario in which he would wear a boot on his head at next week’s GOP primary debate.

During an interview on Newsmax, the Florida governor—who has denied wearing any sort of height-boosting footwear—first responded to the chatter by saying that “this is no time for foot fetishes” because “we’ve got serious problems as a country.”

He went on to mention how Donald Trump has weighed in on the topic. On Tuesday, the former president’s campaign declared “#BOOTGATE” to be the “KISS OF DEATH” for DeSantis.

“I know Donald Trump and a lot of his people have been focusing on things like footwear,” DeSantis said. “I'll tell you this: If Donald Trump can summon the balls to show up to the debate, I'll wear a boot on my head.”

Trump chose not to attend the two prior GOP debates, telling former Fox News host Tucker Carlson in an interview before the first one that he didn’t want to be “harassed by people that shouldn’t even be running for president.” During the second debate, several candidates tried to goad him into showing up. But it doesn’t look like he will be present at next Wednesday’s debate in Miami, either.

In any event, DeSantis’ campaign was apparently so thrilled with his jab at the Republican frontrunner that it sent out a press release shortly afterward with that quote in the subject line.

As of Thursday night, Trump has not responded to DeSantis’ comments on Truth Social.

But someone who did get wind of them was Vermin Supreme, a longtime novelty presidential candidate who happens to have made a name for himself by wearing a rubber boot on his head.

One post on X, formerly Twitter, that he amplified states definitively in all-caps: “There is only one man who can wear a boot on his head and his name is Vermin Supreme!” In another that he reposted, DeSantis is accused of being “so unoriginal and uninspiring.”

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