The Truth Behind Ron DeSantis’ Bizarre ‘Pudding Fingers’ Claim

As Ron DeSantis announced his presidential campaign, his main rival Donald Trump seized on the rumor that the Florida governor had been seen eating pudding with his bare hands.

That’s the bizarre story behind the saga that has now been turned into a campaign humiliation in the escalating battle between the former president and his former aide.

Last month, an advertisement paid for by the Make America Great Again Inc. PAC displayed images of a man eating chocolate pudding with his fingers, a direct attack on Mr. DeSantis, saying he had “dirty fingers.”

“Ron DeSantis likes to stick his fingers where they don’t belong,” AD They say,

Throughout the video, Mr. Headlines of publications critical of DeSantis appear over images of a man eating pudding. The ad accuses Mr. DeSantis of cutting Medicare, Social Security and raising the retirement age.

The ad said, “Tell Ron DeSantis to keep his pudding fingers away from your money.” “And oh, someone give this guy a spoon.”

The “Pudding Fingers” reference stems from a rumor that began with a report from the daily beast,

The ad was not “authorized” directly through Mr Trump, it was created by a political action committee (PAC) linked to his politics, according to Open secret.

In March, Mr. DeSantis did not outright deny that he ate chocolate pudding with three fingers on a private flight in 2019. the daily beast Noted that Mr. DeSantis sometimes struggles to “read the room”.

In an interview with Piers Morgan, the governor said, “I don’t remember ever doing that.” fox nation,

“Maybe when I was a kid, but it’s interesting that there are a lot of people that when they go at you, sometimes they have really good ammunition, like ‘You’re a badass, you did this, You did that'” he added. “To me, they’re talking about pudding, and I’m like, ‘Is this really the best you ever had?’ OK, turn it on!’”

“It is quite interesting that the governor did not refuse to eat three-finger pudding,” a former employee of Mr. DeSantis told the daily beast earlier this year.

According to the report, the Florida governor can often be found in a corner at fundraising events or other conspicuous places, eschewing traditional political merriment.

This can become an issue because most candidates in any given presidential cycle rely on retail politics in the early primary states.

Mr. DeSantis’ reported concerns about meeting and unplanned interactions with voters have prompted early primary state organizers to try to lay the groundwork to make it easier for the governor to handle his events. The Daily Beast.

But they reportedly rarely know what the governor wants, because, as one longtime program host in an early primary state pointed out The Daily Beast, He has “easily the least responsive campaign I’ve ever dealt with”.

“We invite, invite, invite, ping, ping, ping. We hear nothing, ”said the host.

While he was in Iowa, it was reported that Mr. DeSantis’ team used bike racks to create space between him and the attendees.

the new York Times wrote that the governor was “strange, but winning over crowds nonetheless” during his visit to the state.

a Republican strategist told the daily beast Mr DeSantis’ early campaign strategy indicated a “Tallahassee basement strategy that characterizes Biden in 2020, where he hides from the press and actual voters”.

Mr Biden spent the bulk of the 2020 campaign at home because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Several former staffers have said that almost everything the governor does is scripted.

There have also been stories of the governor eating during meetings.

An ex-employee reported, “He used to sit in meetings and eat in front of people, always like a hungry animal that’s never eaten before … There’s rubbish going on everywhere.” The Daily Beast.

This is where pudding enters the fray.

two people told the daily beast DeSantis enjoys chocolate pudding with three of his fingers during a private flight from Tallahassee to Washington, D.C., in March 2019.