Ron DeSantis' White Boots

About

Ron DeSantis' White Boots, also known as Ron DeSantis' Go-Go Boots, is a photograph of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis walking amid a post-Hurricane Ian photoshoot that showed him helping in the cleanup, however, meme creators focused on his tall, white rain boots, harnessing the perceived absurdity of them in contrast to the setting. Many on Twitter and elsewhere photoshopped his boots or accompanied the image macro with captions and comparisons to other memetic characters, forming a trending exploitable template going into early October 2022.

Origin

On October 2nd, 2022, DeSantis was featured on a CNN segment in which he toured the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. After the segment aired on TV, Twitter users noted the boots DeSantis was wearing, with some finding them humorous. The first to post about the boots was Twitter^[1] user jordanzakarin, who took screenshots from the segment, captioning them, "Ron DeSantis held up civilian emergency volunteers for hours so he could stomp around on his campaign vest and shrimping boots like a petulant only child." The tweet received over 70 likes in three days (shown below).

Spread

Roughly two hours later on October 3rd, 2022, Twitter^[2] user NotHoodlum tweeted a photo of DeSantis in his boots, captioning it, "This is what happens when you let Ted Cruz pick out your storm clothes," gaining roughly 6,500 likes in three days (shown below, left). At the same time on October 3rd, Twitter^[3] user RonFilipkowski captioned the boots, "Damn those things look nice and clean. Not a speck of mud on them," making fun of DeSantis by comparing his cleanliness to the damage Hurricane Ian did. In three days, the tweet received roughly 22,300 likes (shown below, right).

In the replies to the aforementioned tweets, Twitter users started photoshopping DeSantis and comparing him to other characters en masse. For instance, on October 3rd, 2022, the Twitter^[4] account ProjectLincoln compared him to the Green M&M, gaining roughly 62,600 likes in three days (shown below, left). On October 5th, Twitter^[5] user Pleightx tweeted a DeSantis photoshop edit that made him appear to be dressed as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, earning roughly 45,100 likes in one day (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References